Respiratory infection?

[Danielle]

New BP owner here (again) - my BP is making a whistling noise out of her nose when she breathes. Also, I fed her 2 adult mice 2 weeks ago, and she hasn't had a bowel movement yet. Does this sound like a respiratory infection, and how urgent is this situation? Otherwise, she seems healthy and alert.

[emroul]

Hi Danielle,

Is the whistling noise associated with cottage cheese-type stuff in her mouth? Or even excess mucus, or alot of bubbles in her mouth? If so, this is a respiratory infection. It could be the early stages of one, but I would check her nostrils (not the heat pits). Are they blocked by a peice of skin? I've heard it happen alot where the ball python does not shed their nostril skin, and breathing can be made difficult for them, so you hear them breathing harder and the whistling is from the air pushing against the peice of skin.

Also, just to be on the safe side, what are your temps and humidity inside the enclosure? These can play a part in the cause of RI's.

Jennifer

[emroul]

Oh, and about the bowel movements. Ball pythons have particularly SLLLOOOOOWWW metabolisms, so you usually don't see any bowel movements except urates for about a month, or once every 5 feedings or so. Every one varies, some take longer, some don't take as long; it also depends on how much it is being fed. But don't worry about it.

Jennifer

[Danielle]

Emroul,

Thank you for answering so quickly.

I'll check her nostrils and mouth. As far as the temps go, the ground temps are fine, 90 hot side, 80 cool side, but the ambient air temperature is about 75. The humidity is good at about 50-65%, depending on the time of day.

[Wizill]

drop the humidity a bit and see if it goes away. if it doesn't take it to a vet.