frequent yaning and sneezing!!!!!

hi everyone, i have just discovered that my BP is making sneezing noises and has what looks like little snot bubbles above his nostrils. right now his hot side is 93 and the ambient air temp is between 75 and 80. the humidity is currently reading 60% but thats because the fogger just turned off. what do i do to help my guy

Hi,

It sounds like you have a respiratory infection. :(

Time to go find a vet I'm afraid.


dr del

It sounds like he may have a respiratory infection, especially if he's starting to blow snot. Either way, it seems like it's time for a vet visit.

is there anything i can do to get him better before i go to a vet and drop a few hundred bucks??? just curious. if not then i got to take him. i have increased heat and humidity because that is what i heard helps them.... correct me if im wrong

nope. once he has the RI, u must take care of it. what kind of fogger??? why do u need one?

i have a fogger because it is dry where we live. its just to aid with humidity

At this point no heat or humidity is going to fix it

Take it to the vet

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Originally Posted by mattramsfan

hi everyone, i have just discovered that my BP is making sneezing noises and has what looks like little snot bubbles above his nostrils. right now his hot side is 93 and the ambient air temp is between 75 and 80. the humidity is currently reading 60% but thats because the fogger just turned off. what do i do to help my guy

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Ball Pythons never normally have snot bubbles come out of thier nose. Sounds alot like a RI. The only thing that can help a RI is antibiotics from a vet.

Ditto. Sorry, dude. What are you measuring your temps/humidity with?

Now for everyone else: If his temps and humidity are accurate, what could have caused this?

Yep. Definitely sounds like an RI. The thing with snakes is that they can not cough, so once there's mucous in their lungs, they're not getting it out on their own.

A change in weather / barometric pressure can weaken a snake's immune system the same way it can affect people's health. Occasionally, even if your husbandry is fine, snakes get sick. Depending on the strain, RI's can be highly contageous. Do you have any newly acquired snakes? Even if they aren't presenting symptoms, some snakes can be asymptomatic carriers of infections for a while; they may not present symptoms right away, but can still be contageous.

In any case, the most important thing right now is that you get him to a vet ASAP! The longer you wait, the longer it will take to clear this up.

I wish you the best of luck!

stress can weaken their immune system too. have u been cleaning the enclosure regularly? water can be a bad place to let bacteria sit

If you are having a fogger in the tank it is probably causing too high of humidity which is an easy way to get and RI. And it deffiantly sounds like an RI and without vet attention(and if it's too far along even with vet attention) it will die. Best to get it to a vet right away so you can get antibiotics.

What are you using to read the humidity level? It could be a bad hygometer or jsut one that isn't working right?

You also said the humidity reads 60% but that's because you turned the fogger off. What does it usually read while it is on?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mattramsfan

is there anything i can do to get him better before i go to a vet and drop a few hundred bucks??? just curious. if not then i got to take him. i have increased heat and humidity because that is what i heard helps them.... correct me if im wrong

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Getting an RI treated should not cost a few hundred dollars. I just recently had to treat my GTP for an RI. It only cost me ninety eight dollars total at my herp vet. Fifty for the consultation, twenty three to run a full fecal, and twenty five
for the Ceftazadmine to treat the RI.

i forgot how much my vet bills were but it wasnt that much for my snakes RI back in the fall. it was a very persistant one too which required more meds. being military i got a good deal too, free x-rays, disounted culture and meds and visits and stuff.

I'm pet sitting a green tree python. It's a long story, but they brought him too me in the middle of the night, in the middle of freaking winter. So, he ended up catching RI. It was only about 80 to get his medication, and it was orally which I thought was easier. I've never given injections before, so I was a little freaked. But he's all better now.

Get your little one to the vet, and good luck!

i tried oral medication and nothing happened, she only got worse. make sure u get the right meds. if injections are required then ask u vet to sho u hoe, if u dont feel comfortable then they should do it

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Originally Posted by mpkeelee

i tried oral medication and nothing happened, she only got worse. make sure u get the right meds. if injections are required then ask u vet to sho u hoe, if u dont feel comfortable then they should do it

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Making sure you get the right meds is very important. RI's can have different bacterias causing it so the proper med is needed to stop the right bacteria. A vet should be able to give you the right stuff but occasionally they can get it wrong.

They shouldnt get it WRONG

You should pay to have a CULTURE and SENSITIVITY test done to find out what antibiotic the bacteria is susceptible to.

Now, you start off with whatever drug you and the vet feel best about and go from there.

SOMETIMES, the bacteria doesn't respond to the drug, and a different one is needed, or a combination therapy of 2 different antibiotics.

But the vet should never get it WRONG. They could choose the wrong one I suppose if you didnt do the culture. But then, you nor him had no idea what bacteria the animal is being plagued with, so it was a shot in the dark anyways.

Just my 2 pennies:salute:

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Originally Posted by van_garret2000

Making sure you get the right meds is very important. RI's can have different bacterias causing it so the proper med is needed to stop the right bacteria. A vet should be able to give you the right stuff but occasionally they can get it wrong.

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

They shouldnt get it WRONG

You should pay to have a CULTURE and SENSITIVITY test done to find out what antibiotic the bacteria is susceptible to.

Now, you start off with whatever drug you and the vet feel best about and go from there.

SOMETIMES, the bacteria doesn't respond to the drug, and a different one is needed, or a combination therapy of 2 different antibiotics.

But the vet should never get it WRONG. They could choose the wrong one I suppose if you didnt do the culture. But then, you nor him had no idea what bacteria the animal is being plagued with, so it was a shot in the dark anyways.

Just my 2 pennies:salute:

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I totally agree. How are you supposed to know which meds to get? It needs to be a working relationship, not onesided.

Vet Vet Vet!!!

You need to save him as soon as possible!:salute:

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

They shouldnt get it WRONG


SOMETIMES, the bacteria doesn't respond to the drug, and a different one is needed, or a combination therapy of 2 different antibiotics.

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You are right, they shouldn't get it wrong.

If the bacteria doesn't respond to the drug, that would mean it's the wrong drug choice.

And they shouldn't get it wrong but you are right it sometimes happens.

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"They shouldnt get it WRONG
You should pay to have a CULTURE and SENSITIVITY test done to find out what antibiotic the bacteria is susceptible to."

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Funny how it took almost 20 posts for ANYONE to mention having a culture done.

Your ambient temp might have contributed to the respiratory infection, 75 degrees is too cool, get it to 80 atleast, and keep his hot spot at 93. Also that fogger may be over humidifying his tank, it is possible too much humidity could be the cause of the infection as well, just hand spray the tank and use a substrate like cypress mulch that will hold the moisture, if you lose to much humidity out the screen lid then just cover part of it to keep it a little wetter.

And I concur with everyone else, when they are blowing snot bubbles you need to get them to the vet immediately, and the constant yawning sounds like open mouth breathing to me, which is a terrible sign... He sounds quite ill, please get him to that vet without any delay!