Ball python whistling sound?

I got my pastel ball python about a month ago from a guy who did reptile convention shows and I've been noticing a whistling sound coming from him occasionally. The humidity stays at about 40% but drops down to 20% about mid-day (high-tech hygrometer tells me this). The general air temp is about 75, the substrate on the warm side is about 90, the substrate on the cool side is about 80. In the middle, the substrate gets cold because its kind of a long tank. I use the eco earth coco fiber substrate but he was previously housed in a newspaper habitat (I wanted something natural). My first guess is that the tank isn't well ventilated because he will climb up to the wire mesh top and kind of just keep his head by it (where the fresh air is in guessing) but I could be wrong and the air could be fine, I do spot clean daily and change substrate every month. I could post more but It might get into very tiny details and it might get long. Please help. I'm ok with taking him to a vet but they are an hour away and the roads are icy around here so if I can fix it on my own, I'd rather do that

It sounds like you gave your snake an RI (respiratory infection). Your ambient temperature is pretty cold…It's good to have an ambient temperature of 80 F. Ball pythons like to have a warm spot of 87-90 (basking at 95) and a cool side of 80ish. For nighttime temps can drop slightly..I would take your snake to a vet, RI's can be fatal.

Your humidity is also pretty low. They like a range in the 55-65% range with it around 70% during sheds. So bump the temps and the humidity and get him in to get checked out. The whistling definitely points towards a RI, which is worth the long drive to the vet. Those can easily kill your snake.

You said occasionally....what does that mean:

When you pick the animal up, for example?

Whistling is a normal noise if it occurs when the snake is agitated or stressed. There's a physiological reason for it.

Before anyone assumes it's an RI, please describe how often this happens and under what circumstances.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

You said occasionally....what does that mean:

When you pick the animal up, for example?

Whistling is a normal noise if it occurs when the snake is agitated or stressed. There's a physiological reason for it.

Before anyone assumes it's an RI, please describe how often this happens and under what circumstances.

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This. Vet check never hurts either!

Occasionally as in, its on and off and there really is no pattern. When he is in his hide, I can't hear it. When he is moving around the tank, I can hear it a little. When I hold him, it seems to start and stop all the time