Vet Trip and RI?

"star gazing" I believe is the term...stretching and looking up, usually with the mouth open.

No ma'am.

"The keeper may sometimes note the snake arching its back. This is the animal tryin to deal with fluids building up in the single usable lung," and "when arching its back, the snake is trying to drain the fluids to the rear or front of the lung or where the animal may attempt to expel phlegm." (The Complete Ball Python, Kevin McCurley)

I think everyone should invest in that book!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cassandra

"star gazing" I believe is the term...stretching and looking up, usually with the mouth open.

---

star gazing is something different.

-adam

Either way, we're going to take her to the vet. She's in need of a check-up anyways, so I might as well use the money given me for this little vet trip.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

star gazing is something different.

-adam

---

Really? I thought star gazing was a sympton of RI, stretching and looking up with the mouth open to help the fluids to flow down the lung, mouth open to help breathe? If not, what is star gazing then? =)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cassandra

Really? I thought star gazing was a sympton of RI, stretching and looking up with the mouth open to help the fluids to flow down the lung, mouth open to help breathe? If not, what is star gazing then? =)

---

Star gazing is neurological ... even though a ball python may behave in the way you describe when it has a respiratory infection, and the description of that behavior sounds similar to a description of star gazing, there's a world of difference between the two. ;)

-adam

Oooh, okay. Thanks for the clarification. =)

dr. joanne baldwin 794-8028 if you still need/want a vet!



vaughn

I'll check her out next time.


So. The verdict: "She's perfectly healthy, got beautiful markings, and has the sweetest disposition" he's ever encountered. No RI. No scale rot. No mouth rot.

So...I'll soak her every day to get any leftover scale out. It was good to get a checkup though. It reaffirms everything I was sure about.