RI

Ok... i'm kinda nervous about this. Tonight when i was holding Pandora, i heard these little squeakyish-wheezing sounding noises, every so often. it almost sounded like really faint sneezes or something, but it scared me. What is a respiratory infection and what are the signs? I'm prayin my little girl doesnt have it and that she just had sniffles... er, i dont know if they can have sniffles... but still! it just started tonight though, i havent heard anything til now

well It could be .. but the best thing to dois make sure she has good basking temps maybe even bump it up a few degrees . The first thing I would check and see if her belly is starting to look pink ... which means she might be going into a shed snakes commonly wheez a bit during shed cycle
just keep an eye on her other wise

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The first thing I would check and see if her belly is starting to look pink

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a little further down, closer to her tail than her head, it looks kinda pinkish. i'll keep an eye on her, i just got her a few weeks ago, i'd be crushed if anything happened to her!!

what makes them wheeze when they are in shed?

commonly unknown to most reptile keepers ... the out side skin is not the only skin to shed the skin in their mouth and on their tounge sheds aswell along with teeth sometimes the skin can get positioned in a way that it makes a sound when they breath much like when you blow a blade of grass between your fingers
It would probably be best not to handle her as well for a couple of days give here some good settling in time try not to stress her much just incase it is a RI comeing on

oh wow... i didnt know that. Well, if she is gona shed, she definately hasnt started yet. her eyes are still clear and everything. But im curious about her eye... right in the middle, she has like a dent, it looks like. i mean it doesnt seem to bother her, its just her eye kinda goes in, like she got poked with something. hmmm.... im just now noticing things on her because im getting paranoid! you guys are rubbing off on me!! :) better safe than sorry!

well the dent you see is most likely related to humidity and hydration a good soaking in uncolored gator aid with help hydrate her but make sure you are keeping the humidity at least in the 50-60%

You can soak your snake in gatorade to rehydrate them? And by uncolored, you mean that clear stuff like Gatorade Ice? Whoa, never would've thought that. lol Learn something new everyday... :)

I've never heard of soaking in gatorade either. I've always soaked in some tepid water and a bit of unscented dove soap. Your eye dent Semper is probably caused by low humidity. Definitely get it bumped up to somewhere between 50-60%.

The things you are talking about all point to a shed coming on. During the last 2 sheds, my bp has dented one or both of her eye caps; its not because she's dehydrated, its just because theres a new eyecap forming underneath, and the old one is getting ready to come of. So don't worry about that. Also, as far as the wheezing goes, just increase the temps a little to be certain, but I think its just for the reasons that Robert Combs mentioned above.

The Gatorade is for when the snake is severely dehydrated and needs an electrolyte boost. It should definitely not be done to a snake that's just a little low in humidity. Just like when people drink sports drinks as a casual drink, it is bad for them and can throw their electrolytes out of balance.

It is only bad if done on a regular basis like when you drink them every day. I have never ever seen dented eyes in a snake in shed or a mildly dehydrated animal , dented caps are usually a sign of more severe dhydration
The only other times I have seen dented eyes were in conjunction with an infection

The eyedents I was talking about, I notice it at some point during the day, and are gone when I check back later, and only happens while her eyes are fully clouded over. I see her rubbing her head on things when she's in shed all the time. And she is definitely not dehydrated in any way. I see her drink all the time and get perfect sheds.

Hmmm... well thanks for all the help, im just going to keep an eye on her. i dont think she's dehydrated, i saw her drinkin a few days ago. but so far, she hasnt had cloudy eyes or tried rubbin her head to start shedding. i raised the temp, but how can i get the humidity to go higher?? my room is naturally cold bcuz the air conditioner is wacked up and so my rooms dry and sorta chilly. theres no where else in the house to put her, so normally the humidty in her tank is only about 40-45%. :? i know thats not healthy and i've tried misting the cage a lot and placin the light over her water dish.... but i dont know. here's what her set up looks like:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...1/MVC-464F.jpg

any ideas??? i dont want her to have a bad shed because its not humid enough!

cover the top with somthing like saran wrap and only leave enough room for the light,maybe try a differnt subsrate, maybe one that will hold the humidity in a little bit better or put the bowl over the heat pad (if it fits) and of course mist alot, i had to mist TONS until i got myslef some saran wrap.

you might try a humidifier in the room the tank is in. walmart sells the small ones at a good price. if you keep the air around your tank/cages humid, moisture in your setup is less of a factor. i keep my herp room between 55-75% year round and everybody sheds good. hope this may help!

thanks

vaughn

Thanks, i was thinkin about that...

