OMG.....my worst fear has come to pass

My normal female has an RI!

As if that's not bad enough, she is the one who's been 'dating' my males, including my beloved lap snake Pastel!

She has slobbers, bubbles coming out of her nose and I can feel a rattle in her lungs.

Out here in the wastelands, I don't even have an actual herp vet nearby, let alone an emergency one!

When she was in with the Pastel, I saw her yawn once.

Other than that she seemed fine but 2 days later, I noticed her laying with her head on her coils but thought nothing of it because most of my snakes lay like that from time to time.

I went to pull her out tonight after feeding everybody else just to pet her a bit and as I reached in, she yawned and I saw slimy stuff.

When I took her out, I saw the drool, nose bubbles and felt the rattle.

I couldn't get her mouth open to look inside and see anything else to describe.

She got upset by me trying to clear the bubbles from her nostrils and was 'gasping' or open-mouth breathing briefly.

She just came out of blue and what I thought was the normal pre-shed milky look was her back having dried snot-crud on it from her mouth.

She doesn't seem to have an rapid breathing rate or is struggling to breathe but the slime and the rattle!

I am well and truly screwed, aren't I?

Everybody's she's had contact with is going to catch it now, aren't they?

Is it contagious before it shows obvious signs?

She spent a whole night with my lap snake, playing slap and tickle/raised tail dancing.

All this on top of one of my dogs dying Wednesday morning.
I could just lay down and cry.

:tears:

The irony is we had to take another dog to the vet for blood tests and I asked the vet if he could do snakes but he knows nothing about them.
I asked if he at least knew how/where to inject them and he said he could try.

I know to move her far away from the other snakes now but isn't it too late, already?

They've all been breathing the same air in the same room as her plus several of them have had direct contact.

This is so terrible, I'm feel so bad for you. I don't have any first hand experience with RI, so i can't say anything useful i'm afraid. I would just separate her and keep a very close eye on the rest of your collection.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

This is so terrible, I'm feel so bad for you. I don't have any first hand experience with RI, so i can't say anything useful i'm afraid. I would just separate her and keep a very close eye on the rest of your collection.

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...You just knocked on wood.. :(

To the OP.. I skimmed your post.. You NEED to separate her now. 1 RI is bad WITHOUT a good vet. MULTIPLE is just HELL...

You need to start looking for reptile vets if you don't already have one.. Sarcaficing a year of breeding is better then paying HUNDREDS to fight a RI... I'll let other post more BUT I will stand by FIND a VET.. ASAP

Just take it in as it comes...no need to get yourself all worked up. There's a chance that none of the other snakes will get ill. Of course the chance that some will is there, but don't jump to conclusions and get yourself all worried. If it's an RI, quarantine your snake and bump her temps and humidity. If it's not too late, she may recover on her own, though a trip to the Vet is still warranted. If you don't have a herp vet nearby, ask your vet if he/she can consult with a reptile vet. Medicines used for cats and dogs are also used for reptiles, so it's not an entirely huge jump. Here is a good link for administering Baytril injections...

http://www.rcreptiles.com/blog/index...l-python-respi

Also, look for a vet that you may be able to ship your snake to if a reptile vet is really that inaccessible in your area.

If you've cooled your temps for breeding I would also raise them up and stop immediately. Sucks but if she's the only female you're going to have to pull her anyways from the season.
Bump hotspot to 94.f. Watch for other symptoms on anyone else. Get her in for abos. Asap


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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

If you've cooled your temps for breeding I would also raise them up and stop immediately. Sucks but if she's the only female you're going to have to pull her anyways from the season.
Bump hotspot to 94.f. Watch for other symptoms on anyone else. Get her in for abos. Asap


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

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Right now I couldn't care less if the whole bunch never breeds!
I just want to them to stay alive!

I only tried her with males because of a local breeder suggesting that it wasn't too late in the season and his females were still locking like crazy.

I wish I hadn't listened to his constant nudging.
I'm in no hurry to make babies.
I intended to wait until next November and start out like other folks do...:(

I've never 'cooled' my snakes but hubby screwed up 'making the wiring neater' and crossed the heat cable over itself, 'shorting it out' for a day or so and this particular snake was living only with warm room temps for that period of time.

[since I 'got my stuff together' I've stopped obsessively checking everybody with the IR gun every 30 minutes like I used to, 24/7....didn't expect him to knacker up my heating system]

:mad:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Salamander

I've never 'cooled' my snakes but hubby screwed up 'making the wiring neater' and crossed the heat cable over itself, 'shorting it out' for a day or so and this particular snake was living only with warm room temps for that period of time.

