Possible RI...help?

I've had my BP since about April and has since gained 554grams. When I got her I immidiatly noticed that she makes a whistling/wheezing noise when she exhales. The whistling sounds exactly the same as when you have a bugger stuck in your nose and you exhale (gross I know, but an extremely accurate analogy). I was told that it could be stuck shed or simply something stuck in her nose and to wait for it to come out on its own. It has now been 8 months and she still makes the whistling/wheezing noise. Here are the things I have noticed...She only makes the noise when she is moving. She suddenly will blow really hard out of her nose, like shes trying to blow something out and this happens very frequently. She rubs her face on stuff like she is trying to dislodge something. I recently noticed a popping kind of sound when she exhales normally, like a bubble popping kind of sound. She has always been a monster eater, but has refused the last 2 meals (it is winter though, so this may mean nothing). I also see her yawning quite often. Now, that being said, I have never seen any bubbles coming out of her nose or mouth.

So what is going on here? Do I need to take her in for an RI, or does she just have something stuck deep in her nose thats driving her crazy?

Sounds like an RI, but, WOW, 8 months is a very long time to let something like that go on.
please have her checked out, the sooner the better.
even if it is just a booger, the vet should be able to let you know what it is
and be able take good care of her for you.
good luck

I took her to a reptile store after I got her. Thats when they told me not to worry about it and that it would eventually stop after a shed or two. She has shed 3 or 4 times since then and its still happening.

THis is the same thing happening with my snake. Been about 2 months or so. She doesn't have any mucous in her mouth and throat. Haven't taken her to the vet because she she seems perfectly fine. Mind boggling

If you can't see anything stuck in any of her pits or anywhere, I would get to the vet. Because everything else sounds like an RI, just minus the mucous. What are her temps?

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The yawning and rubbing does make it sound like RI. The noise alone could be a million things. She is under 1000gm and stopped eating. She is unlikely sexually mature and equally unlikely to stop feeding due to mating drives possible but unlikely.

There is a few very simple things to look for take a speculum or credit card and open the mouth. It should look light pink to red much like a human mouth a bit lighter. There should be no bubbles of slime in it. Perhaps saliva but that should be thin not thick and sticky. I am sure you have had a cold or flu you know the difference between spit and phlegm.

If it is difficult to open the mouth you can very gently press under the chin towards the nose if there is slime in there often some will come out.

The time for the vet is when you start to think there maybe a possibility. RI caught early is easily treatable late it is life threatening and much harder to treat.

What are your temps like?
Hot spot (surface) ?
Cool spot (surface)?
Ambient air temps?

What is the enclosure like do you have good ventilation? If the room is dry do you need to mist?

It is possible that it is time for a vet visit. I would recommend a CULTURE be done. It will say there is or is not RI and if there is which antibiotic is the most effective.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

The yawning and rubbing does make it sound like RI. The noise alone could be a million things. She is under 1000gm and stopped eating. She is unlikely sexually mature and equally unlikely to stop feeding due to mating drives possible but unlikely.

There is a few very simple things to look for take a speculum or credit card and open the mouth. It should look light pink to red much like a human mouth a bit lighter. There should be no bubbles of slime in it. Perhaps saliva but that should be thin not thick and sticky. I am sure you have had a cold or flu you know the difference between spit and phlegm.

If it is difficult to open the mouth you can very gently press under the chin towards the nose if there is slime in there often some will come out.

The time for the vet is when you start to think there maybe a possibility. RI caught early is easily treatable late it is life threatening and much harder to treat.

What are your temps like?
Hot spot (surface) ?
Cool spot (surface)?
Ambient air temps?

What is the enclosure like do you have good ventilation? If the room is dry do you need to mist?

It is possible that it is time for a vet visit. I would recommend a CULTURE be done. It will say there is or is not RI and if there is which antibiotic is the most effective.

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Her temps on her hot spot vary between 87-92. Cold spot and ambient temps have been between 73-83 the last month or so. It is rare that the temps drop below 76 though, but has happened. It's hard to keep my room temperature up in the winter to keep those ambient temps a bit higher. I have a piece of newspaper covering 2/3 of the top of the tank. It's not air tight or anything, but I have it there to try to keep some of the humidity in. My room is really dry and if I don't mist the humidity hovers around 30%. During shed's I mist more often and put a wet towel on the top of the tank to keep the humidity in the 60-70% range.

