Is my Bp sick????????

Update:


I gave her the fifth shot yesterday along with a tepid 15 min soak. She still looked the same - extra saliva and frequent yawns/mouth breaths. In the closed tub with water her sounds were amplified and I could hear some of the inhalations (groan like). However, I followed through anyway today since she was taking a break from the shot and today is feed day for my 5 day feeders. I warmed her mouse and lowered it into the aquarium. She was hiding under her cool box and did not come out. I put the mouse back under the lamp and moved the cool hide off her slightly so she could see out. I lowered the mouse in again and wiggled it by its tail; no go. She actually turned the other way. I put the mouse under the lamp one more time to warm a bit more. Lower, wiggle, wiggle, around the cool hide, wiggle wiggle, around the water dish and SNAP - she took it and began constricting. MY heart was pounding because I "knew" she wouldn't eat it. She took the mouse so violently that it ripped the tail off - yuck. Then she did something amazing - she started eating the mouse. Her breathing was autibly labored and she had a rough time but she ate it. It was a small meal for her - about 23 grams per her 300 gram self but I figured that would be better. She had quite the time realigning her jaw but seems fine now. It has been 1/2 hour and she is still fine - no regurge as of yet. So what does this mean? Is she getting better? Does she not have RI - something else maybe. None of my other snakes are sick. Could this be a physical issue with her? Perhaps a blocked salivary duct? Whatever - she ate!

Theyll eat even with an RI if their hungry enough. But this should mean maybe she's feeling better. It's hard to try and not read Into every sign. But i think shell get better. Just keep on keeping on.

Update 4/13/11

Bad news: The male het pied that was in the tub next to her has RI symptoms now also :( I will be calling the vet in the morning to order meds for him. I weighed him yesterday and he looked a little wet mouthed (not drooling or bubbling but wet around the edges). I went to feed him his rat today and he struck but no take then strike squeeze for 30 seconds then throw it away then gasp. Clearly he is having a hard time so I am assuming this will be bubbles in a few days and I want a head start. I had no choice but to do what I did and I hope it is the right choice. I have 9 Bp's. 8 were in a rack and one in qt which is a divided 30 breeder in a different room. I rigged a 10 gallon in my bathroom as a emergency room for the first sick girl but have no where else for another sick snake. So....I took the qt mojave and put her in a bin and put her on the heat I was using for the sick het in my bathroom only I did not want her in my bathroom so I put her in another room. I took the two sick ones and put them into the divided 30 breeder. I know they may be a different stages of their sickness and I was hesitant to do this but it was the only way I could get them away from the apparently still well ones and onto some heat. So now I have the two sick hets in 30 breeder in one room, my rack with 6 seemingly healthys in another room and the qt snake in a bin with heat in another room. I have no idea what I will do with another sick one. Please let this be it for me I am so stressed. BTW... the female het pied is seemingly doing a bit better. She still gasps every so often but her tongue flicks are 95% normal and I see no extra moisture around her mouth. I totally bleached that bottom shelf and all the gear I used with both snakes that have been sick so far. I am trying :tears:

Ate your heat and humidy levels where they should be? If you are ending up with multiple BPs that have RI, you should definitely check your husbandry.

RI is not easy to transfer from one snake to the next unless they are in the same enclosure and drink from the same water bowl. It's the same as you having a sinus infection. You spread it by mucus and fluid that comes from your nose and mouth. Since snakes can't cough or sneeze, they need to share a water bowl or rub their face in the exact same spot that another sick snake has rubbed on and left nasal or mouth fluid behind.

So if your snakes keep getting sick and it's more than 1, you probably need to raise the heat and humidity. Cut out the possibility of drafts, and fix whatever else may be causing it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

Ate your heat and humidy levels where they should be? If you are ending up with multiple BPs that have RI, you should definitely check your husbandry.

RI is not easy to transfer from one snake to the next unless they are in the same enclosure and drink from the same water bowl. It's the same as you having a sinus infection. You spread it by mucus and fluid that comes from your nose and mouth. Since snakes can't cough or sneeze, they need to share a water bowl or rub their face in the exact same spot that another sick snake has rubbed on and left nasal or mouth fluid behind.

---

I have checked and it all seems right to me. Hot spot was 93 but I bumped it to 94.5 when I saw sickness the first time. Humidity runs between 60-75% sometimes a bit higher due to weather here in FL. Ambient is between 80-85 F night-day. When I change the tubs I pull them out two at a time, one shelf at a time. They could have come in contact then and are right next to each other in the rack. He would be the most likely of any of them to have caught it from her. I checked all my others yesterday and they all seem fine also.

Oh man I thought things were getting better. I really hope that everything is going to get better. Hopefully the vet can just prescribe the baytril dosage so you don't have to pay for another visit and lung wash etc. Sorry 
Keep everyone away from these two and becareful about the one that may be getting better. Dont give that rat to anyone else either.

Could the high humidity be causing these problems?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AkHerps

Could the high humidity be causing these problems?

---

No high humidity is needed during sickness.

Try to keep the cool side/ air temp min 85 and hot side 95. Minimal handling and stop the soakings(stress). Just mist the tub and keep humidity up. Stress will cause the meds to do absolutely nothing. I would also keep her in the tub and not the tank.

Just give her the shot, mist the tub, keeps temps up and leave her alone. No handling or feeding at all, just handle her when giving meds.

Also when giving shots, im surprised the Vet advised a new series of meds right after previous series. This is how livers get damaged and meds dont work as they get immune to it. Most vets advice 2 weeks on 1-2 weeks off before starting new series

I meant, that the humidity is that high ALL the time. Could that cause the RI problems?

Unless I didn't read the part where the OP said they bumped the humidity up. I just read that they bumped up the heat.

Hey there,

Interesting read. I'm wondering if all your snakes are on a dimmer? If they are I'd try getting a thermostat.

Do you have a high low thermometer? One that tells you what the lowest temp and the highest temp was? Dimmers change with the surroundings if it's cooler in the house the temp of the hot spot will go down. How are you checking the temps? Is it the same thermometer? Maybe you have a faulty thermometer. How big is your hot spot? How big are the the tubs? What substrate are you using? Are you taking the temp from the top of the substrate or the bare plastic? What type of hot spot are you using?

Just trying to help.