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That's not enough to cause an RI in of itself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RobNJ

Just take it in as it comes...no need to get yourself all worked up. There's a chance that none of the other snakes will get ill. Of course the chance that some will is there, but don't jump to conclusions and get yourself all worried. If it's an RI, quarantine your snake and bump her temps and humidity. If it's not too late, she may recover on her own, though a trip to the Vet is still warranted. If you don't have a herp vet nearby, ask your vet if he/she can consult with a reptile vet. Medicines used for cats and dogs are also used for reptiles, so it's not an entirely huge jump. Here is a good link for administering Baytril injections...

http://www.rcreptiles.com/blog/index...l-python-respi

Also, look for a vet that you may be able to ship your snake to if a reptile vet is really that inaccessible in your area.

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Oh lord I hope you're right about my other kids.
If something happens to my pastel, I'll come undone.
I adore him.

I will call my other 'fancier' vet and ask her if she knows snakes or knows somebody who does.

Odds are nobody will be able to see me until Monday, though.
We have one e-vet 45 miles away and they're totally not herp vets.

How high should her humidity be?
It's normally 50-55%.
[she's in a tub with UTh heating on a thermostat with a medium crock of water and a large hide she barely fits in]

I'd try to keep humidity around 70-75%.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RobNJ

That's not enough to cause an RI in of itself.

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She's never been a particularly "sturdy" snake like my other girls.

I got her from a well known breeder but she was in a lot of 6 breeders he was selling off.

I thought she was too thin to breed but he said no.

She's never been a piggy eater like the other girls and has not been that impressive about gaining weight.

I don't know how to describe it....she was just wasn't ever as 'robust' as the other girls are.

Could she have been 'carrying' this since early December?

Will it help at all that my other snakes are robust and thriving?

[as in having stronger immune systems, maybe?]

Now I'm scared that my other females have stopped pounding rats because they're getting sick.....:(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RobNJ

I'd try to keep humidity around 70-75%.

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Okay...thank you.

I can use a bigger crock and a smaller tub for her.
That should jack up the heat and humidity.

Should I changer her bedding from newspaper to aspen or won't that matter?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Salamander

Okay...thank you.

I can use a bigger crock and a smaller tub for her.
That should jack up the heat and humidity.

Should I changer her bedding from newspaper to aspen or won't that matter?

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umm...I've always read lower the humidity to about 25-35 and higher your temps to about 95....

It's worked for me..

I wouldn't think substrate should matter.

OP Remember this... WE ARE NOT VETS.....

We can give you all the info that helped us, BUT in the end you will still need to see a vet.. Baytril requires a prescription to acquire, and a culture should be done to determine if the Baytril will even have effect. (I believe i said that right..BUT it's also 3 a.m....lol)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RobNJ

Just take it in as it comes...no need to get yourself all worked up. There's a chance that none of the other snakes will get ill. Of course the chance that some will is there, but don't jump to conclusions and get yourself all worried. If it's an RI, quarantine your snake and bump her temps and humidity. If it's not too late, she may recover on her own, though a trip to the Vet is still warranted. If you don't have a herp vet nearby, ask your vet if he/she can consult with a reptile vet. Medicines used for cats and dogs are also used for reptiles, so it's not an entirely huge jump. Here is a good link for administering Baytril injections...

http://www.rcreptiles.com/blog/index...l-python-respi

Also, look for a vet that you may be able to ship your snake to if a reptile vet is really that inaccessible in your area.

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I've found 2 vets <50 miles away and one that's right near me but I'm "banned" from there because they damaged my Dobe's Atlas joint jerking him around instead of letting me lead him to the exam room and got mad when I had the audacity to complain about it.

[they're also the clinic that was too cheap to install smoke detectors and when the place caught fire, all the sick animals in the hospital and boarding kennel pets were killed...great place, that]

The vet who's supposed to be the herp vet misdiagnosed another dog and almost caused her to lose her sight....and she's a sight hound.

He's got lots of bad reviews on the 'rate your vet' websites.

Ugh.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zeion97

OP Remember this... WE ARE NOT VETS.....

We can give you all the info that helped us, BUT in the end you will still need to see a vet.. Baytril requires a prescription to acquire, and a culture should be done to determine if the Baytril will even have effect. (I believe i said that right..BUT it's also 3 a.m....lol)

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I know but I need to do something now until Monday comes.

