Am I handing him too much? Still wheezing :(

So, please don't scold me too much if I'm doing something wrong, but I'm handling Geno once a day (Except the days he eats, I allow AT LEAST 24 hours for him to digest). He doesn't seem to be showing any signs of stress, and when I have him out he's usually just chilling with me while I do homework. The longest I've had him out was probably an hour-an hour and a half. But, I'm really worried. I made a thread about this a while back when he was wheezing, and now he's started it again.:( I actually have him out right now, and he's acting like his normal self, but whenever I apply really any kind of pressure to him he wheezes. It could be because it's getting cold? It's 45° right now. I've never read about this, please don't kill me, but tell me whatever you can. Thanks.

It doesn't actually have to be me applying pressure, he'll just do it at random times.

are you sure its not a hiss?

You shouldn't hold him for 48 hours after he eats, two days.

Daily holding is too much. It could be a hiss, and wheezing is a sign of an RI. I would get him checked out.

It's not a hiss, I've heard a hiss before. And I do usually wait 2 days, just saying 24 hours at the VERY least. And ok, I won't hold him every day :) And an RI... I will try to get him checked out :sigh2: Thank you

Wheeze is indicitave of a respiratory infection. Which could be caused by the temperature, do you raise the ambient temp in the house before handling?

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Originally Posted by Pezz

Wheeze is indicitave of a respiratory infection. Which could be caused by the temperature, do you raise the ambient temp in the house before handling?

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I don't raise the temp... It's usually around 70°f in here.

Wait, 45 degrees F? That's really cold, unless it's a typo.

I would stop handling him at all, and observe if he continues making these sounds in his enclosure after a few days. If he does it on his own even when unhandled, it could be RI.

I wouldn't take him to a vet just yet, there's nothing conclusive. Could be RI, could be something stuck in his nostril, or could be one of those "huffing" sounds they do when they are frightened or stressed. Snakes also breathe audibly when very stressed, even if it's not RI. I wouldn't handle a BP for more than 30 minutes a day, especially if you are doing it every day. And, stress also contributes to RI, with a lowered immune system.

Double check the temps in your enclosure. Did you guarantee the new snake you recently got?? Qt is very important when getting new snakes to avoid spreading illness

Yeah, 45°F, it's pretty chilly! I haven't ever noticed him doing it inside of his enclosure, the temps are:
98f on the warm side, 145f right on the UTH, and 78f on the cool side (according to my handy-dandy temp gun ;))t inaMay didn't come with a guarantee, and I've not noticed it in her at all... I'm starting to get worried. Say the worst happens and he has an RI, that can be treated, right? I'll definitely ease off handling for a while! :(

145? Typo or serious?

Tell us us temps on hot side, cold side, and ambient.

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Originally Posted by Sunnieskys

145? Typo or serious?

Tell us us temps on hot side, cold side, and ambient.

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Sounds like serious if it's 98 F on the "warm side".

OP, you need to get a thermostat.

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Originally Posted by GpBp

Yeah, 45°F, it's pretty chilly! I haven't ever noticed him doing it inside of his enclosure, the temps are:
98f on the warm side, 145f right on the UTH, and 78f on the cool side (according to my handy-dandy temp gun ;))t inaMay didn't come with a guarantee, and I've not noticed it in her at all... I'm starting to get worried. Say the worst happens and he has an RI, that can be treated, right? I'll definitely ease off handling for a while! :(

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Yes RI is treatable, next to mites it's the most common snake ailment.

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Wow, 145F? That has to be a typo lol. If it isnt, you seriously need to get your temps squared away. If the room is 45F and you are holding him in that temp for an hour to an hour and a half, then i would guess, he has an RI. No one here can diagnosis it though as we arent vets and we havent seen the snake. You need to just take him to a vet and get him checked but first off, like i said, you need to square those temps. Now my second question is holy jebus, you keep your house at 45F??!! I keep my house set to 78F. If anyone touched the t-stat, I'd kill them lol. 45F and i would be dying of an RI myself haha.

45° OUTSIDE
70° IN MY HOUSE
Now, the temps I got on his tank yesterday were
79f on the cool side and 98f on the warm side. (idk why I didn't get the ambient, sorry)
But..yeah, I pushed the substrate away and measured the temp on the glass (the UTH is on the outside) and got 145f... Too hot too cold?? :( I got the 40 gal Zoo Med UTH and stuck it on the bottom and have it on all the time...
(I'm not at home rn, so I can't double check anything :()

I would also check your humidity, I think that's one of the main causes of RI along with not enough ventilation. You should post a photo of your setup. I would lower the humidity down to about 30% and boost it a bit just before and during a shed. You may need to drill some more holes in your tub or open up the top of the tank a bit more.

