Question about RI's

OK, so first off I noticed that like three of my ball pythons are showing symptoms of an RI. On two I noticed little bubbles near the mouth and on one he is wheezing. They aren't really bad sounding but I wanted to ask.

They are in a rack system and the hot spot is 90-92 and cool side is 83-85, I will admit I don't have a humidity gauge at the moment but given the temps and the substrate (paper towels) I cant see it being too high.

I am going to look into getting them to the vet but wanted to ask your opinions.

How is it that all three have symptoms when their heat is good?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

And let me know if you have any questions, I monitor my threads closely.

How are you checking the hot side temps?

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Originally Posted by llovelace

How are you checking the hot side temps?

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Raytek laser temp gun

While you are waiting to take them to the vet, increase the hot side temps to 94-95*, add some moist sea sponges to increase humidity.
To answer one of your earlier ?'s, an RI is contagious, so by simply handling without precautions, you may have inadvertently cross infected them

Will do but do you have any idea what would cause this. Id like to find out, because as far as I know I'm doing everything right. Now all the sudden three of my babes are showing symptoms. This is kind of alarming given the amount of time I put into these guys everyday.

You didn't add any new snakes recently did you?

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Originally Posted by llovelace

You didn't add any new snakes recently did you?

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nope, plus I have a separate quarantine rack set up.

I can happen sometimes, my snake room is kept at 79-83*, and I had one of my boas out a couple weeks back, and what do I hear? Yep the distictive clicking of an RI :O.
Just make sure to sanitize their enclosures.

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Originally Posted by llovelace

I can happen sometimes, my snake room is kept at 79-83*, and I had one of my boas out a couple weeks back, and what do I hear? Yep the distictive clicking of an RI :O.
Just make sure to sanitize their enclosures.

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Thats the weird thing, I clean tubs twice a week using Chlorhexidine Gluconate .08% solution and the temps are kept correctly, and each snake is checked on daily. I follow proper quarantine procedure, I just don't get where this came from.

Really frustrating.

Hi,

URI's really don't have a single underlying cause.

This is why we recommend getting a culture done to test for sensitivity - though you get resistant strains within a single bacteria as well it has to be said.

It's more often a case of the snakes immune system is slightly under par and an existing organism within the healthy animal develops to the point of causing problems. So the causal organism could be either a bacteria or virus.

Once it has reached those levels though the infected animal is shedding bacteria at a high rate and these can easily be passed to other animals which can then cause them the same problem.

At least that is what I got told the last time I asked. :)


dr del

RI has been known to caused by high humidity and POOR air FLOW. How much ventilation do you have? Bacteria and fungi thrive in warm moist stale air. Check your air flow.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

RI has been known to caused by high humidity and POOR air FLOW. How much ventilation do you have? Bacteria and fungi thrive in warm moist stale air. Check your air flow.

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Actually dont have much air flow. They are in a bedroom by themselves. Do you think I could just put a box fan in there? And if so should I point it directly on the rack or what?

She means air flow in the rack. Do you have any ventilation holes? what kind of rack is it?


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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

She means air flow in the rack. Do you have any ventilation holes? what kind of rack is it?


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

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No holes since there is about a 1/4 gap between the top of the tub and the wood so there should be plenty of airflow. Here is a picture of the rack.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/...at160/RACK.jpg

Personally I'd add some more holes. I have a set on each end of every tub the hot side has some about half way up the end and the cool has some at the top to promote good air flow inside the tub.

I'm going to go against the grain on this one. Low humidity is just as bad as too high of humidity. I bet your humidity is in the 30's or less. That's typically what my room is. I keep my snakes at 55-60% and mist to 70+ during shed and have never had a single issue. I'd keep humidity at least at 50% and I bet it will prevent the rest of your snakes from following the same route. Slightly higher temps and a humidity correction might fix your problem. Good luck!

Regards,

B

I have 60% - 70% humidity but I do not get it by using the exhaled breath of a snake. It isn't high humidity that is the problem but low air flow AND high humidity. It is documented by both DR. J. Rossi and DR. R Klingenburg.

Well I know its not high humidity. I have to mist to get any humidity at all. So If anythign Id say it was low. Not saying I know what causes RI's cause I don't just stating what I know about my own set up.

The problem with RI is it covers a huge range of problems there are tons of bacteria that can cause respiratory issues and a handful of flora that can do the same too. There is no one cause it is almost always combinations of things. Low Air flow has been known to exacerbate the issues. The typical condition is low air flow being used to get the humidity up and especially when there is a huge difference from the room to enclosures. Personally I keep my snake room at 60% add lots of holes and everything is perfect. I know many whom just place humid hides and lots of airflow and deal that way. The idea of chocking off the airflow and using the moisture in the exhalation of the snake to raise humidity seems completely crazy to me.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

I have 60% - 70% humidity but I do not get it by using the exhaled breath of a snake. It isn't high humidity that is the problem but low air flow AND high humidity. It is documented by both DR. J. Rossi and DR. R Klingenburg.

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I think I've seen you say that before and I don't think it really applies to this situation. Like he said, he has a 1/4" gap at the top of his tubs which allows for plenty of air flow. Combine that with the fact that he is using paper substrate in most of those tubs, which means that he has to open them at least once per day (to check for mess) and that completely changes out the air in the process.

I run my racks/tubs the same way. Not a single tub has holes in it, I haven't had any RIs or other illnesses, and all of them (usually) shed in one piece. The difference may be that I have 50+ water bowls evaporating in a tiny 8X10 room with the door closed 24/7. I don't measure humidity anymore, but I'm betting that the room itself is in the 40-50% range.

OP, maybe try keeping the water bowls over the heat tape?

I don't measure the humidity in the room I guess I just assumed it was okay considering all my ball pythons shed in one piece. There is a gap at the top of my tub which allows for perfect airflow I also open each tub daily as I check on my ball pythons and hold most of them everyday. Has anyone used the new stuff that just became available? I could try nebulizing them?