Euthanizing Snakes

Despite popular opinion to the contrary, freezing a snake is not a humane method of euthanasia. The formation of ice crystals in the tissues and on the skin are widely thought to cause intense pain.

Some vets prefer to administer Nembutal/Sodium Pentobarbital, however I have also spoken to specialty exotic vets who claim that it takes a long time to work on snakes…a minimum of 30 minutes..and that they have doubts to the amount of discomfort or stress such a slow acting method may cause the animal.

Additionally, concentrated sodium pentobarbital solutions that are formulated for intravenous use are highly alkaline and may cause irritation to tissue and pain when injected into the animal.

Injection of reptiles with 0.5% to 1% MS222 (Tricaine Methanosulfonate) solution at doses of 250 to 500 mg/kg have been shown to result in a loss of consciousness in most snakes in between 12 and 15 minutes. Respiratory and cardiac functions will remain intact past that time frame therefore a second injection of 50% MS222 solution finishes the animal off. MS222 is highly acidic, which is why it is administered initially in a low concentration buffered dose to induce a loss of consciousness and then is rapidly followed by the 50% dose, which kills the animal in 30 to 60 seconds.

MS222 is administered intracoelemically, which is a fancy way of saying “into the body cavity”.

There are some people who advocate decapitation.  This is not a humane way to dispatch a snake. The central nervous system of a snake is capable of withstanding a total depletion of oxygen. This is why decapitation can actually result in a slow death. Some old school vets were known to euthanize by decapitation, then double pith the brain.

Which brings us to pithing.  Oft cited and oft performed incorrectly.  Like all do-it-yourself veterinary administrations, you better make sure you are well-trained and adept at doing it before you try it. I have seen vets perform it after first rendering an animal unconscious. The procedure consists of inserting a rod into the foramen magnum of the brain and proximal end of the spinal cord.. Here’s the rub. most people who have told me they pith often don’t even know what the foramen magnum is. Enough said.

My vets uses the MS222 route and after watching a couple of my older animals put down this way, it is a route I am comfortable with. After the first injection the animal is gets a little woozy. After about a quarter of an hour the animal loses consciousness. The second injection is given and the animal dies within a minute. I usually hold my snakes during the process.

Another process I have not discussed is the use of Isoflurane.  Isoflurane is commonly used as an anesthetic in reptile surgeries.

When my oldest boomslang was euthanized, the vet first anesthetized her in her trap box (which was her hide) with Isoflurane.  It took her about 20 minutes to lose consciousness at which she was removed from the trap box and a 50% MS222 injection was given. Again, from my point of view, the process appeared to be completely humane and as distress free as possible as she peaceably went to sleep in her hide.

Bottom line – if you are a responsible and compassionate owner, euthanasia is a defining moment in your relationship with your animal. How you choose to help your snake into death says a lot about the type of person you are. Save a few bucks and do it wrong and you can and probably will give your pet a pretty painful and traumatic end.

Do it right…spend a few bucks and make sure the final moments of your snake’s life are as peaceful as possible.

The Difference Between Regurgitation and Vomiting in Snakes

Yeah, yeah, you all think I’m dealing with semantics here…but the words “regurgitation” (or regurge at it is wont to be called on the forums) and vomiting mean two very different things.

Short explanation: A regurge is the backflow of [I]undigested[/I] food (food that has never reached the snake’s stomach) up through the esophagus and out of the mouth. Vomiting is the forceful ejection of stomach contents through the same path of travel.

Long explanation and why it is important to differentiate between the two events:

A regurgitation most often occurs for reasons unrelated to health. A snake that has recently swallowed a meal may regurgitate it if stressed or annoyed in order to save the energy expenditure of digesting the food in favor of using it to escape. Many species of snake become vulnerable when digesting a meal, so the regurgitation of a prey item can allow it to gain an advantage in a fight or flight situation. The act of regurgitation does not carry a stiff health penalty, as digestion has not really begun and damage to the esophagus and gastric mucosa is unlikely.

On the other hand, an animal that vomits up a prey item days after ingestion often times has an underlying ailment. The inability to digest a prey item can indicate problems with the stomach, the kidney, the liver, the gall bladder or any other components of the digestive system. The problem can range from something benign (like improper husbandry) to dysfunction of the aforementioned organs, to internal parasites, viral or bacterial diseases.