My critters always pull this on me during weekends and holidays.

:(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zeion97

umm...I've always read lower the humidity to about 25-35 and higher your temps to about 95....

It's worked for me..

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Low humidity will help cause RI's, not alleviate them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zeion97

umm...I've always read lower the humidity to about 25-35 and higher your temps to about 95....

It's worked for me..

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I remember reading that, too.

I suppose it would make sense to raise humidity if she had bronchitis but already having fluid in her lungs would mean drying out the air to ease her breathing.

Argh!

I feel so confused, helpless and stupid!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Salamander

I know but I need to do something now until Monday comes.

My critters always pull this on me during weekends and holidays.

:(

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..They'll be fine over the weekend.. Calm down. My Pastel has had and does have a RI Since I got him in October.

Truthfully, I don't know what to tell you about the humidty. I've been told both.. It makes me do this.. :confused: UNTIL a vet tells you to do it, don't do it. Raising the temps yes, but don't fluctuation your humidity like crazy being worried. In the end RI's aren't a big dig..They take LOTS of hard work to get over but they're nothing compared to IBD...

Just make sure you find out the correct medicine to use before you start dosing.. my little guy has had over a 100 shots... And is just now really recovering.. He's on a 3 day rest due to stress.

I'm not trying to sound mean. I am just trying to give you my advice. I see, (only being on here 3 months as a member) to many people taking advice like ALL of us are there personal vets. YES..Some members like Skip (who helped me) have a LOT of experience with RI's. The truth is, we can help you, BUT you never take our word over a professional. WHO doews there job right... A vet who says to use a cats dental wash and soak your snake every day is not one to be listened to..... And the example was NOT for being dehydrated, but to fight a RI....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zeion97

..They'll be fine over the weekend.. Calm down. My Pastel has had and does have a RI Since I got him in October.

Truthfully, I don't know what to tell you about the humidty. I've been told both.. It makes me do this.. :confused: UNTIL a vet tells you to do it, don't do it. Raising the temps yes, but don't fluctuation your humidity like crazy being worried. In the end RI's aren't a big dig..They take LOTS of hard work to get over but they're nothing compared to IBD...

Just make sure you find out the correct medicine to use before you start dosing.. my little guy has had over a 100 shots... And is just now really recovering.. He's on a 3 day rest due to stress.

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Oh, God bless you!

I was terrified this was a GET TO A VET RIGHT NOW issue.

I'm much more nervous and hyper-reactive than usual because of the dog dying.

She had a compromised immune system since she was a puppy and 9 years of exemplary care could never 'make up' for the horrid start she got.

[it was a "she had the best life she could have....considering" situation]

Breed rescue often comes with some really bad heartbreak strings attached.

I'm going upstairs and find a tub to sterilize for her, some spare heat cord and put her in the living room since it's the 'most distance' room in the house and then put her old tub in the shower with disinfectant.


Thanks to everyone!

Be back shortly.

**hugs** :petting:

You seemed like you could use a hug. I'm really sorry for your loss, and We're all rooting for your girl. :) I know how scary sick snakes are! I'm dealing with one, myself.

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forum...nfections.html


Sent from my phone, to the Internet, to your screen.

All I can say is kick that heat up and let her immune system start working. Probably a good idea to get to a vet when you are able to. Also it sounds like your pretty stressed out right now, dont stress your snake out as well by handling and trying to constantly check it out. I would just turn up the heat, keep everything nominal, and leave her be until you can see a vet. Hope she turns out fine, which I'm sure she will, never dealt with RI before but from what I have read on here it seems pretty manageable.

Keep that humidity up! 70-75% is perfect. Alot of people think that you should lower humidity during an Ri. Not only does low humidity promote them but having inadequate humidity can lead to that junk in her lungs scarring them and doing some permentant damage. Having good humidity is going to help her hauk that yuk outta there without scarring her poor lungs. Never try to dry a snake out during an Ri.


