Boa have an RI?

So I just picked up boa for super cheap, the guy seemed really nice and stuff, assured me there was nothing wrong with the boa, and that he just didnt like snakes and tried to get into them. Anyways, it's a hog island female, probably around 3 feet long. I heard a hissing like sound, opened the container and she froze and looked at me and opened her mouth a little bit and her body puffed up, is this hissing or an RI? Well I guess you guys wouldn't know if it was for sure an RI, I guess my question is, is it possible that it was just hissing and is there a way to distinguish hissing from an RI?

Do you see any mucus? If you watch her, does she regularly breathe with her mouth open? And does it sound like she's wheezing or making any clicking noises? It sounds like the hissing/pressing her body down sounds like just a defense mechanism, but it's definitely a good idea to keep an eye on her.

I'm going to keep an eye, I think it might be an RI. But I will check back on her in a few minutes and monitor her breathing. I watched her for two minutes or so earlier and she wasn't regularly breathing with her mouth open but it was opening ocassionally.

I checked up on her again for a second, her jaw looked almost dislodged, like it was kinda hanging off the the side and open very slightly. She didn't have it elevated, she was curled up in the corner of her enclosure. I just put some wet moss on the heated side to up the humidity and see if that helps at all. Is that a bad idea?

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Originally Posted by thehonestpirate

I checked up on her again for a second, her jaw looked almost dislodged, like it was kinda hanging off the the side and open very slightly. She didn't have it elevated, she was curled up in the corner of her enclosure. I just put some wet moss on the heated side to up the humidity and see if that helps at all. Is that a bad idea?

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Bumping up the heat and humidity a bit is not a bad idea if you think she's getting sick.

If she's not laying with her head sticking up or showing mucous/bubbles in her mouth then she may just be defensive and hissy. Usually you can tell because when they're sick they lie with their head and neck pretty straight - or straight up - to make breathing easier. When they're being defensive they're coiled up, the neck is in an S, and if you're not careful you end up getting bitten.

If she's hyper-defensive that may be why she was for sale, a lot of people don't have the patience to tame down a snake that is naturally defensive.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Bumping up the heat and humidity a bit is not a bad idea if you think she's getting sick.

If she's not laying with her head sticking up or showing mucous/bubbles in her mouth then she may just be defensive and hissy. Usually you can tell because when they're sick they lie with their head and neck pretty straight - or straight up - to make breathing easier. When they're being defensive they're coiled up, the neck is in an S, and if you're not careful you end up getting bitten.

If she's hyper-defensive that may be why she was for sale, a lot of people don't have the patience to tame down a snake that is naturally defensive.

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I think t might be the early stages of an ri. Someone near by me reached out to me and volunteered their antibiotics, they work as a reptile specialist

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If there is no evidence of mucous in her mouth or in the enclosure, it might just be her being defensive. Usually with an RI you can hear the cracking, bubbling and actual hacking up of mucous. Also, its usually visible on the sides of the enclosure. Keep checking for symptoms and keep us posted.

If she is hissing you can definitely hear her forcing the air out through her mouth. My guy hisses at me when he doesn't want to be messed with (usually when shedding) and is a long blow of air with no clicking or cracking sound. My ball had something like that when she came to our our house (my son basically left her with me to take care of) but this cleared up on it's own. I was a bit more careful with her environment and I think that it cleared up with better husbandry conditions.

If you aren't seeing/hearing the other signs people have mentioned I'd hesitate to just treat with antibiotics unless your friend can do a culture to show there really is an RI. Could just be typical hissy baby hog isle behavior
:)
http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/329Egghissy5_05.jpg

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Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

If you aren't seeing/hearing the other signs people have mentioned I'd hesitate to just treat with antibiotics unless your friend can do a culture to show there really is an RI. Could just be typical hissy baby hog isle behavior
:)
http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/329Egghissy5_05.jpg

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This is what I would go with. Hogs are known to be temperamental

I've been hearing a slight whistle during some exhales, although I haven't been witnessing her opening her mouth anymore, I did bump up the heat and humidity and left her alone for 24 hours or so, she doesn't look like she's going to strike but she does puff up a bit when I open the enclosure. I'll check on her again today, I am noticing her mouth being slightly crooked still though, like her upper part of her jaw is slightly to the left, not sure if that indicates anything or if it will fix itself. I haven't noticed any mucus at all, my only hints of a possible RI now are the whistling, however that could be water in the nose right? I noticed that my BCC whistles after baths for a few minutes

Make sure you take its water bowl out good luck .And make sure you take all your reptiles in the other part of your home . It contajous

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You got to give it lots of heat , but make sure its not way to hot .

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Hey this is Louis , did make sure your boa set up isn't by a door or window .Or there isn't any drafts going into the Boa's set up

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No moisture at all .Ive learned the hard way .By making expensive mistaked

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Okay, so now it's been like 6-7 weeks or so since I've had her, I was waiting for any bubbling or any signs of an RI to pop up to take her to the vet, however no advancement at all, so I think an RI can probably be ruled out, her jaw looks like it is off the side, is there any possible birth defects/injuries that can cause this and could this explain her opening her mouth and whistling from her mouth? I just want to figure out what's wrong with her for some peace of mind. She has been whistling but she doesn't open her mouth very often, in fact I just had her out for about 10 minutes while I was cleaning out her enclosure and she didn't open it at all. However she did whistle (it seemed to happen when she was exerting effort ie. moving up my arm) Any ailments of any sort that meet these symptoms?
As always,
Thanks for all your input! :)

Our female hogg very hissy never biten though, she always backs down lol

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The jaw mis-alignment could be a stuck tooth or hers may just naturally be a bit off.

If she's whistling it could be anything from stuck shed (bump up her humidity) to natural heavy breathing after you've been handling her and she's exerted herself for a while.