Help, RI or stuck shed in nostril?

Hi, I'm new to keeping snakes and I have heard My BP who I've had for about 3 weeks make whistling sounds. I'm not sure if he has an RI or stuck shed in his nose. He shed last weekend and it was in smaller pieces with some that was left over on his head. I got most of it off but I think maybe some was left behind and that could be the cause. Other than the whistling he doesn't show any other signs of an RI, He's always been really active and eats well. I've caught him yawning a couple times but nothing excessive. Please let me know what you think, as a new snake owner you can imagine this is making me a little anxious.

The yawning is what I'd pay attention to (assuming mucous isn't visible anywhere). But a couple times in a day? Or week? That's an ambiguous statement, as bp's don't yawn all that often. I have an adult pewter female that has a whistling sound every now and again since I've had her. She's perfectly healthy; she eats and breeds just fine. Check for mucous in it's mouth or nostrils. Pay close attention as this bacterial infection can be easily cured, but will otherwise cost your snakes life.

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He yawned twice the other day when I had him out but it was after (I'm assuming) he had been asleep for a while and once yesterday, is that too much? I've looked inside his mouth and I didn't notice any bubbles or anything like that but I'll keep checking to see if anything pops up.

Hello,

Look on the sides of your tub/tank for mucus smudges. If they have a RI they often wipe their cheeks against the walls and leave long smudge mucus marks.

Based on your description, it sounds like your husbandry is off. If your Ball Python didn't shed in 1 piece, your humidity is too low.

Just keep a close eye and look out for any signs of RI (continue doing what your doing). When he yawns is it over and done with pretty quick or does he leave his mouth open for a second or two? you said he yawned while you had him out and maybe after he just woke up; those are both times where ball pythons might just yawn, sure its something you need to watch...but as a new snake owner you can stress yourself out for nothing. take him out and let him exercise, before you put him back turn off all things that make noise and hold him close to your ear listening for popping/wheezing. After you put him back in his set up watch him for a few min and see if he does a long drawn our yawn, if he’s holding his mouth open for any length of time you may have something to worry about.

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Originally Posted by AllThatInThemGenes

Just keep a close eye and look out for any signs of RI (continue doing what your doing). When he yawns is it over and done with pretty quick or does he leave his mouth open for a second or two? you said he yawned while you had him out and maybe after he just woke up; those are both times where ball pythons might just yawn, sure its something you need to watch...but as a new snake owner you can stress yourself out for nothing. take him out and let him exercise, before you put him back turn off all things that make noise and hold him close to your ear listening for popping/wheezing. After you put him back in his set up watch him for a few min and see if he does a long drawn our yawn, if he’s holding his mouth open for any length of time you may have something to worry about.

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When he yawns its quick, I almost missed it the first couple of times that he did it. Today I still hear the whistling sound but i checked his mouth again and still no bubbles. There was no yawns at all today but I didn't have him out longer than a couple minutes.

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Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

Hello,

Look on the sides of your tub/tank for mucus smudges. If they have a RI they often wipe their cheeks against the walls and leave long smudge mucus marks.

Based on your description, it sounds like your husbandry is off. If your Ball Python didn't shed in 1 piece, your humidity is too low.

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I upped the humidity when I saw he was shedding bad and gave him a soak. I haven't seen any smudge marks but I'll be sure to keep a look out for them. What's the best way to up the humidity in a tub? I changed out the substrate he was on (Coco Fiber) today for newspaper because I read that it might be too dusty and cause problems. How do I keep the humidity up with the newspaper?

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Originally Posted by Byrdsong

I upped the humidity when I saw he was shedding bad and gave him a soak. I haven't seen any smudge marks but I'll be sure to keep a look out for them. What's the best way to up the humidity in a tub? I changed out the substrate he was on (Coco Fiber) today for newspaper because I read that it might be too dusty and cause problems. How do I keep the humidity up with the newspaper?

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I've used coconut husk chips for years and love it. Keeping humidity up with newspaper is very hard, because it doesn't absorb much water.

And of course sometimes a yawn is just a yawn. Keep monitoring and get the humidity right. Damp moss inside a hide will also work for a localized spot in the enclosure.

Dave

Another easy trick for upping the humidity; take a clean sock and heavily soak from the toe to about half way up the sock. Fold the sock into its self (like you would do when putting paired socks away) and place it over the heat source. I think this because it does not make a huge wet mess of everything and slowly increasing the humidity rather than spiking it all crazy out of nowhere. This method also keeps the humidity up longer than misting.

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Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

I've used coconut husk chips for years and love it. Keeping humidity up with newspaper is very hard, because it doesn't absorb much water.

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Originally Posted by AllThatInThemGenes

Another easy trick for upping the humidity; take a clean sock and heavily soak from the toe to about half way up the sock. Fold the sock into its self (like you would do when putting paired socks away) and place it over the heat source. I think this because it does not make a huge wet mess of everything and slowly increasing the humidity rather than spiking it all crazy out of nowhere. This method also keeps the humidity up longer than misting.

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Yea I noticed that the brand I used was quite dusty so I think I'm going to keep him on newspaper until I find something more suitable. That sock trick is pretty smart; I think I'll give it a try. The more that I look at him the more I'm thinking that he has shed stuck in his nostril. It looks like there's almost no hole on the right side of his "nose" and the other side looks perfectly normal. Should I just wait for him to shed it out? Thank you to everyone here, It's been really helpful.

See if you can get a picture? Sounds like that might be kinda tough but maybe someone on here will look and know right away. Does sound like he could have a little bit stuck in a heat pit. If you switching to newspaper for now that sock trick will be reallllllllllllly helpful. let us know how things turn out!

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Originally Posted by AllThatInThemGenes

See if you can get a picture? Sounds like that might be kinda tough but maybe someone on here will look and know right away. Does sound like he could have a little bit stuck in a heat pit. If you switching to newspaper for now that sock trick will be reallllllllllllly helpful. let us know how things turn out!

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I put the sock in earlier today and It's really helped, thanks for the tip! It was really hard getting these pics hahaha He gets super active when I bring him out.

[IMG]http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...pskefdzixs.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...psxnspfuvo.jpg[/IMG]

Look at that blushing ooooo weeeee :O. Now, I think with that picture you took someone will get on here today and confirm that yes it is in fact a piece of shed causing the whistling. From the picture and everything you've told us I think that’s what’s going on. Nothing to worry about IMO and the safest course of action is probably to let the next shed cycle take care of it. Glad the sock trick worked for you! Beautiful animal you have btw.

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Originally Posted by AllThatInThemGenes

Look at that blushing ooooo weeeee :O. Now, I think with that picture you took someone will get on here today and confirm that yes it is in fact a piece of shed causing the whistling. From the picture and everything you've told us I think that’s what’s going on. Nothing to worry about IMO and the safest course of action is probably to let the next shed cycle take care of it. Glad the sock trick worked for you! Beautiful animal you have btw.

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Yes haha he's my handsome lil' guy. Thank you so much You've been so helpful. I think he's still trying to get some of the shed off; when i checked on him earlier he had a little hanging off of his cheek. I'll keep posting updates about him. I'm so glad I don't have much to worry about anymore

He's gotten the shed out of his nostril by himself so no more whistling :). He has a little bit on the side of his face but I'm sure he'll have it off in the next couple of days. Now that I see his cleared up nostril it's so obvious that that was what was causing the problem. Thanks again to everyone for the help