Diamond on RI treatment - heating requirements

[Reecehay]

I am a week into antibiotic treatment for a diamond Python with an RI. He is in a sterilised plastic tub and taking daily oral treatment.

I am using a heat mat to keep him warm. The tub is elevated a few centimetres about the mat; keeping the tub at roughly 28-32 degrees 24 hours a day.

Is it safe to keep the snake this hot 24/7 or do they still require moment of cool down to say 22-24 degrees to keep them from heat exhaustion?

Thanks!!

 

[pythoninfinite]

Keep it at about 30-32C, 24/7 - the antibiotics and the snake's own immune system will work better at the warmer temps. It won't suffer from "heat exhaustion" as you suggest, and will probably seek out extra warmth whilst it is ill. I would maintain these temps for at least a month after all symptoms have subsided, and indeed be very careful about dropping them at all for quite a while since winter is coming up and the prospect of relapse from chilling will be quite high. If you drop the temps to what you suggest you will almost guarantee a relapse.

Oral treatment for RI seems unusual - what's the antibiotic you've been prescribed?

Jamie

 

[Reecehay]

Thanks for the advice!! The treatment is Baytril. The exotics specialist recommended a daily dosage of 0.2ml every day for 2 weeks then another chick up

 

[Wokka]

I am a week into antibiotic treatment for a diamond Python with an RI. He is in a sterilised plastic tub and taking daily oral treatment.

I am using a heat mat to keep him warm. The tub is elevated a few centimetres about the mat; keeping the tub at roughly 28-32 degrees 24 hours a day.

Is it safe to keep the snake this hot 24/7 or do they still require moment of cool down to say 22-24 degrees to keep them from heat exhaustion?

Thanks!!

It must be an excessively high wattage heat mat to achieve that temperature in a tub elevated a few centimeters above. I would check the temperature again and preferably that of the snake. Remember the coolest ambient temperature will be an hour before sunup so that's when you need to ensure the temperature is adequate.

 

[SKYWLKR]

How do you administer the medicine?

 

[Reecehay]

It's a small syringe (no needle) . And just put the antibiotics in his mouth. Obviously getting past the air pipe

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

It's great that you are seeking specialist advice from a vet & others experiences and also great to see you getting treatment of the RI through a vet instead of the home remedies we often hear.
However it has to be said that RI is only a symptom and if you don't investigate the root cause this is likely to come back. Take a long hard & honest look at your husbandry, heating & ventilation in particular. Is the enclosure suitable, open mesh/glass can both be difficult to heat and susceptible to impact from draughts if kept in the wrong area.
Are you using a non contact thermometer to get the hot spot temp or relying on a thermostat set point or some other means?
Sorry to put a dampener on this but if you don't take corrective action winter is around the corner & if the animal has an RI in May it's not likely to improve much in the short term.

 

[pythoninfinite]

I think the frantic concern about Diamonds and suitable temperatures that seems rife at the moment is causing a lot of problems with newish keepers who think that Diamonds must be kept half warm in case they get something called DPS. This leads to ineffective heating strategies, compromised immune systems and resultant disease. When they do seek heat, they're not getting warm enough because new keepers think they should only be in the high twenties. This is a recipe for disaster for any python, especially in the cooler months. If keepers bothered to check the temperature maxima of the regions in which even the most southern Diamonds live, they would see that summer day temps, occasionally in the 40s, are not unusual (probably more common than we get further north on average). If you average the temps in those regions out, because nights are cooler, and winters a bit longer, you'll get a cooler average, and basing your temperature regimes on this cooler average is where the damage is done.

Even if they are offered heat for shorter periods, the heat that's available to Diamonds must be pretty much the same as that offered to any other python - a basking spot in the low to mid-thirties, and available for sufficient time to allow the whole body of the snake to warm properly for a few hours - maybe 4 hours winter, 6-8 hours summer. It's also good practice to reduce or stop handling in the cooler months, especially when the snake may be cold to touch - handling at this time is very disruptive and forces activity when the snake should be left to its own devices.

Jamie