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  1. #1
    Registered User Lusiphera's Avatar
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    Open Mouth & Clicking; RI?

    Brief backstory:

    At a recent expo a girl bought a female spider. Breeder didn’t disclose wobble. After an hour of walking around buyer sees wobble, points it out, someone tells her it’s the wobble, she googles, doesn’t like the idea of supporting the wobble, tries to return snake. Breeder won’t take her back. Girl decides she truly doesn’t want the snake and leaves her on a table for anyone. I come across her just as a very young couple were laughing at her poor balance and saying they were taking her so they could smoke her up and see her balance then. Needless to say, I took her so that didn’t happen.


    Mouth Opening:

    I’ve had her two weeks yesterday. She was due to eat the day after I got her but I couldn’t get her to eat until last night, which I was quite happy about! Today however, I noticed on three occasions that she would open her mouth. Not wide, just a bit, I’ll add a picture. She did it once in her enclosure. I took her out to have a look and as I was sitting down she did it again. I pulled out my phone to get a picture and a couple of minutes later she did it and I got a pic. Once after that my fiancé saw her do it. That was around three this afternoon, nine hours ago, and we haven’t seen it since. She’s not holding it open, nor is she opening her mouth as wide as she can. Here’s a couple pics:




    I thought maybe it had something to do with her finally eating but because I’m a overly scared snek mom I was also worried about an RI. So I put her face up to my ear and while I don’t hear any wheezing, whistling or crackling I can hear a click. It’s a clear and definitive click. Well, it’s actually two small clicks. Every time I hear it it’s the same two small clicks. I checked her mouth and I don’t see any salvia or bubbles and her mouth is clean. I’m just at a loss.


    Question:

    Are these signs of RI? Something caused by her feeding last night? I was told she was on rat pups. I tried a couple of those throughout the week - one on Sunday and one on Wednesday - and when I decided on a whim to try last night I only had large mice left so I tried that and she did take it.


    Husbandry:

    She’s in a 20 gallon long on coco fiber with an UTH and a thermostat controlling it. Humidity is usually around 70% after I mist 3x a day but lingers around 50%. I had planned on moving her to a tub once she’s bigger but have recently been considering setting her up in one now. She’s 143g as of Thursday. Her warm spot is at 92 on top of the substrate using a temp gun, middle is 82 cool side is 79. I have cardstock sheets wrapped in foil covering most of the screen top and a heat bulb in the center to keep the temp up - my home is always cold. She has hides on the warm and cool side. She stays in them all day unless she pops her head out to look around.





    She does wander at night. Quite a bit. As soon as the moonlite bulb goes on she’s out. Last night when I fed her she actually stayed in until about six am and then came out for a few hours. She was a bit head shy when I got her but she’s not so much now, so long as you run your finger up her neck to her head so she can feel it coming. She’ll still jerk away if you come at her from the front. She’s not aggressive, I was able to check her for salvia bubbles with what I would think (with my minimal knowledge of BP’s of course) was just the right amount of resistant. She wasn’t lethargic and allowing it but she didn’t tag me either.

    Now I will say my daughter and I both have a cold. My daughter doesn’t handle the snakes without washing her hands regardless, but she also hasn’t handled the spider yet - save for touching her back with her finger twice. I have handled her with my cold. I read in another thread someone say short of feeding your snake your snot when you have a cold you’re not going to get them sick but as I said I’m new to BP’s and I don’t want to assume anything!

    Last question, if people do think this is the early stages of an RI does anything know much about the home treatment using vapor rub and eucalyptus oil? I will without a doubt make a vet appointment for her if need be but I was just curious if anyone had experience with that RI treatment as I do have those ingredients handy.

    Sorry for such a long post, I wanted to try to provide info that I’ve seen others ask for. I know I’m forgetting something but any advice is greatly appreciated! I am new to keeping BP’s and I know that I don’t know better than many people here, so if I’m doing something glaringly wrong please let me know! Keeping this girl healthy and safe comes long before my ego.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    Bogertophis (03-18-2019)

  3. #2
    Registered User ShawarmaPoutine's Avatar
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    Re: Open Mouth & Clicking; RI?

    I love this as its literally the only thing I recall on the topic of human x snake contraction of diseases.
    "I read in another thread someone say short of feeding your snake your snot when you have a cold you’re not going to get them sick"


    I am by no means as knowledgable or as experience as the many experience folks on this forum but I'll comment as per my experience with RI symptoms.

    2 of my BPs wheeze as they breathe due to their nostrils being smaller or whatever... i.e. they were born like this. In my suspicion of it being RI, I did go on a learning journey on the internet as well as the best exotic vet in my province.. conclusion was that as long as there is no bubbling, fluid emissions from mouth or nostrils as well as a clear pinkish trachea, then there's no RI. Maybe it could be RI without any symptoms if it's in the early stages? I am not sure - if someone would like to correct me.

    Could be adjusting its jaw pos feeding.
    Last edited by ShawarmaPoutine; 03-18-2019 at 12:55 AM.

  4. #3
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    This "might" be a beginning RI...but do NOT under any circumstances use eucalyptus* or vapor rub for a snake, not ever. Watch, wait, & see if this worsens.
    (*eucalyptus & other ingredients in vapor rub are very irritating to snake lungs, just like cedar is. It will make things worse.) There are some who believe
    in using F10 to fog snakes for RI, but I've not used that, nor am I convinced. It's something you might look into & ask vet. I'm sure you know there are down-
    sides to using antibiotics too? Not saying they aren't needed sometimes, but don't take any of these treatments lightly: "first do no harm". Also, keep in mind
    that some snakes might mouth breathe & click a little if the skin in their nostrils didn't shed out with their latest shed, making it a bit harder for them to breathe.
    Keep her humidity up & if she doesn't get worse, see if this improves after her next shed with you.

    Expos are very stressful for the snakes...let her rest (sounds like her cage is fine) so her own immune system can function at its best best. I hope this passes.
    She's lucky to have you on her side. And it's very UN-likely for a snake to catch anything from us...just don't give her "mouth to mouth", lol.

    (Holding her mouth open a little might also be her trying or intending to hiss...her world has recently changed a lot & that's very scary for a snake.)
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 03-18-2019 at 01:46 AM.

  5. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Bogertophis For This Useful Post:

    bcr229 (03-24-2019),Lusiphera (03-24-2019),Shayne (03-18-2019)

  6. #4
    Registered User Lusiphera's Avatar
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    Re: Open Mouth & Clicking; RI?

    Thanks everybody for the feedback! Sorry it took a few days to get back here. I think it was just part of feeding because all symptoms resolved themselves!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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