RI confusion

I am confused as to whether you are supposed to raise or lower humidity to fight an RI. I was told by a vet once to raise the humidity. This was for a ball python whose enclosure was misted regularly and came down with an RI. We raised the humidity and it died.

I don't usually mist my snake's enclosures and they have never had an RI.

If one comes down sick, do I raise or lower the humidity?

I would not raise the humidity, I'd bump up the temps a little though.

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Originally Posted by Ash

I am confused as to whether you are supposed to raise or lower humidity to fight an RI. I was told by a vet once to raise the humidity. This was for a ball python whose enclosure was misted regularly and came down with an RI. We raised the humidity and it died.

I don't usually mist my snake's enclosures and they have never had an RI.

If one comes down sick, do I raise or lower the humidity?

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I would follow the recommendations of a qualified reptile vet.

You're going to get too many conflicting opinions here - most of them will not be based on experience, but what was heard or read from forum to forum.

What I have been told by two vets - both real good ones - is that unless your humidity is incredibly high or incredibly low, don't touch it. Follow the medicating regimen of the vet and do everything in your power to lower the stress in your animal.

On of the many things that leads to a RI in snakes is the fact that people mist the crap out of their enclosures in an effort to achieve a humidity the snake does not require. Couple this excess humidity with the bad ventilation in most tubs and you create a breeding ground for bacteria.

I had to nebulize an anthill python that came to me with a bad RI. The vet was very explicit in her instructions that once the nebulizing session was done to make sure that the tub was ventilated of all excess moisture. Her explanation was that increased humidity is not good when you are trying to fight a bacterial infection. The only thing I've ever been told to increase is the heat.

I have been told by a very knowledgeable vet that high humidity AND poor air flow is rich grounds to breed bacteria that can cause RI. I have helped treat rescues with it and all we were told is to bump up the temps and follow the drug therapy carefully.

I have done lots of reading and asked a number of vets and it looks like poor ventilation is a issue.

Thanks guys. It seemed like such a basic issue, I was surprised at how difficult it was to find a straight consistent answer.