Even in the case of a regurgitation, care should be taken in reintroducing food items. Snakes begin processing prey items fairly quickly so it’s always a good idea to wait the requisite two weeks before feeding again. As the vast majority of captive snakes are overfed anyway, missing a couple of meals isn’t going to compromise the health of an otherwise healthy animal.

In the case of a vomiting episode, not only should a minimum of two weeks pass before offering food,the keeper needs to keep an eye out for other signs of disease. Is the snake behaving normally or is it listless? Does it look dehydrated? Is it showing signs of discomfort (covered under a separate post)? If so, the animal should be taken in to see a qualified reptile veterinarian.

After a regurgitation or vomiting event, it is also a good idea to add Benebac or Reptibac to the animal’s water. These supplements help restore the beneficial bacteria present in the animal’s digestive system.

Nebulizing F10SC for a Persistant URI – My Experience

About 8 years ago I hatched out a clutch of black tailed cribos. One of the eggs was noticeably smaller than the others. It hatched out almost a week earlier than the other eggs and the little male baby was extremely undersized. He also didn’t have a black tail – which is beside the point – but one to remember next time someone tries to sell you a unicolor cribo.

He had to be force-fed for almost 8 weeks. He ultimately survived but is undersized for a black-tail male.

He is easily stressed – a gentle snake that freaks out if his furnishings are moved, if his drawer is too bright or if he is handled too much.

If repeatedly stressed, he will develop an upper respiratory infection. In his 8 years he has had at least 10 RIs – all of which have been treated with antibiotics.

The vet thinks that he has a combination of a compromised immune system and potentially a defect in his respiratory system. I’ve kept him because he’s a gentle animal and because – if not stressed – has thrived.  He will not be bred – regardless of the color of his tail.

In the fall of 2013, we were out of town for ten days. The gal who pet sits for us was changing his water and left his drawer open. He got out and hid under a smaller rack. Every time she tried to extract him, he nailed her. She called me and I told her to leave him alone – we were due home in four days and since the herp building is in the low 70s, he would be fine until I got home. I told her to put his water dish and trap box hide near him and to make sure the door to the building was closed.

When we got home, he had a full blown RI, complete with slugs of pus coming up out of his trachea and labored opened mouth breathing. To make matters worse, our vet was out of town.

I have done tracheal flushing on snakes before, so with the help of my son, we flushed “Louie” out. In the meantime, the vet texted me back and told me that while she could prescribe an injectable antibiotic, that she was hesitant to do so without a culture. Over the years, his RIs have become gradually resistant to some meds.

She told me that she and another colleague had success nebulizing F10SC at a concentration of 0.3cc per liter of distilled water. Now I have heard F10SC could be utilized this way, but the info had not come from a vet, so I treated the news with skepticism.

In California, nebulizers cannot be sold without a prescription. The vet called her office and had them fax over a prescription to a nearby medical supply store. The next day, I began nebulizing Louie.

In order to keep the stress to a minimum, I modified the nozzle of the nebulizer to fit in the barely opened trap box door and nebulized him for 40 minutes every evening. After two weeks I noticed that his symptoms were lessened. After four weeks they were gone.  I think that after looking at some of our beverage coolers in the garage, I could have modified the drain plug on any of them to accept the nozzle of the nebulizer without issue.  Something to keep in mind………

I ended up nebulizing him for two months. Because he was essentially nebulized in his hide, the process was literally stress-free.

I had hesitated posting this info for a couple of reasons – foremost was that I wanted to make sure he was clear of the infection. The end of his F10SC treatment coincided with the time of year in which mature male cribos go off of feed due to breeding reasons. I am happy to say that once the yearly off feed period expired, he resumed pounding jumbo mice with all the vigor of a healthy snake.

So does nebulizing F10SC work for RIs? Well, in my humble opinion it does. I ended up doing it with the concurrence of our vet. I’ll be honest in saying that I probably would not have done it if she had not recommended it as an option.

The Importance of Selecting a Properly Trained and Experienced Reptile Vet

Three years ago I got a call from a person who I sold a trio of children’s pythons to seven years prior.

Apparently, one of the males died displaying all of the tell-tale signs of IBD – you know, corkscrewing, regurgitation, etc.

The owner was in a panic, demanding his money back, wringing his hands about the threat to the rest of his collection etc.

After talking to him for about 30 minutes, I got the entire scoop. The timeline goes like this:

• 6 weeks before the animal died, it regurged a medium sized rat.

