Possible RI? Help

my BP sometimes points her head to to sky. this is not too frequent but i notice it ever so often. should i be worried? she has had some mucus in her mouth, it might be RI. I went to the vet and got some medicine, but she hasn't seemed to stop having mucus for months. She also makes sort of a sniff sound every night :confusd: any tips?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tomjones456

my BP sometimes points her head to to sky. this is not too frequent but i notice it ever so often. should i be worried? she has had some mucus in her mouth, it might be RI. I went to the vet and got some medicine, but she hasn't seemed to stop having mucus for months. She also makes sort of a sniff sound every night :confusd: any tips?

---

If you're already in contact with a vet then there is not much more we can add. You can elevate her temps to the low 90s and keep humidity high to help support the treatment. If the medications are oral then you can request injectables instead for a generally faster effect. Some mucous is to be expected as she recovers...gotta get that excess fluid out somewhere.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

If you're already in contact with a vet then there is not much more we can add. You can elevate her temps to the low 90s and keep humidity high to help support the treatment. If the medications are oral then you can request injectables instead for a generally faster effect. Some mucous is to be expected as she recovers...gotta get that excess fluid out somewhere.

---

I haven't gave her the oral meds in a while cuz it seemed like it wasn't working. Should I start giving some to her?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tomjones456

I haven't gave her the oral meds in a while cuz it seemed like it wasn't working. Should I start giving some to her?

---

Oral meds are relatively useless for reptiles due to the slow metabolism and half life of the compounds making up said medications. Go a head and use what you have if you want, but it might be worthwhile to request some injectable meds for a much greater effect.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

Oral meds are relatively useless for reptiles due to the slow metabolism and half life of the compounds making up said medications. Go a head and use what you have if you want, but it might be worthwhile to request some injectable meds for a much greater effect.

---

So it's not too bad that i haven't been treating her? It's been about 6 months since I discovered she had it. I might just get inject medicines now

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tomjones456

So it's not too bad that i haven't been treating her? It's been about 6 months since I discovered she had it. I might just get inject medicines now

---

The meds you have right now may have been specifically designed for the oral route so it would be wise (I.E. please do it) to at least give your vet a phone call and ask.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tomjones456

So it's not too bad that i haven't been treating her? It's been about 6 months since I discovered she had it. I might just get inject medicines now

---

So...you gave the meds and then ended contact with your vet? If so, it was very unwise, but you're asking for help now and it looks like you'll put forth the effort to do right by your specimens so just focus on touching base with your vet again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

The meds you have right now may have been specifically designed for the oral route so it would be wise (I.E. please do it) to at least give your vet a phone call and ask.

---

I haven't gave her the oral meds for about 6 months. Hopefully her state isn't too bad now? And the vet isn't very knowledgeable about snakes here

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tomjones456

I haven't gave her the oral meds for about 6 months. Hopefully her state isn't too bad now?

---

Considering that time period I would suggest going a head and just starting over with your vet, make an appointment for her to be re-evaluated and most would recommend requesting injectable meds. Out of curiosity, why the wait?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

Considering that time period I would suggest going a head and just starting over with your vet, make an appointment for her to be re-evaluated and most would recommend requesting injectable meds. Out of curiosity, why the wait?

---

I dont exactly have any money to spend and an appointment is $60... and i sort of neglected it for a while.. i feel bad about it

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tomjones456

I dont exactly have any money to spend and an appointment is $60... and i sort of neglected it for a while.. i feel bad about it

---

I think we've all been there man. Anything you can sell around the house you do not need? Any lawns around you need to be mowed? You could probably scrape up at least $150 in the next 7-10 days if you try. For future predicaments, most people like to keep an emergency fund for their specimens, might be something to work on when things are done with. Until you get to a vet though, I suggest elevating her ambient temps to the low 90s and keeping humidity nice and high, though some people will just focus on temps and leave humidity out of the equation. The higher temps stimulate the immune system and I always provided extra humidity whenever I was rehabilitating a RI at the store because it helps with hydration and helps hold the heat.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

I think we've all been there man. Anything you can sell around the house you do not need? Any lawns around you need to be mowed? You could probably scrape up at least $150 in the next 7-10 days if you try. For future predicaments, most people like to keep an emergency fund for their specimens, might be something to work on when things are done with. Until you get to a vet though, I suggest elevating her ambient temps to the low 90s and keeping humidity nice and high, though some people will just focus on temps and leave humidity out of the equation. The higher temps stimulate the immune system and I always provided extra humidity whenever I was rehabilitating a RI at the store because it helps with hydration and helps hold the heat.