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

Just went through the same issue. Before i say this keep in mind this is what worked for my situation. I am in no way saying that you should follow what i did but this is what i did. A buddy of mine who has a 2500 gram pastel female that was breeding heavy came down with a horrible case of ri. When i mean horrible i mean death bed horrible. Not only was she gurgling and bubbling but she had blood coming out of the mouth and the whole nine yards. So he brought her to me so i could see what i could do considering he has only been keeping and breeding snakes for a couple years. First thing i did was put her in the quarantine med rack. Got her on news paper and lowered humidity and jacked the heat to 93. I then put her on a treatment of baytril. The reason i put her on baytril without taking her to the vet is because over the years i have had good success with my methods. She went on a 30 day cycle of baytril. The ri cleared up and she actually laid 8 great eggs and they are in the incubator and babies seem to be good through candleing. I dont advise working with baytril as a go to. Ive been doing this a long time and have had alot of experience with this and work very closely with my vets so im confident in myself with what i do. Again this was how i took care of it. But i will say lowering humidity and jacking the heat has always worked good for me when dealing with ri. Also i have found newspaper is the best to put them on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anya

**hugs** :petting:

You seemed like you could use a hug. I'm really sorry for your loss, and We're all rooting for your girl. :) I know how scary sick snakes are! I'm dealing with one, myself.

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Thanks so much and here's a hug back for your sick baby..

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ewMGPxnNK.../cyber_hug.gif

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ball-nut

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forum...nfections.html


Sent from my phone, to the Internet, to your screen.

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Thank you for that!!!

Vicks is no problem but where can I get eucalyptus oil??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Domepiece

All I can say is kick that heat up and let her immune system start working. Probably a good idea to get to a vet when you are able to. Also it sounds like your pretty stressed out right now, dont stress your snake out as well by handling and trying to constantly check it out. I would just turn up the heat, keep everything nominal, and leave her be until you can see a vet. Hope she turns out fine, which I'm sure she will, never dealt with RI before but from what I have read on here it seems pretty manageable.

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She's in a blacked out 'sweater' tub with one end left semi-clear so I can peak in without bothering her.
[she's not a very pet-ty people person snake so I really don't handle her much..she's just not that into it]

I've been staring at everybody this morning and I'm going crazy.

Is Iggy breathing funny?
What about Leah?
OMG...Mosby has his head on top of his hide!

Etc etc etc.

I'm going to drive myself insane by nightfall.

:(

Edit:

I just checked on her and the poor thing did have a good, complete shed, bless her heart.

She doesn't seem to have the bubbles and snot right now.

I put my hand on her side and couldn't feel the horrible rumbles I did at 3am.

[I'd have to take her out and hold her to see how much/little they are, for sure and I don't want to be disturbing her right now as she just finished shedding]

I'm going to have to find eucalyptus oil ASAP.
I've only got Vicks here.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

Keep that humidity up! 70-75% is perfect. Alot of people think that you should lower humidity during an Ri. Not only does low humidity promote them but having inadequate humidity can lead to that junk in her lungs scarring them and doing some permentant damage. Having good humidity is going to help her hauk that yuk outta there without scarring her poor lungs. Never try to dry a snake out during an Ri.


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

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Thanks...I've got low both really humidity/really high humidity advice now....can I just split the difference?

:oops:

I know that when I had severe pneumonia in 1993, they had a nebulizer/oxygen mask thingy stuck on my face for days.

When my rats would get the ubiquitous RI that tends to kill them all eventually, I'd put them in a home made 'steam tent' with Vicks Vapo three times a day.

They all lived when by rights, they should have died.

[RIs kill rats fast]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snake lab

Just went through the same issue. Before i say this keep in mind this is what worked for my situation. I am in no way saying that you should follow what i did but this is what i did. A buddy of mine who has a 2500 gram pastel female that was breeding heavy came down with a horrible case of ri. When i mean horrible i mean death bed horrible. Not only was she gurgling and bubbling but she had blood coming out of the mouth and the whole nine yards. So he brought her to me so i could see what i could do considering he has only been keeping and breeding snakes for a couple years. First thing i did was put her in the quarantine med rack. Got her on news paper and lowered humidity and jacked the heat to 93. I then put her on a treatment of baytril. The reason i put her on baytril without taking her to the vet is because over the years i have had good success with my methods. She went on a 30 day cycle of baytril. The ri cleared up and she actually laid 8 great eggs and they are in the incubator and babies seem to be good through candleing. I dont advise working with baytril as a go to. Ive been doing this a long time and have had alot of experience with this and work very closely with my vets so im confident in myself with what i do. Again this was how i took care of it. But i will say lowering humidity and jacking the heat has always worked good for me when dealing with ri. Also i have found newspaper is the best to put them on.

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OMG!
How horrible that must have been!
Bless you for saving her life!