• 5 weeks before the animal died, it regurged a small rat.

• 4 weeks before the animal died, it regurged a small rat.

• 3 weeks before the animal died, it began refusing meals. It also began having issues with “musking” for a lack of a better word.

• 1 week before the animal died it contracted a respiratory infection.

• 1 week before the animal died the owner took it to a vet who noted the respiratory infection, the onset of septicemia and odd posturing.

• The vet, without taking any tests, declared that the animal had IBD and recommended euthanasia.

• Two days before the animal died, it began doing death rolls and thrashing, sub-marining and other signs of neurological damage.

We were lucky enough that not only did the owner live relatively close by, but that he refrigerated the carcass. I offered to assist him in paying for a necropsy with the understanding that if it was IBD we’d discuss testing the rest of his collection.

The body was handed over to my vet along with the feeding/poop/shed history.

We got the final results back yesterday and I thought that some people might find them both interesting and instructive.

The snake died of gastritis that was brought on from multiple regurges. The owner had a leftover medium size rat that a woma python refused so he fed it to his “garbage” disposal – the children’s python. The size and weight of the rat was way too much for the snake who threw it up after 3 days. A week later he attempted another feed which was followed by another vomiting and then a third feeding close on the heels of that.

Three regurge/vomiting episodes in less than three weeks led to the gastritis which initially manifested itself in a loss of appetite. At this point, the animal was critically sick and its immune system was down. It contracted a respiratory infection and it is probable that the onset of septicemia occurred just prior to the URI.

The stomach of the snake was full of cheesy discharge and was in overall tatters. The necropsy/histology also noted large widespread infection of the entire digestive system which had spread into the lung and the liver.

No inclusion bodies were found and the cause of death was wholly attributed to gastritis.

What I found interested and the main reason why I am sharing this is that I truly feel that if this incident had been reported on the forums, people would have been shouting IBD from the rooftops. The fact is that this is a simple case of a person offering an inappropriately sized meal to an animal, having a regurge and then not properly allowing or assisting the rehabilitation of the digestive system. If the owner had not refrigerated the animal, I am certain we would be testing his entire collection for IBD.

When my vet called the vet who made the initial IBD diagnosis, she was informed that the client’s vet really only saw a handful of snakes a year and based on the presentation of the corkscrewing and other neurological symptoms, he was certain it was IBD. He completely disregarded the recent health history of the animal.

I’m not going to go into what a grossly inappropriate and presumptive diagnosis that was, but I will emphasize this: in the final stages of a critical infection, be it from an RI, septicemia, viral or fungal infections, the final progression of the disease ultimately ends with the snake displaying odd motor control abnormalities including corkscrewing and a general inability to right itself.

I asked my vet, who specializes in snakes and services the local zoos how much IBD she is seeing and she said “some” but stated she is seeing far more OPMV these days.

This led to a discussion on how she has seen other vets mis-diagnose OPMV as IBD due to the rapid onset death and final stage neurological abnormalities.

Then she said something that threw me for a bit of a loop. She mused that the early earth-shaking cases of IBD in boa and python collections, notably the ones that quickly wiped out entire collections, could have been OPMV in a collection with a few IBD asymptomatic animals. She dealt with an OPMV outbreak with a boa/ball breeder last year in which a total a 10 animals eventually died. Testing confirmed OPMV in the collection, but 4 of the 10 animals were also discovered to have IBD.

This has led her – and this is her opinion only – that IBD may be “present” in a lot of animals but may be present asymptomatically. Another virus like OPMV comes through and devastates a collection. The vet, noting an RI and neurological symptoms, tests for IBD and incorrectly assumes it to be the cause of all the mayhem when OPMV or another virus/infection is actually doing the killing.

Nothing set in stone, but interesting nonetheless. If nothing else, it emphasizes the need to take your animals to an experienced reptile vet when they fall ill, to perform necropsies on any animals that die of unknown illnesses, and to not assume IBD when an animal displays odd behavior.

Alternative Causes of URIs in Snakes

It seems that we are always seeing  forum posts concerning upper respiratory infections in snakes that, even though cultured, do not respond to multiple rounds of antibiotics.

Upper respiratory infections in snakes can be caused by bacterial, viral, parasitic and fungal infections.

I have to admit that in many years of keeping snakes, I have not had a case of a bacterial or parasitic URI in a long term captive animal – only in imports. But I have also seen and treated parasitic and fungal causes to the infections.

