10 year old BP having difficulty breathing - Possible RI?

[Namea]

Hello everyone. I am new to this forum but definitely not new to snakes. I've raised, bred, and cared for them since I was a child with the guidance of my father. Currently I am in college with the ambition of becoming a vet who specializes in reptile care.

Anyway, enough about me.

My Ball Python, Nico, is 10 years old. For the past two days he has been making extremely loud squealing sounds when he breathes. It is with every breath and he is frequently opening his mouth to breath. His tongue forks are not stuck together and there is no discharge coming from his nose or mouth. He is however often craning his neck upwards which I know to be a sign of mucous build up.

Could this be a start of a potential RI? That would not be good. I currently live in Idaho and as far as I know there are no vets that are qualified to deal with snakes here.

His care regimine is as follows:
His tank is kept strictly between 82 and 90 degrees farenheit with a humidity of 55%. At night I bring the tempurature down to 77.
Every friday I feed him a rat and he has been eating quite well this year. His normal yearly hibernation was much shorter than it ever has been as well to my surprise.
He has a hide box, a log, and a water dish large enough for him to curl up and soak in. (Which he does on very warm days)
His tank is four feet long by two feet wide and two feet tall. (Forgive me for not knowing the exact gallon size)

It is kept heated by an insulated heat rock. I know many recommend against them and claim they can cause burns. This is false if you purchase the right kind. They are expensive but extremely well insulated and do not get hot enough on the surface to burn him. He has been using this rock for over 8 years with no issues from it at all. My other snakes have also had rocks of the same brand and I've never had any problems.

His substrate is wood chips, I do not recall the exact wood except that it is most definitely not cedar.

I handle him on a daily basis except when he is shedding or has just eaten.

Medical History
Nico has never had any severe medical problems. His first year with us caused some alarm as we were taken aback by his refusal to eat for three months in the winter. However, upon realizing that it was simply his normal hibernation we were satisfied. Over the years he has continued to not eat for those three months until this year when he only hibernated for two. I moved in October so I suspect that the new climate is simply more to his liking.

He has never developed any of the common BP ailments.

Current Condition
Squealing noises when he breathes.
Laboured breathing
Holding his neck up to clear mucous.
Opening his mouth to breathe.
Still active
No discharge from nose or mouth.
Forks of his tongue separated.
Mouth and nostrils appear to be the correct "healthy" shades.

I would be glad of any assistance that can be offered. In all my years with him and other snakes I have never seen these symptoms and I am extremely worried. He is a part of my family and after having had him since I was very young I would like to do anything in my power to make sure he is healthy and happy.

[Spiderballs]

Im no expert but a few years ago I had a ball that had RI. The symptoms you describe sound similar for sure. He would hold his head up to drain mucous, but I never saw any visible signs of discharge from his mouth. When he breathed I would call it more of a wheeze then a squeal but it was loud enough to hear from across the room if you were listening. One of the first symptoms was a very subtle popping noise when breathing that you could only hear if you were holding him.

He was treated with baytril which didn't work and the doc gave me syringes and medicine to give him injections every few days. It wasn't terribly difficult but It is imperative to take great pains to insure the snake stays hydrated when on the treatment like soaks several times a day.

Good Luck, I hope you can find a herp vet if indeed you need one.

[llovelace]

Welcome to BP.net

From what you are describing, he seems to have an advanced case of RI, and should be seen by a vet asap, for neb treatments, and abt's

[Namea]

There are no herp qualified vets anywhere near me but there is a zoo in Boise which is less than an hour away. I called there and requested to speak to their onsite vet. She is certified to deal with reptiles and has agreed to see me, thankfully. Hopefully I am worrying over nothing.

[llovelace]

Good luck with him

[Namea]

Okay. I took him to the vet today. He told me that it definitely sounded like an upper respiratory infection. He took some x-rays but the lungs looked clean! Then he called another vet who said it could also be lungworm but they would also have shown up on the xrays.

Worried about the possibility of pnemonia he said I should lower his heat, raise his humidity, change his substrate and watch him until Thursday. If the symptoms don't subside by then I'm supposed to take him back in.

[Namea]

Thank you for your help everyone. Unfortunately despite our best efforts Nico passed on this evening. He finished his antibiotics day before yesterday and seemed to be improving while on them. Unfortunately it looks like despite what the vet said we may not have caught the RI early enough.

This evening we found him dead in his enclosure.

Again thank you all for your help. I will definitely be back with my next scaly additions.

[llovelace]

I am sorry for your loss, if the vet had started the abt's the first time you took the animal in, it may have made it. also you should not have lowered the temp in the enclosure.