Norma's on newspaper and I adjusted her temps...they were were 94-95 in the hottest spot so I lowered it a bit.
I had to hunt to like mad to find a spare temp/hum digital gauge and I'm waiting right now to check what her humidity is.

She seems somewhat better.
Would an impending shed have seriously ramped up her symptoms?

She just finished shedding and seems less stressed, now but tired from the shed.

Thankfully I have never had to deal with RI in my Ball collection...But what I learned working first hand with others breeders...

Get to a vet and get some meds...News Paper for substrate, Temps about 95 and no humidity...Just add a very small amount of water in the bowl so she can get a drink if she wants.

Depending on how bad the RI is, raising the temps and lowering the humidity could kick it...But meds are always best.

High humidity promotes RI.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by coldbloodaddict

Thankfully I have never had to deal with RI in my collection...But what I learned working first hand with others breeders...

Get to a vet and get some meds...News Paper for substrate, Temps about 95 and no humidity...Just add a very small amount of water in the bowl so she can get a drink if she wants.

Depending on how bad the RI is, raising the temps and lowering the humidity could kick it...But meds are always best.

High humidity promotes RI.

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Thanks Jon.

None of the possible herp vets are open today so I have no choice but to wait until Monday and hope I can get an appt. fast.

Should I allow her the usual gradient or just make the whole tub bottom 95?

When a snake is sick im sure a shed or anything could pose more stressful. And stress causes a number of things. I wouldnt get over stressed yourself. When keeping any animals theres always the learning curve we go through. Everything you go through just makes you that much equipted to handle in the future. When dealing with any health issue it is best to get to the vet. Then you can figure out in the future if it needs vet attention or home remedies. I really thought this pastel girl was going to end bad. I had never seen one so bad with ri and live. I was very lucky. My buddy was so nervous about her and keeping her that he feared this being a issue in the future. So he wanted to get rid of her. He asked me if i would trade him a rack i had laying around for her and of course i jumped on that lol. Shes doing great now and pounding food getting her weight back after laying.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Salamander

Thanks Jon.

None of the possible herp vets are open today so I have no choice but to wait until Monday and hope I can get an appt. fast.

Should I allow her the usual gradient or just make the whole tub bottom 95?

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No problem...Good Luck.

If You can get the whole tub temps up I would...just please make sure you are measuring the temps accurately.

X2 ^ make sure those temp readings are acurate. You can get a good temp gun at home depot pretty cheap.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snake lab

When a snake is sick im sure a shed or anything could pose more stressful. And stress causes a number of things. I wouldnt get over stressed yourself. When keeping any animals theres always the learning curve we go through. Everything you go through just makes you that much equipted to handle in the future. When dealing with any health issue it is best to get to the vet. Then you can figure out in the future if it needs vet attention or home remedies. I really thought this pastel girl was going to end bad. I had never seen one so bad with ri and live. I was very lucky. My buddy was so nervous about her and keeping her that he feared this being a issue in the future. So he wanted to get rid of her. He asked me if i would trade him a rack i had laying around for her and of course i jumped on that lol. Shes doing great now and pounding food getting her weight back after laying.

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Lucky you for getting her but that's sure not the way I'm built.

All I can think of is saving her and keeping everybody else healthy.

[I'm think I'm one of those people who "love too much"]

You can't imagine what I went through to save the dog who just died.

It was a a year and a half unending battle of ups and downs and just when she seemed to be doing better, she just 'went in her sleep'.

I don't think I'm capable of "giving up".

:(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snake lab

X2 ^ make sure those temp readings are acurate. You can get a good temp gun at home depot pretty cheap.

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I don't have a cheap one.
I bought a good one because the first one I got at Home depot [a Ryobi] was a piece of junk that wasn't anything near accurate.

That was the first piece of equipment I got when I got my first BP.
The second was a thermostat.

:)

Should I 'pre-emptively' bump everybody she was exposed to up a degree or two, just in case?

I just went and checked everybody's temps/hum and they're at their usual stable, proper parameters.

Norma no longer has any snot/mucus/bubbles showing.

Can I be a little hopeful?

:confused:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by coldbloodaddict

No problem...Good Luck.

If You can get the whole tub temps up I would...just please make sure you are measuring the temps accurately.

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I can get the whole tub uniformly heated, no problem.

The trusty IR gun is working over time, today.

