A bit confused....any input helpful

I only have one BP and I interact with him almost daily. He's always friendly and inquisitive- hides most of the time unless I'm late a day or two with feeding. My warm side is 85F, basking is 89-90F, cool side around 74F. I keep humidity above 50%. He eats 1 f/t rat about once a week approximately the same width at his thickest part. I weigh him about once a month and he has never lost weight. He's not fat but he's not skinny. He always looks healthy is what I'm trying to say. Always has a perfect shed, always has normal stools (shed a few days ago and had a solid 4 inch poop yesterday, it was huge and stinky lol). He has never refused a meal no matter what stage of shed he's in or time of year it is. He is about 1 1/2 years old.
SO about 3 months ago, mid December I think, I saw him do something that sounded like a snort or maybe a cough/sneeze. He didn't open his mouth but his body kind of contracted when he did it. I was worried naturally about a possible RI, I upped his temps and humidity, looked up vets in my area and monitored him very closely- and nothing ever progressed. That was the only time he did that, he never developed any breathing sounds like wheezing or anything, he didn't start holding his head elevated, no substances coming out of his nose or mouth, his behaviour and habits never changed, nothing. I was confused....I was told it might have been a fart and that its not possible for snakes to sneeze or cough.
He did it again in January but I just heard it I didn't actually witness it and I was a bit less worried about an RI but again monitored him very closely.
And then last night he did it again! It sounds like a short snort and his body kind of clenches- I was near his tail and it definitely wasn't a fart.
He has always yawned every once in a while and his mouth always looks clear and pink. This cough thing is the only change in his behaviour and his overall picture of health is always constant and seemingly optimal.
I am confused is the short of it.
Can RI's be present and never progress?? If I do take him to the vet will they just look at him? Because he appears to be healthy other than this. Can they detect an elevated immune response from a stool sample or would they take a blood sample? I don't want to stress him unnecessarily or put him on prophylactic antibiotics that are tough on any animals body if he's not sick... I don't know.
Thanks for reading all of this....

Hmm Im not too familiar with RI's but as far as Im concerned, you might just be over-thinking things. From what I hear, RI's should show mucus coming from the nostrils, mucousy bubbles inside the mouth and throat, probably a worse feeding response than normal. Random wheezing sounds coming from their noses has happened to me before too and I often wonder about RI's too, but I found that it could potentially be caused by water in the nose, or stuck shed in the nose, or sometimes they just exhale really loud to trip us out lol :P

If you have kept your temps consistent for the last few months, I wouldnt be too worried. The only thing that I have to say is that you might want to try and boost the cold side to between 77 and 82, anything under 75 is considered unhealthy.

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Originally Posted by mattchibi

Hmm Im not too familiar with RI's but as far as Im concerned, you might just be over-thinking things. From what I hear, RI's should show mucus coming from the nostrils, mucousy bubbles inside the mouth and throat, probably a worse feeding response than normal. Random wheezing sounds coming from their noses has happened to me before too and I often wonder about RI's too, but I found that it could potentially be caused by water in the nose, or stuck shed in the nose, or sometimes they just exhale really loud to trip us out lol :P

If you have kept your temps consistent for the last few months, I wouldnt be too worried. The only thing that I have to say is that you might want to try and boost the cold side to between 77 and 82, anything under 75 is considered unhealthy.

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I wouldn't say unhealthy. His cool side really isn't that bad. People sometimes forget that in the winter temps drop and sometimes we may even drop them in order to breed and they aren't affected by the drops at all. I think cool side ambient temps are looked into too much. Yes it shouldn't be 55 or 60 degrees, but what he has his at is fine.

I've never seen one sneeze, like a mammal would, but I have heard and seen them make a kind of snorting sound. I think you may be worrying for nothing.

I agree with Matt, you might want to bump up your cool side just a smidge...

My husband witnessed one of ours do something similar awhile back. We came to the conclusion that it was just a fart, as her butt was in the hide and he didn't see what that end was doing. She hasn't ever done it again since. Probably nothing, but I am always so paranoid, I would keep and eye out for awhile.

My friend has a BP who has been checked over and over and they've always been told he doesnt have an RI...buuuut he has a squeak. All the time. Sounds like an old man who's just run up the stairs...

He's a healthy happy snake, with a funny little kinda wheeze :)

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Originally Posted by CherryPython

My friend has a BP who has been checked over and over and they've always been told he doesnt have an RI...buuuut he has a squeak. All the time. Sounds like an old man who's just run up the stairs...

He's a healthy happy snake, with a funny little kinda wheeze :)

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My first bp had a wheeze as well. He was cultured a couple times, never had any mucus but just like you said, sounded like he had asthma sometimes. I got him as a rescue so I'm not sure what happened in his previous life but we did everything we could to rule out an RI.

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Mine has a wheeze as well, and its louder after a shed. Everyone I have asked has told me it is a stuck scale on the inside of the nose. I'm hoping it eventually comes out, so maybe these other wheezes are just that. Or maybe mine just likes to whistle;)

I have heard of snakes sneezing, and I think there is even video of it on youtube.

Not the one I was thinking about, but funny none the less.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG3f6h892SU

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Originally Posted by captainjack0000

Mine has a wheeze as well, and its louder after a shed. Everyone I have asked has told me it is a stuck scale on the inside of the nose. I'm hoping it eventually comes out, so maybe these other wheezes are just that. Or maybe mine just likes to whistle;)

I have heard of snakes sneezing, and I think there is even video of it on youtube.

Not the one I was thinking about, but funny none the less.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG3f6h892SU

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Haha wow! Yah definitely not anything that violent :P

I know I'm such a spaz when it comes to him haha it's just hard being unsure when it COULD turn into something bad right. But you guys are reassuring. I'm always aware of his health and demeanor anyways so I would notice a change but I'm just so good at worrying :P

I think that we all are when it comes to our snakes... they really know how to get us all worked up.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

I think that we all are when it comes to our snakes... they really know how to get us all worked up.

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x2 for sure