Popping & Wheezing

[nor_cal1980]

My normal female shed out sometime last night and now she has a little bit of popping and wheezing going on when she breaths. She somehow managed to pull a corner of a piece of paper towel substrate into her water bowl and completely soak her tub last night also. I never noticed any popping/wheezing before and she is showing no other signs of R.I. Im not sure if she has some dry skin inside of a nostril or if she has the beginnings of an R.I. comming on from being on wet paper towel. Im worried about her and thinking about making a vet apmnt. Is this necessary or should I wait to see if it clears up?

[dr del]

Hi,

Did she shed all in one peice?

If you check the head of the shed skin you can usually see where it came out of the nostrils.


dr del

[Adam Chandler]

Is there any signs of mucus on her, around her enclosure or on the sides walls of her enclosure?

[nor_cal1980]

Is there any signs of mucus on her, around her enclosure or on the sides walls of her enclosure?

Nothing like that at all. I thoroughly checked her enclosure and there's no mucus at all. Nothing comming from her nostrils or mouth. I pulled her mouth open a little and there's no mucus or bubbles there. The only symptom is a little bit of popping and wheezing sometimes when she breaths. Could possibly be some skin inside her nostril from her shed but im not sure. Im not sure if I should see if it goes away on its own or should I get her straight into a vet.

[Adam Chandler]

Before you see a vet I'd recommend waiting and looking for any more sign of an RI. Also would recommend checking out this BHB video on treating RI just in case:

[nor_cal1980]

Hi,

Did she shed all in one peice?

If you check the head of the shed skin you can usually see where it came out of the nostrils.


dr del

She did shed in one piece. They only thing I checked for was that her eye caps and very tip of her tail came off. Everything looked good so I threw the shed out allready. This was before I noticed she was wheezing. I didn't relize it until I had her draped around my neck and when her face came close to my ear I could hear her pop and wheez a bit.

[Artemis69]

My snake was doing the same. Problem was a small piece from last shed that ended up in the nostril.

[cdavidson9]

My snake is also doing the same.. however she shed about 3 weeks ago and this started about a week ago. After the 2nd day of hearing it (also not seeing any mucus or bubbles anywhere) I took her in anyways.

The Vet also looked in her mouth and just said she looked to have a little more saliva then usual. We agreed to do a type of culture where she shoots some saline solution down into her lungs (from the mouth), then gives it a second and sucks the solution back up. Then she puts it into a petri dish, adds something that if a virus is detected it would continue to grow by itself in the dish. Usual signs are shown of growing in 24 hrs.

After the 1st day, nothing grew. Called back yesterday (2nd day) and still nothing. She said usually if nothing shows up after 48 hrs, it usually doesn't grow, so no virus. She said to monitor her and see if anything gets worse. (mind you she still has the noises going on when I hold her up to my ear, and you can almost feel them in her body everytime it happens also). The Vet felt/heard the same thing when I took her in, and also said a tiny bit of mucus came up after retrieving the saline.

Her eating habbits havent changed, tongue is still flicking, and is still as active as normal. So my feeling is hopefully it was poss the beginning of an R.I. but really hasn't gotten bad and hopefully will just take its course. I will keep you updated on if the Vet ends up seeing anything grow by Monday.

My opinion is to wait it out and make sure you don't see anything visible as far as the mucus goes. I know these things can take their course if they aren't too sever (that's if it is the beginning of an R.I. and not just shed). Good luck and keep us updated! I hope I eased your mind a little.. By the way, it will save you a little money also, to take her in and get the culture it was almost $170.00. Don't get me wrong I would spend whatever it takes to keep my animals healthy, but if it isn't anything to be too concerned about yet, it may run its course and you might not be out of your pocket as much also Good Luck!

[Homegrownscales]

For possible starting RIs a good thing to do is bump up the heat a degree or two. This is what I've always done for concerns about RIs and it's worked well. I keep the heat up like that for a week or two. And then turn it back down.
Morgan

[spitzu]

Before you see a vet I'd recommend waiting and looking for any more sign of an RI. Also would recommend checking out this BHB video on treating RI just in case:

Has anyone started selling the F10 SC in the states?