My BP whistles

I've done research before posting this but I thought I'd post here to see what you all thought.

First off, I have a 2 year old male who last ate a rat 4 days ago. I've only had him (he's my first) a couple weeks. Temps are 92 on the warm side, and 75 on the cool side. The Rh is 55% in a 30 long tank with a substrate of Exo-Terra Jungle Earth. He did a full shed about a week ago.

The problem is whenever I handle him a while, like 5 or ten minutes, he starts to whistle. Some might say wheezing. Its definitely not a hiss, its rhythmic. It seems like it was the loudest on either the inspiration or the exhalation, one or the other.

I know it sounds like an RI but I because it doesn't start until after hes been handled a while I wonder if it could be stress.

Today it seemed like he was stretching toward the floor while I was holding him. It was like he wanted to get down. Then I heard the whistling. When I put him back it seemed like he was eager to get back in his cage and pretty much went straight into his warm hide.

I've seen no bubbling or discharge from the mouth whatsoever.

His previous owners didn't handle him a lot and when I got him he hadn't eaten right and had a bad shed and was pretty dehydrated, so it was basically a rescue situation.

Oh yeah, I didn't see any shed left on the head anywhere. I've made an appointment with the Vet for Monday.

He could have a little piece of stuck shed in his nostril (that you can't see) and when he breathes heavily it starts to whistle.

Personally, I wouldn't associate it with an RI unless there was at least one other symptom other than whistling. That alone is not enough to diagnose it as an RI.

Chances are he is just fine but it wouldn't be a bad idea to swing by the vet and make sure everything is in order. :gj:

I'm glad you made an appointment! It's not normal for them to whistle/wheeze. It might be a RI that you caught really early. You don't want it to get to the point your bp is bubbling. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice. I'll let the vet see whats going on with him Because of his history its probably best for him to get a check up anyway.

When you get a snake in from this kind of background, it's always a good idea to take it to the vet for a once-over. I was given an adult BP a year ago by owners who said he was too "nippy." He came to me crammed into a filthy 10-gallon tank with inadequate heat and humidity. Soon after I got him into a proper set-up he started doing weird behaviors like side-lying. There were no other symptoms, but it was too strange so I took him to the vet just to be safe. Turned out the snake had been brewing a bacterial infection for some time before I got him. It had just begun to manifest as blister disease the morning he saw the vet. So, long story short, you just never know when you get a snake from poor circumstances, and it's best to catch problems early while they're (relatively) easy to treat. Good luck with your new friend! :D

You might want to bump up your cool side to like 82-83 range ;)

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

You might want to bump up your cool side to like 82-83 range ;)

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This is a good idea.:gj:

And unless you have a really talented BP, it's probably developing an RI. Although BG guesses it could be possible that it has some stuck shed in his nostril like someone said, BG highly doubts it.


PLEASE...PLEASE.... do some research on the Vet you are taking him to and make sure they're qualified. We don't want your snake worse off than when it started.

I sometimes get whistling noises out of my nose too. It doesn't mean I have an RI. This usually happens when I'm breathing hard and it's quite dry. I'll get a piece of dried snot stuck in my nose narrowing the nasal passages and causing hard forceful breathing through my nose to make a whistling noise. Usually a good hot steamy shower or a session with the neti pot will take care of the problem for me. For your snake you might want to try raising the temperatures and the humidity. Try a plastic shoe box with a hole cut in the side, stuffed with damp sphagnum moss and placed on top of the heat source. Some nice warm humidity could do wonders for your snake.


Then again, maybe he just doesn't know the words to the song...

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

You might want to bump up your cool side to like 82-83 range ;)

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I need to get a second UTH and Thermostat ASAP. Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll post what I found out at the vet.