.........I'm SO... confused...... my humidity is at 35-40% IA that bad...
....?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zeion97

.........I'm SO... confused...... my humidity is at 35-40% IA that bad...
....?

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I never let mine drop below 50% and my ambient temps are always around 80-82 degrees.

That's what I was told by the good folks of BP net so it's what I've always striven for.

Im so sorry to hear. I'll pray for your snakes as I can't provide any info on RI :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zeion97

.........I'm SO... confused...... my humidity is at 35-40% IA that bad...
....?

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Humidity should be between 40-60, bumped to 70 for sheds.

Oh man that sucks. I have heard they are much more prone to RI during breeding. That's one reason I keep my temps the same during breeding season rather than dropping temps. A friend of mine didn't even drop below 70 degrees and ended up with an RI. It definitely happens even when you are being careful. If I were you I would get her treated ASAP and bump the temps up for everyone to help avoid anyone else getting it. Keep a close eye on everyone, I'm not sure if you need to treat anyone else unless they are showing sign, that would be a question for an experienced vet.

RI's are the worst. I lost a baby blood to one. Be super fastidious, borderline OCD with cleanliness. Iif your vet prescribes oral meds run. I should have but know better now, unfortunately at cost of my snake :/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Otolith

RI's are the worst. I lost a baby blood to one. Be super fastidious, borderline OCD with cleanliness. Iif your vet prescribes oral meds run. I should have but know better now, unfortunately at cost of my snake :/

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That's not entirely true, baytril can be given orally, or injected. Issue with oral medication is they can potentially go back in the enclosure and spit half of it up by trying to get the mucus out, or while trying to give it to them, they can flinch and half of it can go down your arm but I know someone who just treated one of his snakes with baytril orally and it worked fine.

I'm dealing with an R.I myself right now.. I have only had the snake for a few weeks and he came to me with it. He was accidentally taken off the plane he was on and left overnight in Montreal where it's very cold as it is here.

I took mine to the vet and was told to bump the humidity and raise the temps to get the immune system going. I went in there after doing my research.. I asked her for baytril and she said fortaz was stronger. The 2 medications I believe you want to hear are baytril or fortaz. I have to give mine an injection of fortaz every 72 hours and was given 10 syringes to do so. It is way too stressful to keep taking them back and forth to the vet every 3 days to get an injection.

You'll panic at first as I did, but once you go to the vet and realize if treated properly, isn't life threatening, it can calm your nerves quite a bit. Some people have successfully treated it by raising temps and humidity but I still believe they need to go to the vet.

Besides going to the vet, there is actually nothing you can do except for exactly what you're doing now!

Good luck!

I haven't read the whole thread but I'll give you some advice from personal experience and from a friend's experience and reiterate that we're not vets and you need to get her to a good herp vet asap.

One of my BPs had an RI that was caused by too low of humidity (as per my vet). She was prescribed Fortaz and Baytril and it cleared her up. I bumped up her temps and tried to keep her humidity high. How it has been explained to me is that low humidity can cause minute tears in the mouth and throat in which bacteria can grow and cause an RI. Alternatively too high humidity without proper ventilation can allow bacteria to grow in the enclosure causing an RI. I was advised to wash my water bowl regularly (I used 10% bleach) to keep additional bacteria from growing in there and to soak her regularly in warm water to help replenish hydration lost by being on antibiotics AND to hopefully help open up her nostrils. Also, regularly clean and disinfect her enclosure to keep bacteria from growing.

To give you some hope that your boys won't catch it I'll tell you this story. A friend of mine had two BPs housed together and the male came down with an RI. They were never separated but the female never caught the RI. The male ended up succumbing to the RI (probably linked to the stress of being housed with another snake) but the female is still alive and never showed an RI symptoms. Knowing what I know now I would have pushed harder for her to separate them. Obviously I don't advocate keeping BPs together and you should QT your girl asap but I wanted to give you some hope that your entire collection isn't doomed. I'd just monitor them REALLY well to make sure they don't start showing symptoms and bump up their heat as well just to be safe. Try to avoid all stress because my vet told me that RI's can be brought on by stress.