And Brandon, what kind of substrate?? I'm going to the store soon, we dont have any saran wrap.... haha, so if i get an answer soon i can pick up some!!

i like living across the street from a pet store AND a CVS AND a hardware store... :)

Agreed, although I find that that sticky-tack paper in a fake wood print works better than Saran Wrap. Just be sure to cut ample room around the hole for the heating fixture so there's no possibility of burning.
I use a shredded coconut substrate ( http://shoppingonline.jobbankusa.com...duct6305-3.htm ) and it holds in humidity alright, I still mist though. I live in a small apartment with a standard humidity of about 65% without the heatlamp on. My heatlamp is directly over the water dish to help counteract the drying during the day, but I've come home a few times when I was still a new owner to see the humidity had dropped to around 45% (!) so I mist before I turn the lamp on.
What also helps is that I have a "cascade" fishtank in the same room that keeps the ambient humidity up from the water it releases in the air. Keeping that sticky-tack stuff on will also help regulate the heat; ACs can be tricky things when herps are involved.
I've heard some wheezy noises before, but they were when Roo had her head right up into my ear. I'd actually never heard the mouth shed thing before, but it does make sense. Again, you learn something new every day. :D

eco earth works good (i sent you a PM but i dunno if you sent me one first or posted it here,oh well either way you got your answer !! haha :) good luck!

Yep i got it, i wasnt paying attention haha. Thanks a lot, im on my way to go get some eco earth!!!! gracias, again!!

As for the dented eyecaps, that according to my vet which is a reptile vet, Dr. Stahl, is most cetainly a sign of shed and a problem shed at that, so soaking and raising the humidity is what he recommends.
As that was the case with my new bp which had a dent in his eyecap when we were at the vet last week. He shed the next day after his evening soak.

You know, it's funny, every time I've tried to soak Roo she HATES it. Even in lukewarm water, I've never seen her soak once. I think she just prefers to drink. My VB is the same way, never soaks, just drinks.

also you could try making the humid hide that is described in the DIY section. my humidity was consistently low, but after covering the top with contact paper and putting the humid hide over the heating pad my problems were solved.

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As for the dented eyecaps, that according to my vet which is a reptile vet, Dr. Stahl, is most cetainly a sign of shed and a problem shed at that,

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Exactly dehydration, dented eyes are not a common symtom of a normal healthy shed it means the animal is dehydrated bad sheds are also related to dehydration. If an animal is stressed and not drinking like it should and even though it being in a proper environement can still have bad sheds
Dr Scott Stahl is a very good Vet and you are lucky to have him close, I would reccomend him to any one even if you have a good reptile vet in your area , he will consult with your vet to help solve tough issues

A piece of plexiglass works well for me. You can always adjust how much of the top it covers to vary the humidity. If humidity is a problem, definitely try using some type of absorbent substrate, that will gradually release moisture. Cypress mulch or an eco earth/forest floor type bedding would probably work well. I use sterile indoor potting peat/soil mix myself.

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I have never ever seen dented eyes in a snake in shed or a mildly dehydrated animal , dented caps are usually a sign of more severe dhydration
The only other times I have seen dented eyes were in conjunction with an infection

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Sophie had the dented eye thing twice when we first got her. I freaked out of course, but then learned it may have been due to low humidity. I raised the humidity and it went away w/in a few hours. She has had 2 perfect sheds since we've had her and no more eye dents. Never was she dehydrated at all.

Also, before I switched to a sterilite enclosure for her I also had a tank w/a screen top. What worked for me was to cover the screen w/duct tape. Both the top and bottom so no sticky stuff is exposed. I left the corners open and also left a round space open for the lamp I was using. AND instead of buying a humidifier, check out the humidifier in the DIY section of this site. It works awesome and is easy and inexpensive to make.

go here:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/Sections...41-page-1.html

Thanks everyone!! i went and got some Reptile Bark, which is what the people at Petco use for their reptiles. They said it's great for humidity! I also got some clear saran wrap stuff to use for the screen on top of the cage. :) hopefully the dent goes away! i'm going to try soaking her tonight.

Hey guys... I noticed the one thing no one has asked here. Where's the digital thermo/hygro? Might want...well not "might", definately go to WalMart of Radio Shack and get an Accurite or similar brand that measures 2 temps and humidity all in the same unit with a probe to measure the second temp. If you already have one of these and it's just not visible in the pic, sorry. Just looking out for the snake :)

Good catch becky. Definitely a good item to have. It measures humidity and temps, both warm side and cool side on the same digital readout. They cost approx $15 and i got mine at WalMart right next to the mailboxes and other outside thermometers. Good luck with the humidity .. it sounds like you are taking steps in the right direction :)

Im really excited!!!!! right now, the warm side of the tank is about 87 and the cool side is about 74ish... and the humidity is 55%!!!! :-D yayyyyyyy i did it. haha thanks again!

As for the dented eye caps, mine had one the first time I took him to the vet and he said not to worry, his eyes were fine. He has one now again, following a perfect shed, his first really perfect independant one sice I have had him, and his eye is dented still. he mauy be a little dehydrated but not too much to worry about. I wouldn't go so far as to say he is severly dehydrated and needs a gatorade bath (though I use pedialite as it has more of the important stuff and less of the suger and other things).