Well I had my vet appointment today.
I was surprised that he was hesitant to pick the snake up from its container. he asked me to do it since the snake wasn't used to him. Is this unusual? Again it was my first reptilian vet appointment.
He said the whistle was actually a hiss. I think if its a hiss its a rhythmic hiss that mimics a breathing pattern, but he's the doc, right?
He did check out his mouth (wow, pretty nasty-sharp set of teeth in there) and said no RI.
There are some retained eye caps but he said give it two weeks to come off on their own, otherwise he will remove them.
So I've bumped the humidity up to 75-80%

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Originally Posted by vjb

Well I had my vet appointment today.
I was surprised that he was hesitant to pick the snake up from its container. he asked me to do it since the snake wasn't used to him. Is this unusual? Again it was my first reptilian vet appointment.
He said the whistle was actually a hiss. I think if its a hiss its a rhythmic hiss that mimics a breathing pattern, but he's the doc, right?
He did check out his mouth (wow, pretty nasty-sharp set of teeth in there) and said no RI.
There are some retained eye caps but he said give it two weeks to come off on their own, otherwise he will remove them.
So I've bumped the humidity up to 75-80%

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sounds like you need to find a new herp vet. Also whistling sounds came be a number of things. Doesent automatically mean its a r.i.

one of my BP's had that whistling noise when it was breathing and I did find a little bit of retained shed, I got it off and the whistling stopped.

Yeah, new reptile vet. A herp vet who's scared of ball pythons? ...that's like working on dogs and being scared of golden retrievers.

My black pastel whistles like this. Always has. I've pried his mouth open with a q-tip and taken him to the vet, and he seems perfectly fine. I have a friend who speculates that the black pastel is annoyed at being handled, but he's one of the snakes that actually seems to genuinely enjoy it. So I don't know!

I have a Normal Male that was given to me 13 years ago. Crazy guy whistles like a maniac if he doesn't want to be handled for 13 years now. Loud as hell!! Eats,drinks, sheds, poos and breeds normal except for every August- January won't eat a dam thing. I wouldn't worry too much yet. Also look for a vet that specializes in exotics, it will make a huge difference.

I definitely wouldn't take the snake to that vet again -- that is too funny that he didn't want to pick up your BP (not really funny, but I think you know what I mean).

I had a simiiar experience once when I took my first bp about 10 years ago to the vet. The vet was actually okay, but I could tell the assistant was afraid of the snake. She kept on holding him by the neck (right behind the head) like he was a vicous rattler that was going to strike at any moment. I mentioned to her a few times that she didn't have to worry, and by the end of the check-up she finally seemed to relax a bit.

Later,

George

I once had a whistling snake. I took him to the vet, spent $150, went through many hassles. The whistling stopped after a couple weeks of medication, but to this day I still wonder if it was really worth it. I tried 2 medications. I had to change from the first one because whenever I gave him it he would produce TONNES of mucus and his nose would bubble. Anyway, just keep an eye open for mucus, or tilting his head and neck upwards, and other things like that.

Based on his hesitance to pick up the BP initially I wondered about his diagnosis. Once I handed hm the snake he did the exam without too much problem.
I'll keep an eye on the whistling.
The vet did say the snake wasn't "tame" and that he shouldn't have been squirming much as he was during the exam. He suggested I handle the BP daily for a few minutes to help with this.

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Originally Posted by vjb

Based on his hesitance to pick up the BP initially I wondered about his diagnosis. Once I handed hm the snake he did the exam without too much problem.
I'll keep an eye on the whistling.
The vet did say the snake wasn't "tame" and that he shouldn't have been squirming much as he was during the exam. He suggested I handle the BP daily for a few minutes to help with this.

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From the sounds of it, this guy really has no idea what he is talking about.

If the snake has stuck eye caps, it is pretty likely that he has stuck shed in his nose that is causing the whistling.

There is no such thing as a "rhythmic hiss".

That guy is obviously not comfortable with snakes and is not qualified to diagnose problems.

I would find a new vet :/ Maybe quiz them with a few very easy ball python facts to see if they actually know what they are talking about. Like, ask the vet questions that you already know the answers too and see if he or she answers them right.

Please call every vet you can drive to in a reasonable distance and find one that is an exotics vet with experience with snakes..

I agree w everyone else. If he was nervous at all about handling the snake I would not trust his diagnosis. It could be he is a nervous whistler, or an RI or stuck shed etc..

But I would still get a different vet for future visits. Not tame? Even my tamest snake will move nervously after a drive in the car to a place he has never seen or smelled before, being held by someone he is not familier with..

As for the retained eyecap. I would never let someone else remove it. I dont care how long it has been there. It will come off on its own with just a little help from you.

Raising the humidity to 75% or more when he goes into blue. Placing a humid hide in his tank stuffed with moist moss during his entire shed process. Rubbing some bacitracin on the eyes once day or so during the shed process.

If you do this it will come off. Just dont saok him during the shed process. This can actually make for a bad shed.

