Respitory Infection?

Today while watching my snake roam around its cage i noticed that is seemed to open its mouth a few time in a rather short perior of time (15 minutes). Is this a normal behavior or as the title says is it a respitory infection?

Do you hear any wheezing or clicking in his breathing? There is a difference between open mouth breathing associated with an advanced RI and the snake just realigning its jaws or even yawning. If you are at all concered though, a vet visit might be in order. RIs can kill if left untreated. Hope this helps!

Jamie

No i have not yet hears her wheeze. So it just could be yawning. It just concerned me because it was like 3 or 4 time in 10-15 minutes.

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Originally Posted by Bucko

No i have not yet hears her wheeze. So it just could be yawning. It just concerned me because it was like 3 or 4 time in 10-15 minutes.

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I am just speculating, but I find myself wondering if maybe they "yawn" when they are feeling a bit nervous or stressed? I saw Kisasa yawn several times in a short period of time right after I got her and set her up in her new home. Since then, I've only seen her realign her jaws after eating and that's it.

Thanks a lot JLC

I just went through an RI infection with my adult male rescue, he was whistling when he breathed, at first I thought it was shed stuck in his nose and I did remove a large piece from his nose and the whistling stopped and returned the next day so off to the vet he went, I caught it on the onset so it wasn't advanced by any means and only required 4 injections to clear, this does not sound like an RI to me but a vet visit may give you peace of mind.

Ok so while holding my ball python, I put her up to my ear because i though I was hearing a noise come from her. When she was by my ear i heard a feint whistling noise. The person who posted the message before me said they heard whistiling and it was a RI. So if i hear whistling i should assume a RI?

Better safe than sorry. I would take her to a vet for a check up and treatment if necessary. Watch those temps also...Keep them up where they need to be..

Good luck!

The temps are fine in my tank. The good thing though is the petstore i bought her from is probably going to have to pay for this vet visit. I get a 15 day health guarentee. Since i have only had her for about 1 week now i am within my guaretee.

Well Petco agreed to paying for the Vet bill, but they have to take it to their vet. I find this a little wierd when I am completly capable of taking him there. I kept asking if i could take it to their vet to save them time, but they were set on not letting me take him. Also i will finally figure out what sex my little ball python is.

I would be VERY weary of letting them take it to the vet. I would ask to go along and hear what the vet has to say. It is YOUR animal and you have a right to be there in my opinion. If they come back and tell you all is well I would pay for a second opinion myself and if something is wrong I would demand they pay for it.

Alright that is a very good idea. When i called them they asked a whole bunch of question on how I was taking care of my pet. As if they really care, because they themselves take crappy care of their pets. One of the reasons i bought from Petco is so i could save one of those poor animals. The humidy in the tank was around 25% and the temps in the 70's. I felt really sorry for the animals. I even thought about buying them all, but it would do no good since they would just get a new shipment of them in.

Great news everyone Petco is letting me take the snake into the Vet myself. It took a long time and lots of argueing before they were finally convinced to let me take him in. Now i can get him/her probed to find out the sex. Best of all Petco is paying for the visit.

good luck!! Are we taking bets on the sex?


10 to 1 I bet it is a male :)


Maybe :)

Well my bet is on female.

Male for sure...20 to 1...Not to burst your bubble but Petco gets their snakes through wholesalers. They know their business and pull out the females beforehand. I am sure some get through but the chances are slim.

I have two from petco. (one I purchased and one from a rescue) Both ended up females, so it happens. ;)

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Originally Posted by tigerlily

I have two from petco. (one I purchased and one from a rescue) Both ended up females, so it happens. ;)

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Those are good odds!

Yes they are. :wuv: I'm special didn't you know. lol :giggle:

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Originally Posted by tigerlily

Yes they are. :wuv: I'm special didn't you know. lol :giggle:

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Oh, I knew alright...

Good news guys she does not have a RI. The vet was pretty sure it was a female but did not have time to full check, because he had to do an emergancy surgery on a Bush Baby.

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Originally Posted by Bucko

Good news guys she does not have a RI. The vet was pretty sure it was a female but did not have time to full check, because he had to do an emergancy surgery on a Bush Baby.

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Find a new vet.

-adam

Why should i find a new Vet? Also this is the only vet within my driving distance. He actually sat down and talked to me about the conditions i exposed this snake to. He was a very nice and helpfull guy.

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Originally Posted by Bucko

Why should i find a new Vet? Also this is the only vet within my driving distance. He actually sat down and talked to me about the conditions i exposed this snake to. He was a very nice and helpfull guy.

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It takes 1/10th of a second to determine the sex of a ball python by either popping or probing ... anyone that tells you they don't have time to determine the sex of a ball python has no idea what they are doing ... in the time it took him to tell you that, he could have done it.

-adam

Well he tried to pop it when we were waiting to see if my snake would wheeze. He said it was probably a female because nothing came out when he poped it. Plus the lady at the front desk of the office did not put me in the reptile room for some reason, so he did not have all of his tools handy. Sorry i should have explained all of this with my first post.

But if you still would like for me to take her to another vet i will. I trust all of your guys judgements. Just wanted to explain everything about that vet.

You do what you feel comfortable with ... advice over the internet should ALWAYS be taken with a grain of salt.

I'm just here to give my opinion, and you know what opinions are like. If you liked the vet, stick with him.

-adam

Well i am taking a fecal sample in the next time I can. So i will get him to do it then. If he refuses to do it next time i will change vets.

Glad to hear she got a clean bill of health!! :gj:

Probing is not rocket science it's easy once you get the hang of it, I lucked out and met a local breeder here and got to go to his wharehouse, I happened to ask about probing and he proceeded to bring in 3 expired snakes, he showed me on one of them explaining it all the way and then let me probe the other two, after that I got to probe five or six more live ones, now I have my own probes and do all my own. Sounds like you have a female but I would probe to be sure.

Ok next visit I will have him/her probed, and I will get he vet to show me how to do it.

Great to hear you got a clean bill of health, sure makes you mind at ease! Keep up the great parenting!!!