Identifying a RI

[quercus]

How do you tell if a snake has a RI?

I've heard what sounded like sneezing coming from the snake's enclosure last week, and a few times before. I haven't seen any mucus around the snake's mouth. The tongue is still forked when "sniffing" the air. No dried mucus on the mouth or anywhere in the enclosure. I haven't heard anything since last week.

I've read that snake sometimes pass gas. But the sounds I heard seemed to be a forceful burst of air. I added an UTH to the CHE i have already cuz the temps seemed a lil low. Hot side now high 80's, cool side low-mid 70's. Humidity usually around 50%. The substrate is repti-bark, which i noticed can become dusty when dry. Could this be the culprit?

Can a RI clear up on its own? Do signs of a RI come and go through out the course of the infection?

The BP is one year old, eats 1 small f/t rat every week, and otherwise seems healthy.

[Adam Chandler]

Here are some signs of an RI:
-popping or wheezing sounds when you BP breaths.
-Your BP opens it mouth to breath (this is due to the nose being clogged)
-Mucus coming out of your BP's nose/mouth
-Your BP lays with its head constantly tilted up, trying to drain the mucus down
-Mucus smeared on the sides of the enclosure.

RI's will not go away on their own, if you catch it in the early stages you can possibly treat it as shown in this video by BHB:

If this doesn't work or you don't catch the RI fast enough (visible mucus means it is in a advanced stage) your BP should be taken to a reptile vet for antibiotics.

Also if you haven't already I'd recommend checking out the site's caresheet to double check your husbandry. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet

[The Hedgehog]

Can an RI cause "Squeaking sounds" out of your BP? My normal may have one at the moment. There's no mucus or anything like that, but she squeaks a bit from time to time. It's very feint but I can hear it when I listen carefully.

[Pinoy Pythons]

After hearing that sound, did you noticed any poop within the enclosure?

[word]

I'm gonna bump this thread because I'm noticing the same with my BP, Stella. She's a year and a half old ghost morph. She seems completely healthy as she sheds perfectly, isn't a fussy eater, and isn't generally lethargic or irritable. The only problem I can notice is that she squeaks when she breathes from time to time. Today, as I was bringing her out to the feeding tub, I noted a pretty consistent squeak. It happens when she's just laying [she didn't squeak when I was holding her].

As far as husbandry goes, she's about 2.5 ft living in a 20gal long. I keep her daytime ambient temp ~82 and her basking spot ~92. Humidity shifts between 35%-50% which I try to keep consistent with terrarium and sphagum moss and a spray bottle. For substrate, I use "natural" carefresh and I clean the entire tank once a week, with spot cleans if necessary in between.

I've detected no mucus around her nose or mouth. Her tongue is forked when she sniffs [I'm not sure why this would matter, I just noted because OP did]. I'm not sure if she consistently keeps her head tilted upward, but I'll keep an eye out for that and update.

Could the squeak mean RI?

[word]

bump..