Does that sound like I'm doing everything correctly? I did notice that she makes the noise's the day after I got her, so if it is an RI, I think she probably had it already when I took her in.

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Originally Posted by lX V1P3R Xl

Her temps on her hot spot vary between 87-92. Cold spot and ambient temps have been between 73-83 the last month or so. It is rare that the temps drop below 76 though, but has happened. It's hard to keep my room temperature up in the winter to keep those ambient temps a bit higher. I have a piece of newspaper covering 2/3 of the top of the tank. It's not air tight or anything, but I have it there to try to keep some of the humidity in. My room is really dry and if I don't mist the humidity hovers around 30%. During shed's I mist more often and put a wet towel on the top of the tank to keep the humidity in the 60-70% range.

Does that sound like I'm doing everything correctly? I did notice that she makes the noise's the day after I got her, so if it is an RI, I think she probably had it already when I took her in.

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It is a bit troubling when temperatures drop below 75F. But because your temperatures and humidity do seem alright, i would suggest getting her to a vet whenever possible. But in the mean time, look at some "home treatments" for RI on YouTube. There are all sorts of helpful things people can show you. I would suggest putting her in a tub and humidifying that tub with a ReptiFogger, or a normal humidifier. Your going to want to at least call a vet and tell her/him the symptoms and temperatures etc. Good Luck! :):)

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Originally Posted by Slick Serpents

It is a bit troubling when temperatures drop below 75F. But because your temperatures and humidity do seem alright, i would suggest getting her to a vet whenever possible. But in the mean time, look at some "home treatments" for RI on YouTube. There are all sorts of helpful things people can show you. I would suggest putting her in a tub and humidifying that tub with a ReptiFogger, or a normal humidifier. Your going to want to at least call a vet and tell her/him the symptoms and temperatures etc. Good Luck! :):)

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I opened her mouth and took a pic. I found some bubbles. What do you guys think...is it an RI?

Hopefully the photo works, this is the first time I'm doing a photo...


http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/...psaf709390.jpg

That looks like an RI, the throat should normally just me wet. Keep her nice and cozy till you can get her treated. Sorry to hear, hope she recovers well.

Hard to say was it just wet or slimy?

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Hard to say was it just wet or slimy?

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I don't know actually haha. I didn't touch it. I talked to a local reptile store and they are going to giver her baytril for a week or so. Hopefully that helps :please:

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Originally Posted by lX V1P3R Xl

I don't know actually haha. I didn't touch it. I talked to a local reptile store and they are going to giver her baytril for a week or so. Hopefully that helps :please:

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Great picture taking skills. My bps definitely won't sit still if their mouths need to be opened.

I'd really try to take her to a herp vet though to get a culture done. There's a possibility that Baytril may not be useful against her RI. The culture will let you know which antibiotic would be best.

There's also the possibility that it's not an RI, so a check up could be good :)

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Originally Posted by Bobbafett

Great picture taking skills. My bps definitely won't sit still if their mouths need to be opened.

I'd really try to take her to a herp vet though to get a culture done. There's a possibility that Baytril may not be useful against her RI. The culture will let you know which antibiotic would be best.

There's also the possibility that it's not an RI, so a check up could be good :)

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Thanks, but my brother took the pic while I held her mouth open haha. As for the culture, I'll let the reptile store take her for a week and then get one done afterwards. I haven't ever taken her in for one before, so it couldn't hurt. Its hard to find a place that actually knows what they're doing with reptiles. I called a bunch of "reptile" vets in my area today and asked them if they took care of reptiles. They all said no...even though their websites said they did. I'm having trouble finding a vet that knows what they are talking about with reptiles. I'm worried one of them will say yes and just won't say they have next to no experience with reptiles and snakes.

Afterwards is useless unless you wait 6 months the batryl will negate the results. One week is not long enough to treat RI maybe in mammals but not in reptiles. Mucking about with antibiotics and using them improperly does more harm than good. (resistant strains of bacteria) It is one reason why batryl is not very effective at treating RI anymore there are a huge number of resistant bacteria.

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger" Nietzsche, especially true with bacteria.