I had a retic that got some coconut husk substrate stuck in her mouth, I let it dry out too much and she ate some during feeding. She was wheezing for several days, I could hear her from across the room! And she had a piece of coco stuck and hanging out of her mouth LOL. I didn't even try to get it out, she finally worked it out on her own and now she is fine.

Sounds like 45F is the outside temp, 70F in the house LOL. For sure I'd get a thermostat on your under tank heater. 98F is too hot, it should be 90F, probably 94F max. I'd remove most or all of the substrate over the under tank heater and set the thermostat to 90F. If your snake digs down to the bottom of the tank on the hot spot he will burn up with an unregulated heater, too risky in my opinion. He may already have some damage, may be why he is wheezing.

Here's a cheap thermostat if you are on a budget, just plug the heater into the thermostat and tape the probe to the heat mat. It will keep the heat mat at the desired temp.

https://www.amazon.com/MTPRTC-Contro...art+thermostat

The humidity is around %50- %60. My tank is this one: https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Sho...=AH7PBPHZ85HL3. And I had a feeling it might be too hot :( I'll get that thermostat thank you. Sorry

Unplug the UTH until you get a thermostat to control it. I would check his belly for burns, which he probably has.

Ok. Sorry :(

Ok, I checked both Geno and May, no burns at all. The temps in his tank are:
78f cool side
84f ambient
95f warm side
124f right above UTH (I unplugged it about 5 minutes ago)

Just cause, here's May's info:
84f cool side
89f ambient
94f warm side
110f right above UTH (I unplugged hers too just in case, like a minute ago)

So, I'm having some husbandry issues :sigh2:

Good call on unplugging both. You want a thermostat for each cage, since they different sizes. The hottest any surface inside the enclosure should be is 92F.

It is so important to get the correct necessary equipment for the care of your snake before buying additional snakes.

You now have two snakes without thermostats. Please go buy two jump start thermostats that we were mentioned to you in earlier posts.

It is not an option not to have thermostats. Your snakes will fall ill without the correct set ups. I don't mean to sound harsh but I sent you a free temp gun to help out but then you didn't get the thermostat that was suggested but then I read where you got another snake.

Owning snakes are a big responsibility and getting the correct equipment can get expensive. Please provide proper set ups for the ones you have before getting more.

I understand. I'm so so sorry. I thought Geno was doing fine, he was. So I thought May would be just fine in the same set-up... the temp gun has helped out so much. I check the temps every day. And I know Geno's tank now has some pretty horrible husbandry issues. I got a higher wattage bulb for the 40 gal he's in because I thought well, it's bigger, hotter light, ya know? That wasn't a good idea. His cool side's too cool. UTH is too warm. I've ordered 2 Jump Start thermostats, should be here Tuesday. I know I'm doing pretty much everything wrong, I don't mean to! I thought I knew so much about the husbandry and care of ball pythons going into this. I know how to fix this stuff now, but what is wrong with Geno? Do I need to get him to a vet? If so I'm not going to wait around.

If I were you, I'd switch them to racks. Especially since you used to handle them daily. It's nice and dark in there, plus if you do have humidity issues in a rack it's usually too much humidity, which is better than less.

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Originally Posted by danielwilu2525

If I were you, I'd switch them to racks. Especially since you used to handle them daily. It's nice and dark in there, plus if you do have humidity issues in a rack it's usually too much humidity, which is better than less.

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Yeah, I like the racks, I just like to always see them ya know? I do have paper on the (out)sides of their tanks so it's a bit darker and they're not as stressed :)

As we are not qualified to provide medical care over the internet, and this is only based on a description, we cannot tell you what is wrong with Geno. The only to accurately know is to take him to a reptile vet in your area and have them test for infections. I would definitely recommend this, since these are persistent symptoms you have noted before. Fixing your husbandry will prevent future infections, but it will not fix what is wrong with Geno, if there is something.

TL;DR
Yes, take him to a reptile vet. They will you if something is wrong and give you prescriptions to help him heal.

What kind of bedding do you have for them? It's annoying, because a lot of the UTH packages don't say to use a thermostat, but it is imperative! Honestly, I think that the brands that do not say you need a thermostat are being irresponsible, and it's unfair to the user (snake and customer). :(

I use a terrarium carpet as well as bedding (cypress) so that my guy can't burn himself if he digs down to the surface. I also use a thermostat.

