Hi all, I am looking for your advice and experience of dealing with RI (just excess mucus, no wheezing or gapping at this point)
I received an from Europe and noticed signs of an ri. I have seen my vet and am treating with Baytril.
As this is my first experience, what I would like advice on is
what are the signs an animal is improving?
what are the signs an animal is getting worse.
Thank you for any advice you can give.
Animals of the respiratory infections can have varying signs and degrees of respiratory infection. When it comes to getting better you will notice the animal being less lethargic, the excess mucus will go away, and if there is gaping and/or head lifting these signs will also go away. As far as getting worse you’ll notice that symptoms become more severe such as gargling, mucus discharge bubbles from the nose, extensive gaping, keeping the head vertical. I hope your baby does all right, respiratory infections are no joke.
I’m treating a snake with an RI and when I first got her she would hardly move, she just kept her head up with her mouth open, the was saliva dripping out of her mouth constantly and her skin was dry. Now that she’s been an antibiotics for about 1 and a half months and now there’s waaay less mucus, she can breath almost normally and she’s a lot more active so she’s getting there. That being said it takes a while for a snake to get 100% once their that sick.
Respiratory infections in reptiles aren’t always respiratory infections. It’s important that before treatment with antibiotics that the vet is sure it’s bacterial in nature. Treating certain bronchial symptoms or a viral infection with antibiotics does nothing for the snake and generally a bad idea. A firm diagnosis is important before treatment.
The treatments mentioned are on the advice of my vet.
Did the vet determine through testing if it was viral or bacterial before starting antibiotics?