New guy needs help again! Freaking out

[Kevin95]

Newbie with BPs, but just recently my snake has started to make a small (and I do mean small, like it has to be extremely quiet in my room to hear this) popping noise when breathing. Now it doesn't happen all the time. He'll make the noise for like a minute then stop, and i won't hear it again for a day or two. And this is really starting to scare me, because I did all my research before I bought him from PetSmart, and some symptoms lead to RI. And I'm freaking out because it's my first "real" pet and all i'm thinking is "Oh God, I'm a terrible pet owner, my BP has RI and I can't afford to fill up my truck and drive 2 cities over to a vet for an appointment i can't afford". I mean, I seriously don't know what is going on. I keep the warm side off the 20 gallon tank AT LEAST 95degrees. He has his UTH and warm hide on that side, I keep him on aspen bedding. In the center of the tank is a pretty good-sized water dish that he soaks in, he has a branch for climbing and some of those little vines you can twist all sorts of different ways. And then there's the cool side that stays usually at 80-85 degrees (or so says the thermometer). Lately he's been staying on the cool side inside the cool hide most hours of the day. But I took him out of the tank to snuggle up and watch tv with him, and he was kinda cold. He usually crawls all over my hands and arm, so it's normal for him to get near my ears. And He started making the clicking/popping noise every minute or so. So i do more research, and most of the topics say "Might be RI." But he has no mucus around his nose, and when he yawns, there's just the typical saliva. He's not wheezing. The underside of his belly is kinda pink, and some topics say that maybe this is the start of the shedding process? His eyes aren't blue or milky, and I can't really tell if he's dulled or not. The feeding chart that came with the snake goes back a while, and it doesn't say anything about his last shed, or how old he is for that matter...The chart goes as far back as August 15...please help guys...If you need me to, I can post pictures. I live In Southwest Louisiana, 30 minutes from the border of Texas, and about an hour from the Gulf. So it should be pretty humid, i mean on the weather it said there was 99% humidity in my area today. But i don't have a humidity meter, so there's no telling what the humidity is inside the tank. it won't get here until December 1st.

[KMG]

At least 95? That is not needed. The entire tank can be 77-84 when you have a regulated tstat. The uth is on a thermostat, right?

As for the popping and a red belly is sounds like pre shed pops. The belly will turn red, then the snake will get dull and go into blue, this will then clear and the shed occurs right after. Hearing pops and click during this time is fairly common though it doesn't happen every time.

Maintain a close eye but without any other signs of a RI you should be fine.

[calmolly1]

I agree with KMG. The hot side is probably too hot! The UTH needs to be on a thermostat with probe between UTHS and bottom of the tank and reading 90 inside warm side hide on top of substrate. I keep the ambient temperature from 78 on cool side to 85 on warm side.

Could be shed popping, especially combined with the soaking in water dish. I've never had one of mine do this so far. Also what is humidity? It needs to be over 50% preferably closer to 70% if getting ready to shed.


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[Kevin95]

Also what is humidity? It needs to be over 50% preferably closer to 70% if getting ready to shed.

I do not have a humidity gauge, I have to wait until December 1st for mine to arrive. The only thing I know about the humidity is that it's warm inside my room, it's warm inside the tank, and the weather channel says 99%humidity in my area today, but that's not what it'll be inside my house. Should I have a little misting bottle? because the only source of water in the cage that could attain to humidity is his big water dish. I had to buy a dish because the one that came with the starter pack was entirely too small.

Also for the temperature thing. I recently moved the tank to another spot in my room. It was originally on my big dresser by a door that led straight out into the harsh cold winter weather, and i do believe it had a big draft. It is closer to the foot of my bed away from the door. The temperature probe for the digital thermo was all the way at the top of the tank by the light, so i moved it down to the bottom and am waiting on a new reading on ground level. (currently 85, gonna try and keep it there). i have 2 heating lamps. 1 runs a 100watt ceramic heat emitter, the other runs the standard heating bulb that gives off light. I usually only turn on the light-lamp if the water in his dish is cold or if temp drops below 80. The UTH is not on a thermostat because ONE: I don't know how to operate one at the moment and TWO: I don't know how much they cost and I probably can't afford one right now. I keep ample amounts of substrate above the UTH so he doesn't touch the glass. I can place my hand on the area, and it's nice and warm. not hot, just fuzzy warm. Is there any other information that needs to be known?

[calmolly1]

I would make a thermostat a must buy ASAP. What feels warm to us (our temp is 98f) might be way to hot for the snake. Just my opinion. Thermostats are pretty inexpensive for an avg one. About $30. Better than nothing. Just what I've learned over the last year .


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[KMG]

I will not recommend any cheap tstat as I believe it is the single most important thing you should buy for this hobby. I like Herpstat but Reptile Basics has some nice options too.
http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html
http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats

The issue with putting ample substrate over the uth is two fold.

1. The extra substrate makes it impossible for the heat to penetrate it and the snake does not receive the heat it is sending.

2. The extra substrate insulates the uth and traps a lot more heat. This is an issue if your snake decided to burrow down to the heat source it will be in a zone that is way to hot and can cause all sorts of problems. Don't think that just because you have not seen it burrow that it wont. Mine ball will root up the entire tank from time to time for what seems like no reason.

A good tstat is cheaper than a vet visit. I would unplug the uth as it is not doing anything for you right now.

[calmolly1]

Herpstat is the best!


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[Kevin95]

The issue with putting ample substrate over the uth is two fold.

1. The extra substrate makes it impossible for the heat to penetrate it and the snake does not receive the heat it is sending.

2. The extra substrate insulates the uth and traps a lot more heat. This is an issue if your snake decided to burrow down to the heat source it will be in a zone that is way to hot and can cause all sorts of problems. Don't think that just because you have not seen it burrow that it wont. Mine ball will root up the entire tank from time to time for what seems like no reason.

A good tstat is cheaper than a vet visit. I would unplug the uth as it is not doing anything for you right now.

By ample, I don't mean a mountain of it. By that i mean that i can stick maybe 1/4 or less of my finger into the substrate then hit glass. Maybe i misused the world "ample"

[KMG]

By ample, I don't mean a mountain of it. By that i mean that i can stick maybe 1/4 or less of my finger into the substrate then hit glass. Maybe i misused the world "ample"

The proper amount of substrate to use on a regulated uth is 1/4 inch or less. Anything over that will start creating the situation I described above.

Search Google images for burned snakes and search some of the threads here about the vet bills for them.

[Serpentine666]

If you cant afford a really expensive thermostat from Spyderrobotics or Vivarium electronics, (and i do stress you make it a priority to upgrade) for now, hook up a hydrofarm to the uth. Not the best, most certainly not the worst-- and good for a good back up when you upgrade . Around $30 on Amazon. Theres no reason not to have a tstat