Reptile carpet is a breeding ground for bacteria, fungus, waste accumulation, etc. Should never be used really in any reptile habitat that houses moderate sized reptiles and never in enclosures that require moderate humidity. In fact I can't think of a single animal that benefits from that stuff.

Ugh, that is frustrating. I only bought it because the stupid UTH package told me to get it. Why do they even sell this crap?

I'll try to get him to the vet next weekend... the best vet is in Tulsa, a 2-hour drive. Him waiting that long won't be fatal, right? He's on a pretty good layer of Eco-Earth, with newspaper on the bottom. I'm not going to go too much into it, but I got a PM telling me not to take him to the vet, as there is most likely nothing wrong with him. They said that the vet would happily take my money and pump unnecessary medications into him. (?)

Depends on the vet. Find a good vet and that wont happen. I take my reptiles into my vet and if she thinks they look fine, she just sends me home. I thought Harley my beardie had another RI as she is prone to getting sick but when i took her in, my vet told me she might have a very mild RI if anything at all and to just take her home, raise her temps and watch her. If it got worse, she would do a culture and put her on the correct meds. Not all vets are bloodsuckers. Thats why you find a good one as they are as valuable as gold.

I mean you could bump the temps up a few degrees and raise the humidity for a week or so and see if the wheezing goes away but honestly unless your snake has a piece of shed stuck in its nostril or is going into shed, it shouldnt be wheezing if its just in its cage. My retic will huff sometimes when he is out and overly active which is normal for retics but once he is in his cage and relaxed, he is quiet as a church mouse.

Ok. I'll definitely watch him this week. Take him in on Sat/Sun if nothing changes. The vet I'm thinking of was recommended on a sticky :gj: Do they act differently if they have an RI? Because he's just like himself. Even when he was out when he wheezed he didn't stop/slow down.

They wont really act different unless it is an advanced case in which you will see bubbles coming out of the mouth and nostrils and they will keep their heads up and open mouth sometimes like they are drowning.

Like i said, you can raise the temps a few degrees and bump the humidity up to around 70% for a week and see if the wheezing goes away. If it doesnt, then i would make an appointment.

I bumped up both of their temps and humidity, just in case :gj:

Please don't put the UTHs back on until you get those thermostats.

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Originally Posted by Starscream

Please don't put the UTHs back on until you get those thermostats.

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I won't :)

145? Yikes, thats the temperature of a medium rare steak.

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Originally Posted by Pezz

145? Yikes, thats the temperature of a medium rare steak.

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I know :sigh2: Those thermostats will be great though

Ok. Both thermostats are in, the one thing I can't figure out though, is how you put the probe? Inside? Outside? Thank youu!




(Happy Halloween! :D)

I'm assuming you put it on the inside... I also saw a video which had it inside :)

The probe goes by your heat source ( I'm assuming you're using a uth ) and you adjust it to make sure your critter gets the proper heat

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Originally Posted by GpBp

I'm assuming you put it on the inside... I also saw a video which had it inside :)

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No, thermostat probe for a UTH heat source ALWAYS goes outside the tank. It goes between the UTH and the bottom of the tank.

The reason is because having it inside will alter the heat output if the snake lays on it, pees on it, poops on it, moves it, etc. and make it useless/defeat the purpose.

Tape the probe to the UTH, place tub over UTH/Probe so your beep will have nice belly heat :) You tape it to the UTH so the probe won't wiggle out of place when you adjust or clean the enclosure, at least with the set up I have. Dial in the thermostat, then using a IR temp gun, you measure the temp UNDER your substrate.

Crapola, does anyone have a neat diagram?

*oops, red beat me to it ;) *

Ughhh of course. So... Go figure, I just left. It wont do any harm if it's just like this for an hour or so? Sorry [emoji21]

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Yeah, but move it as soon as you can

I moved it a couple hours ago, just forgot to say it. :gj:

I honestly don't notice anything. He's acting just fine, I fed him last night and his feeding response was great (like always), and I've heard no wheezing. Should I still take him? I don't really have the extra money, and I'm not saying It'd be a waste, I just can't really take him just for a checkup... but if you guys really do think so I'll try to make the drive tomorrow or the next day.

If he's not wheezing anymore, i would just leave it be for now. Like i said, bump up his temps a couple degrees and his humidity too and watch him.

His temps and humidity's been up this week, I'll just leave it be for a while longer. Thank you :)

Bad news :(:
He's wheezing again, a bit more audibly. I just really can't take him to the vet... but if this is like a life or death situation then I will find a way. I know I should always have extra money on hand in case a snake gets sick, but he just caught me in a bad place. What do you think about this? Please don't yell at me too much, I'm sorry. :sigh2:

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