My snake might be sick! Am I overreacting?

[Echidna]

Hey all,
I've had my python Sneaker for about 4 months, she's my first reptile. I adopted her from a friend who wasn't all that interested in taking care of her, and so I'm really anxious to be the best snake mom ever. Sneaker is almost 5 years old and about 3 1/2 feet long. I'm pretty sure she's not any kind of morph.

Yesterday I had her out of the tank, and I noticed she's making a squeaky, wheezy sound when she breathes. She also yawned a few times, but I'm not sure if that's usual. Her last shed was clean, and although the humidity in the tank has been a bit low lately I don't see any loose skin. Her facial scales look "bluer" than usual though. I took her to the vet this morning, the vet said the wheeze can be an early sign of respiratory infection, and so we're doing a course of antibiotics injections. She (the vet) also recommended I up the cage temp, so I got a ceramic heat lamp to supplement my UTH. The ambient temp is only 22*C on the warm side, currently.

I've been googling and saw that some snakes are just squeaky when they breathe, but also that if you ignore an early sign of respiratory distress, the snake could die! I don't want to look like an idiot either way, and I especially want my snake to be healthy. I also don't want to hurt her with unnecessary antibiotics and stress though. Is this a "better safe than sorry" sort of thing? She seems even more wheezy today.

-- an anxious n00b

[The Serpent Merchant]

Welcome the the site!

Your cage temps are way too low, and could cause your BP to get sick.

A few questions:

What size/type of cage do you have?
Is your UTH being regulated by anything?
What are you using to measure temperatures?
What are your current cage temperatures?
If possible could you post a picture of your cage?

How to post pictures: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...with-pictures)

Your cage should have:

1. A hot side between 31-33 C
2. A cool side between 25-27 C
3. Humidity between 40%-60%

Here are some threads to make sure you have everything else right:

Care: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Cage Setup: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...With-Pictures!

Cage Heating: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

The good news is that you already took your BP to the vet, and have some meds, but without proper cage temperatures it might not matter.

[NH93]

Well... you did already go to the vet, and look up some information. But I agree that you definitely need to up the temperatures, and for good (as in don't let them get below 75-80F/24-27C!)
22C is WAY too cold, even for the cool side! That's even on the low end for corn snakes, which can handle night drops and are from North America (balls are from the African jungle, so you can imagine how hot and humid it is there!)

Please please PLEASE increase that heat! If you do not have a UTH with thermostat, you really ought to invest in that! Heat bulbs or emitters work great (although can dry out enclosures), or even just a floor heater if you have one laying around - for now. You may need to use both a UTH and other heat source, because sometimes our ambient air temperature is too low for them.

I really feel as though you should look into the proper care of ball pythons (if you haven't already). It really seems like you care and are committed, which is fantastic

[Echidna]

Thanks for the links, I feel much less silly for panicking now.
Now that I have the ceramic heater on, the warm side is ~32*, the cool side is ~26*. In the summer my apartment was 30* anyway and the cage temp was always correct, so I got out of the habit of checking. Anyway, it's fixed now.

I have a 4'x1'x1' glass aquarium with a screened top.
I don't have a thermostat for the UTH yet, but the ceramic heater has a dimmer dial.
I have 2 of the cheap exo-terra thermometers (one for each side) and a slightly better humidity reader.
I hope this picture will work

[satomi325]

If you are unsure, get a culture done.
If the vet prescribe you antibiotics without a culture, it's a sign to potentially find a different vet.

There are many different forms of RI.
Many different antibiotics are ineffective towards certain RIs. So randomly choosing an antibiotic to 'try out' is not a good plan.
The best thing to do is get a culture done. By getting a culture done, you can identify the exact kind of infection and the exact kind of antibiotic that is effective against it. If the antibiotic that was prescribed to you isn't the right kind, you're just wasting time with it and having your snake build an unnecessary resistance to it.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Thanks for the links, I feel much less silly for panicking now.
Now that I have the ceramic heater on, the warm side is ~32*, the cool side is ~26*. In the summer my apartment was 30* anyway and the cage temp was always correct, so I got out of the habit of checking. Anyway, it's fixed now.

I have a 4'x1'x1' glass aquarium with a screened top.
I don't have a thermostat for the UTH yet, but the ceramic heater has a dimmer dial.
I have 2 of the cheap exo-terra thermometers (one for each side) and a slightly better humidity reader.
I hope this picture will work

Until you get a probed thermometer and a thermostat for your UTH just unplug it. Unregulated UTH's get way too hot (55 C+), and can be a fire risk.

Until then your ceramic heater will be enough. (it's all your thermometers can read right now anyway as UTH's don't heat the air inside the cage, only surfaces)

[angllady2]

Scary business hon!

The good news is, you are already committed to helping your baby get better. One thing you will find difficult is keeping the correct temps in one of those big glass enclosures. It can be done of course, but it can also be a LOT of work. You really need a digital thermometer and a good thermostat. The dial gauge and other types are notoriously inaccurate. The ceramic heat lamp will be a big help with temps, but will also make for really dry air in the enclosure. It's like being between a rock and a hard place. While I do agree a culture is best when diagnosing and treating an RI, most vets don't do them. There are so many broad spectrum antibiotics out there, vets usually just prescribe one of them and wait. I have had success with broad spectrum antibiotics treating RI's, but I have also seen cases where the broad spectrum did not help, and precious time was lost in guessing games while the snake suffered. There have also been rare cases where an improperly treated RI has led to death. But those are rare. If caught early, they are usually very treatable and resolve quickly.

I rescued a normal female that had been left in an abandon mobile home to freeze to death. She had the worst RI I've ever seen or even heard of. She didn't wheeze, she gurgled. Her RI was so bad, when you held her, her sides rattled like a baby's toy rattle. It took 4 weeks of injections and nebulizer treatments to get her back to health, but she recovered fully and is now a mom.

So take it one step at a time. I believe in this case, as in the case of my poor rescue, low temps are to blame for the start of the RI. If I were in your position, I would indeed give her antibiotics and work on stabilizing her temps. If you have not yet given her any antibiotics, you can always request the vet do a culture and make sure you are treating her with the right medicine. However, if she's had even one injection, a culture won't help now and you should simply finish the medicine given you.

Please keep us informed on her treatment and progress.

Gale