I have delt with retained eyecaps on new arrivals and I have always gotten them to come off on their own with only the assistance I mentioned. Forceably removing them can cause more harm than not.

New vet, definitely. REAL herp vets have probably been bitten hundreds of times and most likely by species far more aggressive and dangerous than Ball Pythons. Or they at least know how to approach a snake in the best way. That guy may be a wonderful vet for many other kinds of animals, but he is clearly not good with snakes.

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Originally Posted by otiswest

New vet, definitely. REAL herp vets have probably been bitten hundreds of times and most likely by species far more aggressive and dangerous than Ball Pythons. Or they at least know how to approach a snake in the best way. That guy may be a wonderful vet for many other kinds of animals, but he is clearly not good with snakes.

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I couldn't agree more. I was like :O midway into the appointment.

I thought I'd post an update. I went to a new vet today for retained eyecaps and the whistling sound which has gotten better since I started this thread.

On the way I was wondering whether he associated the container with the last trip to the vet and he struck at me as I took the top off of the container so I guess I have my answer.

I grabbed him up and he was fine but obviously nervous.
Kind of like when you take tour car to the shop because its making "a noise" and then it doesn't once you get there, my BP didn't make a peep as far as the whistling.

He didn't want to vet to look in his mouth but once he did everything looked fine. The diagnosis from the vet was that my guy was a little dehydrated (I'm sure from the previous owner/conditions.

He also said he looked a little heavy since the vet could see some skin between the scales so he recommended I stop feeding weekly and go to every other week feeding schedule. He's about 2 years old, male and 1588 grams. About 3.5 feet in length. Does this sound overweight for the size/age?

Another issue was that he hasn't passed a stool in the past month since I've had him. Well that was solved when the BP went all over floor and partially on the vet :O. He passed a couple pieces of hard white urine :confused: and some regular stool, so we got a stool sample for testing.

The vet suggested I wait until after the next shed reference the eyecaps.
He also suggested a humid hide so once I returned him to his enclosure at home, off I went and got that accomplished. I put the humid hide (a large inverted Tupperware type bowl with another small container of sphagnum moss inside) in place of the cool hide.

Any thoughts/suggestions/tips would be appreciated. Thanks in advance and my wishes for a Happy New Year to everyone here.

Bump for the update.
I was hoping to get some thoughts/advice from the knowledgeable people here on this.

Nobody?

Hi,

That weight doesn't sound too bad to me - and I would be more inclined to keep the feeding schedule the same and just use a slightly smaller prey size.

What is he eating at present?

I would also put the cool side hide back in - humid hides are best used as well as the regular hides not in place of. :gj:


dr del

Thanks. I'm using small rats from a local shop and have been feeding him one per week.
I will not go to one every other week like the vet suggested. That's just too much of a switch, maybe every 9 days and see how he does.
I did put the cool hide in and replaced the warm hide with the humid hide.
Now he's in the cool hide all of the time.
Problem is he's so big that I cant fit all three hides in the enclosure, plus the water dish plus the log in a 30 long.

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

That weight doesn't sound too bad to me - and I would be more inclined to keep the feeding schedule the same and just use a slightly smaller prey size.

What is he eating at present?

I would also put the cool side hide back in - humid hides are best used as well as the regular hides not in place of. :gj:


dr del

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If you have a scale, you should probably try and weigh your rats. Small rats to where you are purchasing them could be considered medium rats to others. Just a thought.

Check this out: http://www.rodentpro.com/catalog.asp?prod=2
Showing skin between the scales is a sign of being overweight. Do you have any pictures?

Hi,

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Originally Posted by vjb

Thanks. I'm using small rats from a local shop and have been feeding him one per week.
I will not go to one every other week like the vet suggested. That's just too much of a switch, maybe every 9 days and see how he does.
I did put the cool hide in and replaced the warm hide with the humid hide.
Now he's in the cool hide all of the time.
Problem is he's so big that I cant fit all three hides in the enclosure, plus the water dish plus the log in a 30 long.

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The reason I suggested smaller prey was that it kept the same feeding schedule so was less disruption to the snakes eating pattern. :)

He won't notice if the rat is 45g instead of 55g but he will notice if it is 3 days late. :P

As to the space issue I would use a smaller water bowl and throw the log away - the hides are more important than the log and if the humid hide fixes the humidity issue then the waterbowl size becomes less relevant. :gj:


dr del