BP is sick with something, not sure what and need help!!!!

Hi all,
I came home from college a week ago. My BP Apophis was acting a little off, we've had quite a few thunderstorms so I thought he was just stressed from all the rattling. I didn't start to notice signs as signs until a few days ago. I planned to take him to the vet but my Mom has all Covid-19 symptoms and is sick so we're quarantined to our house (no Vet). For the most part he appears fine, but he occasionally wheezes, has gunk on one of his nostrils, won't eat and is a tad more lethargic than usual. In addition to this, now he's got some weird coloring around his mouth and an open....sore? on his head. I'm terrified and don't know what to do, I don't think its rot and I'm thinking the scab thing is from him rubbing against something but I don't know for sure. My thought is he has a cold or an RI, but I don't know about the mouth stuff. I pulled down his bottom lip and didn't see any bubbles.... but I don't really know what I'm looking for. Advice and treatment and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Nat

If he needs medical care, online advice will not be sufficient. Have you called the vet? Some vets will agree to see a sick animal if you drop it off.

As Cheesenugget already said, there is a limit to how much we can help online...& we're not even seeing him. He sounds like seeing a herp. vet would be a good idea-
IF it's an RI- but it might not be: could be old shed skin blocking his nostril (snakes shed the outer linings of their nostrils but sometimes it can get stuck), or a bit of his
substrate?...see if you can gently clean it out. While you should pay attention if your snake wheezes, as long as his mouth isn't bubbly or showing mucus, the wheeze
might be from his blocked nostril.

As far as dropping him off to see a vet, you should also advise the vet that your mom is quarantined with COVID-19 symptoms, because I've read that even though our
pets don't apparently come down with COVID-19, they can physically carry the virus on their body & you don't want to share that with the vet. I'm so sorry to hear about
your mom, I hope she's not too ill & makes a good recovery.

You mentioned an open sore on your BP's head, & for that you can use one of several things safely: Povidone-Iodine (Betadine) as used for humans can be dabbed on
with a Q-tip to kill germs; or if you have Neosporin (again, an antiseptic for human wounds) you can use a tiny dab of that (as long as it's not the pain relief version, as
that is NOT safe for snakes) but don't use much or for very long, since the base ingredient is petroleum jelly & that can mess up a snake's scales and cause bad future
sheds; the best choice (& which unfortunately you probably don't have on hand?) is Vetericyn...it's a topical water-based antiseptic made FOR snake use, & sold by Petco,
Amazon etc. Maybe you could get a friend to pick some up for you, the sooner the better so your snake's wound doesn't get infected. If your snake has a scab, don't
remove it or mess with it, you'll make it worse by slowing down the healing & possibly causing infection. If your snake's mouth is sore from whatever caused this scab,
that might just be why he's not ready to eat now. He might also be going into shed cycle too...snakes can feel it before we can see any evidence, & usually when a snake
has a wound, they shed more frequently in order to heal their body...so be patient & don't assume the worst.


Nat...hang in there...stay healthy, do your best & stay calm...OK?

It sounds like a respiratory infection to me. Being stuck at home sucks, but usually vets still work on emergency cases, so if it really seems awful it might be worth to arrange something.

The most common treatment I've seen is this one shown here: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-from-Home-DIY. Amazon might be able to ship you both the F10 disinfectant and mister.

If NOT... do you have a couple of plastic bins? For this you need a small plastic bin for your snake, and another plastic bin about twice as big. Drill several air holes into both bins. You'll want a decent amount on the smaller one, and a few less on the larger. Place your snake in the small bin. Then boil up a pot of water water, and add half a tea spoon of vicks vaporub. After you add in vicks, leave the top covered until you place it in the large plastic bin.
When you place in your pot of boiling vicks water, you can put it either on top of the smaller bin, or next to it depending on size. Use a hot pad, so you're not melting any plastic. Then remove the pot's lid, and close the lid of the larger bin. That'll let the vicks mist in there a bit. Check on the snake after five minutes, then put the lid back on, and take it out after another five minutes (total 10 minutes). If you can do this once a day for a several days, you'll see improvements.

Also, not knowing what kind of enclosure you have it in, but I'd pay attention to making sure the humidity and heat are high enough in the enclosure. I'm also not sure what you use for substrate, but it might be worth switching to paper towels for a little bit, just in case. It's easier and quicker to clean, and better at showing any usual "discharge".

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andeal

It sounds like a respiratory infection to me. Being stuck at home sucks, but usually vets still work on emergency cases, so if it really seems awful it might be worth to arrange something.

The most common treatment I've seen is this one shown here: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-from-Home-DIY. Amazon might be able to ship you both the F10 disinfectant and mister.

