Is it a RI?

[Twisted Reptiles]

Hey all, need your experience and opinions.

Got an 06 male pastel ball shipped from a breeder yesterday, along with two other snakes from that same breeder. He just finished his breeding season recently. The other two seem fine, no problems but the pastel seems to possibly have a RI.

When I first unboxed him I just slid him into his tub as I knew it'd been a hard trip and didn't want to mess with him. I noticed several times when I approached his tub yesterday he seemed to be opening his mouth and hissing a bit...I didn't think too much of it, I figured he was pissed off from being shipped across the country in a box.

Today, looking closer, I noticed a bit of saliva around the edges of his mouth, and also noticed that he very rarely seems to put his head down and often had his mouth agape. His gums look a normal pink from what I can tell, doesn't seem to be a ton of mucus or anything in his mouth, and his nostrils appear clear. But...more worried about his health than him being annoyed by the move, I took him a couple hours ago and held him. He opened his mouth and started to what I thought was going to be a hiss....but instead it was more of a gurgle. He did this a few times in the 5 minutes I held him. I've isolated him in another room and raised his temps, and he is happily staying in the heat with his mouth shut (head still up). What I thought was just aggressiveness at first, doesn't seem to be the case, he was very calm. Sadly, I'd prefer an aggressive snake than a sick one.

I'm guessing RI, hoping its not something worse (IBD), and I've e-mailed the breeder. Could an RI have been caused by the stress of shipping and progressed this quickly or is it likely this was pre-existing? I really don't expect him to assume any liability, I just want information. I'm calling the vet in the morning and getting him seen tomorrow...just wanted to see what you all thought. Sorry so long...just worried about him.

Thanks.

[rabernet]

"Yawning" by itself could be a result of shipping stress. If you're already at the drooling stage and sitting with its mouth agape, it is a more progressed RI and will require veterinary intervention. The breeder should offer to either take the animal back (but I'd hope they'd request you hang onto him for a week to allow him to recover from his first shipment experience) or offer to pay your vet bills.

[Twisted Reptiles]

"Yawning" by itself could be a result of shipping stress. If you're already at the drooling stage and sitting with its mouth agape, it is a more progressed RI and will require veterinary intervention. The breeder should offer to either take the animal back (but I'd hope they'd request you hang onto him for a week to allow him to recover from his first shipment experience) or offer to pay your vet bills.

My guess was that with as advanced as this appears to be, this was pre-existing. I didn't so much as request it, but I'm hoping he comes back with some kind of offer such as you stated. I don't mind keeping the snake, but I think he should be willing to pick up the vet tab as you stated. I didn't sign up for a sick ball. I just wasn't sure as to what the status quo was when it comes to this. His T&C has a live arrival guarantee, nothing more, but no exclusions either.

Should I e-mail again and be more forward about covering the vet bills or wait for his response first?

[Twisted Reptiles]

Appt. set for 3pm today, we'll see how it goes.