Respiratory Infections

Respiratory Infections or RI's, as they are more commonly referred to, are a bacterial infection in the lungs. They can be secondary to other diseases and disorders but generally they are related to improper and inadequate care of the species and its environment.

Does my snake have a Respiratory Infection....?

The Clinical Signs:

• Open-mouth breathing

• Dyspnoea (shortness of breath ) or tachypnoea (abnormally rapid breathing)

• Yawning

• Coughing

• Wheezing

• Clicking noises when breathing

• Bubbly, stringy or sheeting mucous in the mouth

• Nasal/Ocular Discharge

• Cyanosis of the mucous membranes (the gums look blue)

Other generalised signs may also include:

• Weight loss

• Lethargy

• Dehydration

• Altered Behaviour

I think my snake has an RI...What should I do now?

Firstly you need to look at how your husbandry and access how the snake got the infection. Generally respiratory infections are related to improper environmental conditions so you need to take a good look at your enclosure.

• Temperature - does the enclosure have a heat gradient, a cool end and a hot spot? Are these temperatures correct for the snake?

• Humidity - is this correct for the snake?

• Sanitation - dirty vivariums can lead to RI's, ensure the vivarium is cleaned and disinfected with a good, reptile safe disinfectant. Change water on a daily basis.

• Size - snakes kept in an inadequate size vivarium will suffer from stress, it is possible that large snakes kept in small vivariums will get a build up of discharges in the lungs from an inability to stretch out.

Once you have sourced the problem you will need to ensure it is corrected for the future care of your snake.

Quarantine is important when it comes to respiratory infections; it is contagious and is transmitted by droplets in the air. Remove the infected snake from any environment where other reptiles are housed and follow the 'Quarantine for New Snakes' guide. I advise quarantining the snake immediately as respiratory infections can quickly infect other surrounding snakes, it is easier to isolate one snake that it is to treat a whole collection.

Treatments:

The first course of action should be to slightly raise the temperature by a few degrees in your 'quarantine' accommodation. Clean the accommodation daily with F10 disinfectant. If the infection is caught early enough this can be enough to clear it. You may also nebulise with the F10 disinfectant.

If after a few days the snake is still showing clinical signs then it is time to contact a vet.

What the vet can do: 

The vet will examine the snake and ask for the history. Take as much information as possible with you; the housing conditions, what you have already done and the clinical signs the snake has been showing. The vet will probably prescribe your snake some antibiotics.

• Enrofloxacin (Baytril) - this is normally the first drug of choice. It is a good, broad spectrum antibiotic. This comes in injectable and oral forms and should be used daily at a dose of 10mg/kg either injected IM or given orally.

Other antibiotics that have been used to treat respiratory infections:

• Amikacin (Amikin) - this is a aminoglycoside antibiotic that is active against many gram-negative bacteria. This should be used to nebulise at a rate of 5mg/kg (diluted with sterile saline) every other day over 15 minutes.
• Cefuroxime (Zinacef, Zinnat) - This should be injected IM daily at a dose of 100mg/kg for 10 days.  
  

Tylosin (Bilosin; Tylan; Tyluvet) - is a macrolide class antibiotic that is mainly effective against only gram positive bacteria. In the United States It has been used successfully to treat chronic RI in reptiles caused by bacteria of the genus Mycoplasma and in rare cases Streptococcus. Tylosin will usually work well only if the causative organism of the RI is Mycoplasma, otherwise it will usually be ineffective in resolving most other types of bacterial infections in reptiles. Tylosin is usually used when long term chronic RI's are unresponsive to other antibiotic regimens as this is what is typically seen with Mycoplasma infections.

Tylosin is relatively non-toxic and has a wide margin of safety, and I have seen dosage recommendations running from 5 to 50 mg/kg body weight at 24 to 72 hour intervals between dosages. The standard dosage of tylosin for most boids is 20 mg/kg every 48 hours. 

If the infection is persistent then it is possible for the vet to take a swab sample for culture and sensitivity. This will give the type of bacteria present and the antibiotics that can be used.

Nebulising:

Nebulising is a way to convert a liquid to a fine spray making it an easy and efficient way of administering medication directly into the lungs. A nebuliser can either be purchased or home made.

• F10 - 5ml of F10 diluted in 500ml of filtered water used for short treatments of 15-20 minutes twice per day.

• Amikacin (Amikin) - 5mg/kg of Amikin diluted with sterile saline used every other day over 15 minutes. (Amikin comes in 50mg/ml and 250mg/ml forms. I use the 50mg/ml concentration as the 250mg/ml would be impossible to dose unless it was a large snake. This needs to be placed in enough saline to nebulise for 10-15mins, I found 25ml of saline worked for me but it will depend on your nebuliser)

Making a Nebuliser:

Equipment:

• RUB/TUB just big enough for the snake.

• 2 x 1.5ft 5mm aquarium airline

• Aquarium air pump

• 500ml 'coke' bottle - washed!

Commonly Asked Questions:

How is it transmitted? Can one snake pass it onto another?
Airborne transmission and yes it is contagious.
Does poor husbandry have anything to do with it being transmitted?
Yes, it is a bacterial infection in the lungs and can be caused by poor hygiene, i.e leaving your snake sat in a dirty, humid environment.
What sort of treatment? I've read about Baytril and increasing temps but what about mouth swabs and nebulisers?
First course of action should be to increase the temps in the environment. Then a trip to the vet. How the vet treats it will depend on their past experience. Ours supplies us with IM injections of Zinacef (Cefuroxime) to be injected into the muscle and nebulising with Amakin every other day.
If you had a snake infected in your rep room would there be reason to isolate it?
Yes, it should be isolated immediately. You should deal with the snake last each day, use separate equipment/materials and change your clothes after been in the room.
How does a snake get RI's and how long does it take to materialise?
Poor husbandry and from other snakes with the infection. It can take less than a few hours if your snake is cold and damp, i.e travelling from one place to another.
How long should it be before treatment if effective?
Depends on how quickly you treat it and the species, in boas I would expect to see an improvement in 7-10 days. I think it's more complicated when it comes to royals; they don't seem to recover to well from it.

©Rebecca Lindsay