Respiratory Infections - The Basics

[Skiploder]

I don’t think more than a few days go by without seeing a post or two about respiratory infections in snakes.

A couple of disturbing trends tend to rear their heads with these types of posts.

The first is that owner’s hesitancy to take the animal to a qualified reptile vet for evaluation and treatment. Let’s be clear in that no one on these forums is qualified to diagnose or treat a sick animal over the internet. Respiratory infections need to be diagnosed and treated by a vet, period.

The first thing you should do when you purchase a snake is research and pick a qualified herp vet in your area. New purchases should be cleared during QT with a fecal sample, so waiting for your animal to contract a disease before you research vets in your area is inexcusable. Find one before there is a problem.

Second is the advice that is given. Raise temps, lower temps, raise humidity, lower humidity. Be very careful in both giving and following advice of this nature. The only thing that should be done without consulting a vet is bumping up temps a few degrees which help out the immune system and mobilizes respiratory secretions. Any messing around with humidity should be done with extreme care as excess humidity can actually make problems worse – mainly in the fact that it is a combination of high humidity and poor ventilation that allows harmful bacteria to take a foothold in a micro environment like a snake enclosure. The link between low humidity and RIs has not been proven, no matter what common wisdom claims. Either way, it is always best to provide a micro climate such as a humid hide in lieu of turning the entire enclosure into a Petri dish.

Snakes do not have to be exposed to another sick animal to contract a respiratory infection. Bacterial infections of this type are often caused by nothing more than already present gram negative or positive bacteria that take advantage of an immuno-suppressed host.

Sadly, a lot of the advice that gets bandied about on these forums can lead to stressed snakes. Also a lot of advice can inadvertently also lead to the proliferation of potentially harmful bacteria.

For example, it is not uncommon to “hear” people recommending giving snakes baths or feeding the in separate containers. Both of these recommendations are more often than not completely unnecessary and does nothing more than stress the animal.

We also consistently see people advocating keeping the whole enclosure humid. When we keep these animals in small enclosures with constant misting and poor ventilation, we do nothing but create fertile breeding grounds for potentially harmful bacteria.

Stand alone viral infections in snakes are fairly rare and can lead to respiratory infections only in that the stress of being afflicted with the virus often opens the animal up to secondary bacterial infections. The exception being OPMV, which more often that not targets the respiratory system.

To summarize the list of respiratory infection causes, it all often comes down to nothing more than environment: making sure temperatures are correct, that proper ventilation is provided, that urates/urine/feces are promptly cleaned up and spot sanitized, and that the entire enclosure is kept in as clean a condition as possible.

When a snake contracts a RI, the most common symptoms are nasal discharge, open mouthed breathing (which includes holding the head at an elevated posture), wheezing, etc. These symptoms will be fairly constant as opposed to stressed breathing due to being handled or pieces of shed stuck in the nares which are episodic.

It is also important to stress that when you take you animal to the vet, that you ensure that proper treatment is being administered. Remember that you are the client and that the vet is working for you. As such, unless the animal is at death’s door, the vet should culture the infection in order to determine which antibiotic the causative bacteria is most susceptible to.

Too often we see instances where snakes are prescribed meds without the infection being cultured and then have to endure several rounds of antibiotic therapy while the vet blindly searches for an antibiotic that works. This is unnecessary, expensive and more importantly stressful to the snake. The goal is to quickly and effectively treat the infection and to not subject the animal to under stress (numerous vet visits, injections, etc.)

Due to the stressful nature of undergoing antibiotic treatment, sick animals should not be fed during this time. Most treatments are in two to three day intervals, which narrow the window for feeding and handling without the risk of a regurge/stress induced-vomiting. The last thing the owner and animal need while fending off a RI is dealing with regurges.

Another thing to consider is the administering of the shots. Some people have no issues doing this at home; others need to take their animals in every few days for the injections. The key is to recognize YOU limitations. If you do not feel comfortable injecting your snake, the best course of action is to fork over the extra money and have it done at the vet’s office. Some vets recognize that snakes do not travel well and for a small fee, will make a house visit to administer the shots. This cuts back greatly on the amount of stress on the animal.

The keys here are as follows:

1) Make sure your husbandry is spot on and that you are not facilitating the overgrowth of bacteria in your snake’s environment.

2) If your snake is exhibiting RI symptoms, don’t waste time shopping for advice on a forum, take the animal in to a qualified vet. Be very cautious of any advice you follow from someone who is not a vet. Have a vet on hand before your snake gets sick.

3) Make sure that the vet cultures the causative bacteria before prescribing an antibiotic.

4) Make sure you are comfortable administering antibiotic injections.

There are other things I guess we could cover here, but these are the basics.