Help: BP has breathing issue

Hello,

I live in a small town and am disabled so can't travel long distances. I have a 5 year old Mohave ball python named Sid. He has the same living conditions that he has had for five years. The only difference is his humidifier is broken and I am waiting for a replacement. This has happened twice before and he has never gotten this problem. He sounds like he is hissing when he breathes. There is no discharge, he just had a good shed, his eyes are bright, he is eating and active. I am trying to find a vet that will see him but have had no luck. I am very concerned about him and wondering if anyone knows of anything I can do for him while I am trying to find a vet. I will be getting his humidifier in the next couple of days but is there any type of over the counter medicine I can give him? He is such a sweet boy and I am terribly worried. He is 45" long but I don't know his weight. He does not seem to have lost weight and is quite healthy looking. I will resume my vet search tomorrow morning but would so appreciate any advice anyone could give. Thank you so much. elysheva

All a humidifier does is increase the relative humidity of the room. Couldn't you simply mist his enclosure until you are able to replace it?

If it is actually the beginnings of an infection, a visit to a qualified reptile vet is your best bet (as you already know). Treatment for respiratory infections vary depending on the actual organism involved, so it's not something you want to go about trying to find a home remedy for. You could end up chasing your tail and wasting perfectly good time and money on something that was never going to work in the first place.

Good luck to you and yours, and welcome to the site!

Best regards,
Eric

I know you've had the snake in the same environment for 5 years, but just curious how are the snake's temps and can you give us a detailed description of your set up, a photo would be ideal.

Is there a possibility because it's summer that your air conditioning might be set higher therefore decreasing the ambient room temperature.

If you have a temp gun great, if you don't I would suggest getting one. It's amazing how quickly you can get the information about your snake's environment while using a temp gun. Not only do I want to get a feel for the hot spot the warm spot, but the snake's actual temperature. Notice I didn't say cold spot. If you were talking about colubrids the term cold spot is used quit frequently, but with boids which includes pythons it's important that your snake's body temps don't drop below 77 degrees. This can cause the snake to go into a stressed condition which could weaken it's immune system in turn would allowing the snake to loose the battle against infection.

I totally agree with Eric, getting your snake to a vet will be the best course of action. Even if the vet isn't an expert on reptiles he or she could use an acceptable broad spectrum antibiotic that might improve your snake's condition.

Just for the heck of it you might want to turn the heat up on your big guy 2 to 4 degrees, that will sometimes decrease the symptoms. Ideal temps for ball pythons is between 80 and 90 degrees, swayng toward the high end is always better for the snake in my opinion.

Best of luck and please keep us informed of its progress.

Brian Gundy
For Goodness Snakes
408-981-6694
fgsnakes@sbcglobal.net

Hi, thanks for the information. I have some new information this morning. The first time I noticed Sid breathing like this was after the cat swatted him. I thought he was mad and hissing at me. Last night when I noticed it again I just assumed it had never stopped but I could be wrong. My husband is the high school varsity tennis coach and he had a party for his boys last night and of course they all wanted to handle Sid. This is when I noticed it happening again. However, I just spent an hour with him slithering all over me and the floor and he didn't wheeze once. Could it be a hissing from a scared reaction? My husband thinks I should watch him to see if and when it happens again rather than trying to get him to a vet since he has no other symptoms. I don't want to be irresponsible with his care but I do see my husband's point. It would not be an enjoyable trip for Sid either and if he is just scared and making a hissing noise it would not be in his best interest to drag him to vet with all the other animals he would come into contact with. His cage stays pretty much between 48% and 52% humidity and the cool end is 75-77 degrees F and the hot end is between 83-85 degrees F. His new humidifier should be here tomorrow. I usually try and keep it around 55-57%. I really do appreciate the help! elysheva

Not to state the obvious, but agitated/stressed snakes hiss. It's kind of their thing. :)

There is a difference between labored breathing (wheezing) and hissing. After 5 years in your care, I'd be shocked if you weren't familiar with how his hisses sound. Is what you're talking about now any different than that?

Best regards,
Eric

Hi Eric,

I just realized that sometimes it is GOOD to state the obvious!!!! In his whole 5 years I think I have heard Sid hiss twice. He is the only snake that I am up close and personal with so I have no idea what is normal. In the past when I heard/saw him hiss it was because he got badly startled. There were two differences between his past hisses and what he was doing Sunday. In the past he opened his mouth and hissed loudly. On Sunday he was pretty stressed because usually I don't let a lot of people handle him but my husband really wanted me to let his boys handle the snake. He is pretty much used to just me. Anyway, on Sunday the sound was coming out when he breathed out and his mouth was shut. Can snakes hiss with their mouths shut? Plus, he kept going for the whole time until I put him back in the tank. I just held him up to my ear and he is quiet as can be. I feel like an idiot... but at least my snake seems like he may not be sick!!!!! I have books but they don't get into hissing. Sid started out as my son's snake but then my son went to college and I inherited him. I want the best for him so I read books and information online but again, have never run across anything on hissing. Thank you so much for taking the time to inform me on stuff I should know. It is a big help and very appreciated. elysheva

What you're describing from Sunday is textbook hissing (mouth closed, puffing themselves up, keeping on until something changes). He just let everyone know that he was upset, but not enough to actually do anything about it.

Keep an eye on him, but to me it's sounding more and more like you have a perfectly normal, healthy animal.