RI or am i just panicking...

[Merchant]

this Sunday after noon. i was handling ginger. walking around the house with her wrapped around my neck. i was watching TV and i noticed a bit of clear fluid (like when we have a runny nose) drain out of her mouth and on to my pants. shes very active. roaming around. trying to hide. her tongue is flicking. i wiped the fluid and lessened for any wheezing. i heard none at first. after a few more minutes some more fluid drained and then i heard a definite wheeze not every breath but like every 4th breath or so. i have immediately raised her cage temp thermostat to 96 and opened all the vents to reduce the humidity. i have as a precaution made a vest appointment for Tuesday at 4pm the closest one i could get, i messed up and hesitated and lost the one open appointment i could have gotten today. dose this sound like RI or am i just panicking. she ate last night no problem. this is the first time i have ever heard her wheeze. shes going to the vet regardless, just to be safe the normal humidity for her cage is between 58% and 70% usually closer to the 60% end. and my temps are kept at 90/92 on the hot and 82/84 on the cool with no night drop.

is there anything else i cna doo till she gets to the vet?

[xdeus]

It sounds like you're doing everything right if she does have an RI. i.e. Bump the temps until you can get her to a vet.

However, I noticed that you said she ate last night after you noticed the clear fluid. In the future, it's probably a good idea to rule out an RI before you feed her. Feeding takes a lot of energy which she will need to fight off any infections she may have.

Good luck and let us know what the vet says!

[jglass38]

I don't know where you live or what your house it like, but mine is drafty. I don't take my snakes out of the snake room if I don't have to. I would say a vet visit is in order and keep the snake away from any place in the house that could be drafty.

[Merchant]

No drafts, all new windows throughout the house and radiant heat. i keep the house 70+ this was the first time Ive taken her out of the warm room all winter. my reptile room is kept much warmer than the rest of the house because of 4 other reptile heating systems in the room. i have two dragons. in a separate divided cage. each with its own heaters. another snake in a separate tank. and an anole also with its own cage and heat source's. i haven't put a thermometer in the room its self but i think i will just for my own peace of mind.

oh any ideas on transport? the vet is 23 min away from my house. im thinking once of the warm heat packs i have in the bottom of a plastic critter cage. with a towel between it and her. should keep her warm for the ride too and from the vet.

[Merchant]

well she. err no he (yep ginger is a male lol) went to the vet and all appears well. raising the temps and lowering the humidity must have done the trick. he's just fine at 1190 grams and the vet showed me how to probe. the vet said he didn't think she would need any meds and i should keep the temps up for another week or two just to be sure its all cleared up. now i just got to figure out a new name that fits.....

[Melicious]

This always helps me.

http://www.mysticgames.com/names.htm

[tigerlily]

well she. err no he (yep ginger is a male lol) went to the vet and all appears well. raising the temps and lowering the humidity must have done the trick. he's just fine at 1190 grams and the vet showed me how to probe. the vet said he didn't think she would need any meds and i should keep the temps up for another week or two just to be sure its all cleared up. now i just got to figure out a new name that fits.....

Is this a herp vet? I would suggest getting another opinion. The only cure for a RI is antibiotics. Just upping temps will only make it look like it's getting better superficially.

[Merchant]

yes he is a herp vet.

Thomas Milos & Dr. Micinilio
Shakespeare Vet Hospital
47 Nichols Ave
Stratford 06497
203-378-8276


what he actually said was he couldn't find any sign of an RI the snakes mouth was clear there was no abnormal breath sounds. that upping the temps may have stopped something from developing and he didn't think med's were needed. i decided to keep the temps up for the next week or so just in case. what i forgot to mention was that i was working on the downstairs dining room, painting and removing old carpet. and had the windows open for ventilation. this is not so bad but to save energy i turned the heat off while the windows were open and i forgot to turn it back on when i was finished.

why i thought turning the heat off would save energy i don't know, but we all do stupid things when we are tired, pissed off and upset that all the cats, dogs and other animals that have lived in the house destroyed the hardwood floors.


the house temps went down to 64 that sat night. and although the snakes are on there own thermostats they require and min air temp of at least 70 to work properly. IE i fudged up and let my baby's get a cold day. and i started to panic. by Sunday after noon the heat was back on and the house was warming backup. sorry for the misinformation I'm just beginning to figure out what happened how it happened and what could have happened.

[Merchant]

This always helps me.

http://www.mysticgames.com/names.htm

wow great site. i think

Kieran is his new male name...... celtic for small and dark skinned

[kavmon]

in addition to the above, make sure the temps are correct with a digital thermometer. double check the cool end of the setup. humidity doesn't need to get to 70%, 50-60% is fine. using quality heating elements and thermostats will go far to keep things in check.



vaughn