---

What humidity % should i be at ? I'm hovering at like 33% right now, it's hard to keep humidity up, i've tried so many techniques. Any tips?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tomjones456

What humidity % should i be at ? I'm hovering at like 38% right now, it's hard to keep humidity up, i've tried so many techniques. Any tips?

---

I do not use a % for any of my humidity ranges. What substrate are you using? I saturate mine on a weekly basis in proportion to how high I want the humidity to be throughout the day. If you need a % to shoot for then ~75-80% should do the trick, make sure things dry out though before you re-humidify.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

I do not use a % for any of my humidity ranges. What substrate are you using? I saturate mine on a weekly basis in proportion to how high I want the humidity to be throughout the day. If you need a % to shoot for then ~75-80% should do the trick, make sure things dry out though before you re-humidify.

---

I'm using eco earth substrate. What do you mean by re-humidifying? how do i increase humidity to 70%? seems so hard, i tried tricks like towel over the cage, spraying water, nothing worked

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tomjones456

What humidity % should i be at ? I'm hovering at like 33% right now, it's hard to keep humidity up, i've tried so many techniques. Any tips?

---

Techniques? Most involve just cutting off some ventilation, if you have a screen top then covering about half of it with aluminum foil can help.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tomjones456

I'm using eco earth substrate. What do you mean by re-humidifying? how do i increase humidity to 70%? seems so hard, i tried tricks like towel over the cage, spraying water, nothing worked

---

When you go to add more water, make sure it's dried out all the way pretty much. If it's that hard in your area humidity-wise then you can switch to a tub if you have not already. You can also try what I do with my Chondros...nice vigorous spraying in the morning hitting humidity at 100% and allowing it to dry throughout the day.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

When you go to add more water, make sure it's dried out all the way pretty much. If it's that hard in your area humidity-wise then you can switch to a tub if you have not already. You can also try what I do with my Chondros...nice vigorous spraying in the morning hitting humidity at 100% and allowing it to dry throughout the day.

---

Will switching to a tub make humidity and everything alot easier? I've tried spraying all the eco earth almost damp and i think the highest humidity i've ever gotten was like 48% or something. Now it seems to have dropped to 33% i have no idea why.. if humidity is gonna help her get better, I really need to get that up to at least the 60's

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tomjones456

Will switching to a tub make humidity and everything alot easier? I've tried spraying all the eco earth almost damp and i think the highest humidity i've ever gotten was like 48% or something. Now it seems to have dropped to 33% i have no idea why.. if humidity is gonna help her get better, I really need to get that up to at least the 60's

---

Yes tubs are very effective at holding humidity. The one caveat though is it sometimes gets hard to get a heat lamp over it to provide a higher air temperature. So you might be better off trying the aluminum foil trick first but if it absolutely does not work then a tub with a little height to it can be modified to work with a heat lamp over it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

Yes tubs are very effective at holding humidity. The one caveat though is it sometimes gets hard to get a heat lamp over it to provide a higher air temperature. So you might be better off trying the aluminum foil trick first but if it absolutely does not work then a tub with a little height to it can be modified to work with a heat lamp over it.

---

Oh ok, well I use a stick on heat pad for the hot spot so I might have to buy another one cause I doubt I could get it off without ruining it. I think i've already tried the aluminum foil trick and wet towel and the change in humidity did not happen. I'm using the acu-rite humidity/temp electronic thermometers with the probe.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tomjones456

Oh ok, well I use a stick on heat pad for the hot spot so I might have to buy another one cause I doubt I could get it off without ruining it. I think i've already tried the aluminum foil trick and wet towel and the change in humidity did not happen. I'm using the acu-rite humidity/temp electronic thermometers with the probe.

---

Sounds good, just make sure you can keep the air temperature up in addition to the basking spot...at least the mid 80s since you are dealing with RI. Also please remember that most of the board recommends the use of a thermostat to regulate heat pads, whatever you decide good luck and focus on getting her to a vet.