Depending on the skill and experience of the vet treating your animal, a culture (usually via tracheal wash) can either be enlightening or confusing. Many cases of bacterial URI are caused by an overgrowth of naturally occurring bacteria due to a suppressed immune system as the result of another ailment. The URI is treated, responds and then re-occurs because the underlying causative agent has not been diagnosed.

The result of a bacterial culture will show, usually in decreasing order, the antibiotics that the suspected causative bacterium is most susceptible to.

Therefore, if multiple rounds of antibiotic treatment prove ineffective, and if the infection is spreading rapidly through your collection, it may be time to consider that something else may be causing the URI.

Viruses and URI
Viruses that may show URIs as primary or secondary symptoms are varied and harder to detect. Often, they are secondary symptoms to a less noticeable primary symptom. OPMV is an example of a viral infection that can initially present with respiratory symptoms. Our vet recently told me that she is seeing quite a bit of OPMV – in fact she sees more of it than IBD.

When I worked in Australia, several of my co-workers dealt with parvovirus outbreaks in their captive snake collections. While the main symptoms were gastrointestinal, these symptoms were acute and the first signs of distress ended up being respiratory in nature.

One of my foremen in Perth had a large aspidites and antaresia collection that was devastated by a picornavirus outbreak. Picornaviruses include rhinoviruses which are mainly respiratory in nature. I do not recall how the virus was isolated, but I do remember that it spread rapidly through his collection and that he spent a small fortune in antibiotic treatments that had no effect.

Parasites and URIs
Cryptosporidiosis (Crypto) is an example of a parasitic infection that, while mainly gastric in nature, can manifest itself in the early stages as pneumonia. As the disease progresses, regurges and anorexia are more common.

About 8 years ago, I received a WC yellow tail cribo from an importer than was infected with crypto. A fecal was performed which showed the normal imported South American bugs but nothing else. For three months the snake ate fine but had an incurable URI. Our vet would treat him, his symptoms would go away for a week or two and then return. At about 9 months, he began regurging and refusing to eat.

I kept him in quarantine, which most likely kept the parasite from spreading to the rest of my animals. At the first signs of gastric distress, the vet performed another fecal which showed crypto. A snake with crypto does not consistently shed the parasite upon defecation, therefore one clear fecal does not necessarily mean the animal does not have crypto. Unfortunately this animal needed to be euthanized.

I ended up throwing away the cage, water bowls and husbandry tools associated with this snake. The building I used for QT (large furnished shed) was vacated and sprayed with ammonia. I did not use it again for almost 8 months. My vet joked that I needed to burn it to the ground and then sow the site with salt. The rest of my collection was locked down and I did not breed any animals that season. I also began taking in fecal samples for random testing of all my snakes. It never reared its head again.

There are other parasites that live in the lung of a snake such as lung mites, pentastomids and lungworms. . These usually are diagnosed via bronchoscopy.

Fungal Causes
Keeping your snake in a poorly ventilated but humid environment can result in myco-fungi outbreaks which can damage the lung tissue.

Two years ago, the entire Skiploder family took a two week vacation to Montana and Idaho. Our pet sitter got a little carried away in spritzing the spilotes cages, resulting in a fungal lung infection of one of the females. When we came back there was mold growing in her cage which I noted and took a sample in to the vet. The causative fungus was aspergillis and it was treated with flucanozole.
Bacterial Infections as Secondary
Oftentimes, snakes can have an underlying primary health issue – be it viral, systemic, parasitic or even environmental that goes unnoticed or uncorrected. In these instances, this primary issue results in a secondary bacterial infection caused by the suppression of the immune system.

I always suspect that in many of the cases where a bacterial URI responds favorably to antibiotic treatment and then a month or two later recurs; that there is either a husbandry related issue or a systemic problem (renal, gastro-intestinal, parasitic, etc.) that is not throwing any symptoms but is weakening the animal.

I am not a vet and I do not intend for any advice that I give to substituted for the direction of a qualified herp vet. However, there are a lot of hack vets out there that do not perform cultures and throw antibiotics at every URI case they see. When repeated treatments do not help, it is time to consider the myriad of other possible health issues that may be affecting your animal. Please use this post only to assist you in asking your vet questions that make you feel comfortable with the course of treatment he/she is prescribing.

Respiratory Infections – The Bare Basics

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

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.