I think theres some confusion goin on about humidity. Yes balls need the humidity under regular conditions. But we are talking about during a ri. While there is difference of oppinions on what to have humidity set at during a ri. Based on experience lowering the humidity and jacking the heat helps with the treatment process of ri. I have had a couple experiences with ri in my own collection over the years. I have been pretty much a den mother or father for friends snakes with ri. In every case i have done the same thing and it works. Im not saying that raising humidity doesnt work cause i dont do it therefore i have no experience with doing so. Injections of any antibiotic is always better then oral. Fortaz works very well as does baytril but some infections dont respond to one or the other. Personally i keep baytril on hand for the just in case and it has always worked for me. I am not a vet but my vet is the best in the country hands down and i have learned alot over the years. Although he will not or advise to treat without cultures done first. With that said i personally am confident in trying to clear issues myself and if i run into the issue of things not working i will take a trip to the vet. And yes ri seems to ramp up a bit in breeding season with temp dropping especially when using moist substrates like cypress. This is why i always use paper. As far as an ri happening during shipping nightmares this is rare. It usually takes more then just one or two nights of cold temps to cause a ri. Its safe to say that if you recieve an animal with a ri it was coming on for a bit. Also a ri is harder to get rid of with a bigger animal. The way it was described to me was that an adult balls lungs are more developed and bigger therefore by the time you notice symptoms the ri is pretty well established. The best thing to be proactive is to constantlly be listening for wheezing or any noises out of the ordinary. Obviouslly keeping temps and humidity at normal ranges, and keeping things clean. Also always be very ocd about clean hands when handling animal after animal.

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Originally Posted by Solarsoldier001

Im so sorry to hear. I'll pray for your snakes as I can't provide any info on RI :(

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Prayers are just as good as advice!
Thank you!!

:)

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Originally Posted by babyknees

I haven't read the whole thread but I'll give you some advice from personal experience and from a friend's experience and reiterate that we're not vets and you need to get her to a good herp vet asap.

One of my BPs had an RI that was caused by too low of humidity (as per my vet). She was prescribed Fortaz and Baytril and it cleared her up. I bumped up her temps and tried to keep her humidity high. How it has been explained to me is that low humidity can cause minute tears in the mouth and throat in which bacteria can grow and cause an RI. Alternatively too high humidity without proper ventilation can allow bacteria to grow in the enclosure causing an RI. I was advised to wash my water bowl regularly (I used 10% bleach) to keep additional bacteria from growing in there and to soak her regularly in warm water to help replenish hydration lost by being on antibiotics AND to hopefully help open up her nostrils. Also, regularly clean and disinfect her enclosure to keep bacteria from growing.

To give you some hope that your boys won't catch it I'll tell you this story. A friend of mine had two BPs housed together and the male came down with an RI. They were never separated but the female never caught the RI. The male ended up succumbing to the RI (probably linked to the stress of being housed with another snake) but the female is still alive and never showed an RI symptoms. Knowing what I know now I would have pushed harder for her to separate them. Obviously I don't advocate keeping BPs together and you should QT your girl asap but I wanted to give you some hope that your entire collection isn't doomed. I'd just monitor them REALLY well to make sure they don't start showing symptoms and bump up their heat as well just to be safe. Try to avoid all stress because my vet told me that RI's can be brought on by stress.

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Thank you so much for the hope!

I just got back from getting her the Vicks but I got a kid-safe type with no turpentine/cedar oil/thymol.
[who knew that much toxic stuff was in VapoRub??]

This just has menthol, eucalyptus and some other essential oil that's not poisonous.

Until the ill-advised/regrettable breeding attempts, none of my snakes were probably even actually aware of the others.

Never kept them together.

Never handled one without using hand sanitizer after another.

[maybe my Bee's "girl trouble" was discovering he wasn't actually the only snake in the house, after all]

As of right now, she doesn't have the mouth slobber going on, just some mild, very watery [versus 'thick snotty'] nose bubbling.

The rumbling that I felt all through her body this a.m. has now moved to the area just below her neck, proper.

[upper RI, maybe?]

The local herp guy is getting Baytril for me Monday in case it takes a while to get an appt.

He's dealt with this many times over the last 3 decades, both with his own snakes and the snakes of other people and is confident she'll be okay.

She's calmed down substantially and is back her old cranky, jumpy, offish self.

At least she's not foaming at the mouth and gasping any more.

Would diluted isopropyl alcohol be okay for sterilizing tubs?

We don't keep bleach in the house because I'm really sensitive to it.

I use antibacterial dish washing liquid and a handheld steamer to clean stuff right now.

I am monitoring them to the point where I think I'm annoying them.

Me sitting and staring at their faces and their breathing rates seems to make them think I'm up to something....except for the Bee and the Dumerils who just hope I've got food for them.