Kingsnake has an RI :/

[aurum]

I haven't handled my kingsnake for a little while, so it was pretty surprising when I took her out today and found saliva bubbling up around her mouth. I've already tried to set up a vet appointment, although I had to leave a message for it so I'm not sure how long it will take. In the meantime is there anything I should be doing for her? I know bumping up humidity and temps is a common tip, but should I be doing anything different during feeding, or with cleaning etc.?
I have some theories about the cause. It's gotten cold enough at night that the heater kicks in and dries out my room, and during the day the humidity returns to normal so I was thinking the swing in humidity might have triggered it. I also wonder if it got too humid because when I changed out her substrate a couple weeks ago, the humidity spiked to high 60s/70 for a few days since I used coco blox that had to be soaked. Any insight is appreciated!

[Bogertophis]

Oh, no...sorry to hear this. Don't wait, call the vet back...snakes can die from an RI because it clogs their airway, they cannot cough. Raising the warmth & humidity a little is about all you can do for now. She probably won't want to eat, but it's fine to feed her if she seems hungry...in fact, the energy of a meal will help her immune system to keep functioning, as opposed to fasting.

Just in case you need this:
https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

[dakski]

I unfortunately dealt with an terrible RI with Yafe, my CP, because fed ex lost his package. He arrived and was sick as a dog within 24 hours. The good news is he survived and is now thriving. It can be treated if approached properly and quickly.

As Bogertophis said, a little more warmth and higher humidity will help, but you need to see a vet.

The vet must do a tracheal wash (literally put fluid down your snakes throat, into the lungs, and flush it out - not fun for anyone) and send out the fluid. They need to check for fungal and bacterial (almost always bacterial) infections and what is causing them - the strain of bacteria for example, so they know what treatment to prescribe.

Many vets, who don't know their stuff, will just prescribe common antibiotics. That doesn't give your snake a fair chance.

Also, keep your tank CLEAN. Paper if necessary as a substrate. Humidity is good, but dirty and humidity is bad.

Any questions about what the vet says just ask. Katie and I got really good at injections. If you have two people it's easier. One to hold the snake down calmly and one to inject. Remember, if they do prescribe injections, just below the scales and into the muscle. It was hard on a 105g Yafe, but should be easier on a kingsnake if he/she is up to size.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[aurum]

Thanks for the advice, I'm pretty worried about her but this forum is a great resource. I think I called just after their closing hours so I'll try again tomorrow when they open, and if needed I'll also call a different vet although they're not as specialized for reptiles.
Also do the possible causes I mentioned sound plausible/which is more likely? I really want to fix any of the issues I might have.

[Bogertophis]

You really want a vet that has more experience with reptiles- that's critically important. Vets without reptile expertise can easily do more harm than good, especially if you don't know what to stop them from doing, or what to ask for. I agree with dakski, getting lab work done to identify the correct antibiotic is very important...otherwise there's a good chance the injections won't work at all- costing more $ plus pain and stress for the snake, & still need to be repeated with something else to be effective, losing critical time to treat with the correct medicine.

While inadequate conditions might reduce the effectiveness of a creature's immune system, pretty much bacteria (etc) just happens, it's everywhere. It's just like with us...the "common cold" used to be blamed on us being "chilled" (before modern medicine came along) but now we know we get sick just because we've had a curse put on us. No, I'm kidding, I just wanted to see if you're paying attention, lol. It's them pesky pathogens.

[aurum]

ugh, apparently they are closed today even though their website says seven days a week, probably because of covid changes. Bogertophis, I agree and I'd prefer the vet I'm currently trying to contact a lot more than the other exotics vet I know of which seems to focus more on birds. I'm only looking at them as an option because I might be able to get a response and appointment sooner with them, don't know if the trade off would be worth it though.

[dakski]

ugh, apparently they are closed today even though their website says seven days a week, probably because of covid changes. Bogertophis, I agree and I'd prefer the vet I'm currently trying to contact a lot more than the other exotics vet I know of which seems to focus more on birds. I'm only looking at them as an option because I might be able to get a response and appointment sooner with them, don't know if the trade off would be worth it though.

That's a tough call. If they are comfortable doing a tracheal wash, I would say go for it, but if not, I would wait until Monday.

That's really the key (the tracheal wash).

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Bogertophis]

That's a tough call. If they are comfortable doing a tracheal wash, I would say go for it, but if not, I would wait until Monday.

That's really the key (the tracheal wash).

Good luck and keep us posted.

I agree, & aurum, I wouldn't be shy about asking them about this, before making an appointment.

BTW, I assume you've checked your snake again, as far as the bubbles/mouth area? Just in case you mistook some bubbles from a drink of water for illness? It has happened before to snake owners jumping to a conclusion.

[aurum]

I actually haven't taken her out since then because I'm afraid of stressing her out too much, but I'm pretty sure it was saliva. When I took her out that day she did a weird hiss/sneeze thing and that got some droplets on her and me. I at first thought they were water that maybe got in her nostrils but after holding her longer more fluid bubbled out of her mouth. I tried to wipe it away and it was very viscous which led me to believe it was saliva and the only way that much would have come out of her mouth is if she had an RI.
I have been observing her closely in her enclosure though and I haven't seen anymore, so I'll take her out today and open her mouth to check again.

[aurum]

I actually haven't taken her out since then because I'm afraid of stressing her out too much, but I'm pretty sure it was saliva. When I took her out that day she did a weird hiss/sneeze thing and that got some droplets on her and me. I at first thought they were water that maybe got in her nostrils but after holding her longer more fluid bubbled out of her mouth. I tried to wipe it away and it was very viscous which led me to believe it was saliva and the only way that much would have come out of her mouth is if she had an RI.
I have been observing her closely in her enclosure though and I haven't seen anymore, so I'll take her out today and open her mouth to check again.

^also worth mentioning I heard "pops" as she breathed on the day I took her out.

So this is strange, I opened her mouth and as far as I can tell it looks pretty normal? I haven't seen a lot of snake mouths, but to me there isn't any excess saliva. I'm also not hearing any popping noises. Was this a false alarm then?