If NOT... do you have a couple of plastic bins? For this you need a small plastic bin for your snake, and another plastic bin about twice as big. Drill several air holes into both bins. You'll want a decent amount on the smaller one, and a few less on the larger. Place your snake in the small bin. Then boil up a pot of water water, and add half a tea spoon of vicks vaporub. After you add in vicks, leave the top covered until you place it in the large plastic bin.
When you place in your pot of boiling vicks water, you can put it either on top of the smaller bin, or next to it depending on size. Use a hot pad, so you're not melting any plastic. Then remove the pot's lid, and close the lid of the larger bin. That'll let the vicks mist in there a bit. Check on the snake after five minutes, then put the lid back on, and take it out after another five minutes (total 10 minutes). If you can do this once a day for a several days, you'll see improvements.

Also, not knowing what kind of enclosure you have it in, but I'd pay attention to making sure the humidity and heat are high enough in the enclosure. I'm also not sure what you use for substrate, but it might be worth switching to paper towels for a little bit, just in case. It's easier and quicker to clean, and better at showing any usual "discharge".

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It's dangerous to diagnose snakes online that you are not seeing & not qualified (I'm assuming) to diagnose in the first place.

Treating for something they don't have has been known to do more harm than good. There's a reason that doctors take an oath to "first, do no harm"!

What's more, I'm pretty sure that VICK's is TOXIC to snakes...so I disagree with your advice entirely.

Vick's is designed for use topically, OUTSIDE the HUMAN body; the ingredients do not belong IN the lungs & especially not for snakes. A few quick clips:

Vicks VapoRub is banned in America as it is declared not good for health it can create Asthma, TB etc. It is declared as Toxic by WHO. ... Vicks Vaporub is a common over the counter topical cream used to get relief from symptoms of common cold, cough and congestion.

"The ingredients in Vicks can be irritants, causing the body to produce more mucus to protect the airway," said Bruce K. ... Vicks has been reported to cause inflammation in the eyes, mental status changes, lung inflammation, liver damage, constriction of airways and allergic reactions.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/common-cold/expert-answers/nasal-decongestant/faq-20058569

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andeal

It sounds like a respiratory infection to me. Being stuck at home sucks, but usually vets still work on emergency cases, so if it really seems awful it might be worth to arrange something.

The most common treatment I've seen is this one shown here: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-from-Home-DIY. Amazon might be able to ship you both the F10 disinfectant and mister.

If NOT... do you have a couple of plastic bins? For this you need a small plastic bin for your snake, and another plastic bin about twice as big. Drill several air holes into both bins. You'll want a decent amount on the smaller one, and a few less on the larger. Place your snake in the small bin. Then boil up a pot of water water, and add half a tea spoon of vicks vaporub. After you add in vicks, leave the top covered until you place it in the large plastic bin.
When you place in your pot of boiling vicks water, you can put it either on top of the smaller bin, or next to it depending on size. Use a hot pad, so you're not melting any plastic. Then remove the pot's lid, and close the lid of the larger bin. That'll let the vicks mist in there a bit. Check on the snake after five minutes, then put the lid back on, and take it out after another five minutes (total 10 minutes). If you can do this once a day for a several days, you'll see improvements.

Also, not knowing what kind of enclosure you have it in, but I'd pay attention to making sure the humidity and heat are high enough in the enclosure. I'm also not sure what you use for substrate, but it might be worth switching to paper towels for a little bit, just in case. It's easier and quicker to clean, and better at showing any usual "discharge".

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

It's dangerous to diagnose snakes online that you are not seeing & not qualified (I'm assuming) to diagnose in the first place.

Treating for something they don't have has been known to do more harm than good. There's a reason that doctors take an oath to "first, do no harm"!

What's more, I'm pretty sure that VICK's is TOXIC to snakes...so I disagree with your advice entirely.

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I 100000000% agree!!!! It's completely irresponsible to "diagnose" an animal without seeing the animal.

OP, please disregard the information given above. Please do not use vaporub to treat your snake.

This is a perfect example of why it's so important to cross reference information before putting it into action. The internet is a fantastic resource, but as we see here, it's also full of bad information.

I've tried and unfortunately I couldn't get through the first time. I will again but I would also like to see if he can be treated from home so I don't put others at risk period. Things at home are super messy right now anyways. I know that's not a reason to put off calling again but I'm worried if I do that it will be worse.

I've seen the vicks trick, although I did not use vicks or vapor. I tried the same method with only water though, I figured better to try something than nothing. I will be cleaning his tank for sure and he will temporarily be going to paper towels again. Right now he has a....cypress? substrate. Thank you to everyone who has replied so far, Apophis and I greatly appreciate it. - Nat

Hi, thank you so much, this is really helpful. I do have betadine because he's had scale rot a couple times (I'm great at this I know, he's my first snake and unfortunately I've made some mistakes). If I can figure out how to attach some pictures I will, I'lll also try the vet again. Maybe they can do an over the phone consultation, I'd like to have a house call but I don't think that's a good option rn. Again thank you so much, I'm hanging in as best I can - Nat

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andeal

It sounds like a respiratory infection to me. Being stuck at home sucks, but usually vets still work on emergency cases, so if it really seems awful it might be worth to arrange something.

