Always been a lover of snakes, not a fan of the feeding. I got my first bp this Saturday on impluse after a trip to Gamestop one day. I got so attached to it my boyfriend was getting jealous and wanted one of his own. Therefore, Sunday we ended up getting a pastel bp that is really beautiful. Get him home and the first thing that I saw was a few very tiny bubbles around the entry way of his tongue. We also started to noticed that he would start to wheeze and make a sharp and very scary open and closing snaps with his mouth. After researching online it sounded like RI. Called the reptile store relying my concerns. I was told that he was starting to lay in his water dish and that he just needed to "dry out" and in a couple of days he should be fine.

Today, I took both snakes to one of my local vets that used to be the main dr. for the Palm Beach Zoo. He said that a culture must be done and a he is going to start him on shots of antibotics that may or may not work depending on what RI he has. I was also told to separate my bps because even though it might be "closing the door after the cow ran out of the barn" my healthly bp could get the RI too. NOW VERY CONCERNED, I went back to the reptile store and explained what the vet told me. The guy insisted that a small RI is completely normal and I just wasted my money and stressed out my snake with him getting a shot. He also informed me that I could have possibly set up my bp to be stressed enough not to eat from the ordeal. After him getting on the phone to the vet and clashing heads. I came to the resolution that since my vet is getting the results in 5 days for the culture and the reptile shop guarantees my bp should be over it in 7 days, that I would leave my bp there to be healthly again and wait. So heres my questions if anyone can help.

Is RI contagious?

Should my bps be separated?

Is the reptile shop guy correct that this is something that they can get over naturally?

Did I make the right decision in letting the reptile shop house my bp to make sure he's healthy?

Like I said, this is my first time with snakes and any help in getting my babies to be healthy and stay healthly would be apprecaited.

~Shannon