The most common treatment I've seen is this one shown here: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-from-Home-DIY. Amazon might be able to ship you both the F10 disinfectant and mister.

If NOT... do you have a couple of plastic bins? For this you need a small plastic bin for your snake, and another plastic bin about twice as big. Drill several air holes into both bins. You'll want a decent amount on the smaller one, and a few less on the larger. Place your snake in the small bin. Then boil up a pot of water water, and add half a tea spoon of vicks vaporub. After you add in vicks, leave the top covered until you place it in the large plastic bin.
When you place in your pot of boiling vicks water, you can put it either on top of the smaller bin, or next to it depending on size. Use a hot pad, so you're not melting any plastic. Then remove the pot's lid, and close the lid of the larger bin. That'll let the vicks mist in there a bit. Check on the snake after five minutes, then put the lid back on, and take it out after another five minutes (total 10 minutes). If you can do this once a day for a several days, you'll see improvements.

Also, not knowing what kind of enclosure you have it in, but I'd pay attention to making sure the humidity and heat are high enough in the enclosure. I'm also not sure what you use for substrate, but it might be worth switching to paper towels for a little bit, just in case. It's easier and quicker to clean, and better at showing any usual "discharge".

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I am not sure how much hands on experience you have overall but regurgitating advice especially dangerous ones found online is not what we do here so please I will ask you to refrain from doing this even if you mean well. (This was an official warning)

For anyone reading this thread VICKS should never be used.

Hello all, I wanted to give y'all an update on my boi and our situation. I called a vet over the weekend and scheduled an appointment with the vet. My mom is better and we took him together yesterday. The vet didn't find anything immediate but did order x rays and bloodwork. He's on antibacterial shots just in case there is something. The gunk on his nose popped off after the second steam bath (steam only, nothing but water was added) however he's still whistling/wheezing/heavy breathing occasionally, slightly lethargic and not eating. We're hoping its not IBD. Thank you all for all the information you've provided and the support you've given, this past week was ridiculously stressful but we've pulled through ok. We should be getting blood work back Friday. Also, if someone could tell me how to post pictures I'll definitely include some of my boy.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-Post-Pictures

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kyogre20

We're hoping its not IBD.

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nothing you have stated resembles IBD. It sounds like a bad RI or mouth rot issues, I'm glad you were able to get into the vet, wishing a speedy recovery for your little one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

nothing you have stated resembles IBD. It sounds like a bad RI or mouth rot issues, I'm glad you were able to get into the vet, wishing a speedy recovery for your little one.

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Agree, & especially since IBD is (happily) fairly rare. It just gets talked about a lot, that can make it seem more common than it is.

Quote:

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The vet didn't find anything immediate but did order x rays and bloodwork. He's on antibacterial shots just in case there is something

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I would consider another vet in the future, based on your original description what should have been done is a culture,

Aside from a quick $100 what was your vet reasonning for an x-ray?

Bloodwork is debatable, unless your vet has reason to believe that the RI is a symptom for something far more serious which is possible but in reality most RI are just that well of course they first need to be diagnosed properly.

And antibacterial shots just because it's a poor excuse for a medical professional, that would not be done with a person nor a dog neither should it be done for a snake unless there is a reason and just because is not a reason.

I have always said it, be in charge or your animal's health demand necessary test and skip the one that do not make much sense.

I had no idea, this was the closest vet and most reviews said the herp vet was good. The antibacterial is in case he has a bacterial infection, that's why the blood test was ordered, but it goes to an off site lab so they weren't able to get immediate results. The X-ray was to see if his lung was deformed or if it was filled with fluid. I've also seen some replies talking about IBD. I realize its pretty rare, especially since (to my knowledge) he hasn't had contact with anything that could transfer it to him. The only reason the vet is even looking into it is because he'd asked me if there were any other "off" things with A that I remembered he'd attempted to eat once and missed the mouse, he seemed sluggish. That's when he gave up and went off his food, I didn't even think about it because he's done it before when disinterested and then come back to it later. In addition every now and then he sleeps with his head tilted up, he's done that a bit more frequently. I thought that might be part of the possible RI (fluid), apparently its a possible symptom of IBD though too. I don't think its IBD, I don't know how he could acquire it after 2 years with no other reptile contact but they're checking just in case with the blood tests. Thank y'all for all your support.

If you haven’t taken in any boas or brought in a ball python that quickly died I would scratch the whole IBD thing right now.

After reading this post it SCREAMS RI. Head up, discharge from the nostrils and wheezing. All classic signs. An X-ray was a waste of money unfortunately. Cultures for how to treat an RI would have been the appropriate path from a “vet.” I would bump your temps up in the meantime until you can find someone who specializes in reptiles.


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