wheezing sound and open mouth on new ball

[dudeistmom]

my new ball might be in trouble.
he is wheezing with every breath, just noticing a barely audible sound every few minutes when i hold him out and her mouth opened a few times, not real wide but wider than needed for his tongue to come out.
aside from taking her to a herp vet, which i cannot do right now, any thoughts?
i've had him a week, he's 5 yrs old, havent fed him yet.

[gold217]

Sounds like RI...raise your temps up a few degrees and call your vet, and discuss what symptoms you notice to see if it needs treatment.

[ed4281]

Bump up the heat to 95 on the hot side, make sure the humidity is at least 70% and that the ambient temp (room temp) is at least 82. Then get your snake to the vet as soon as possible. A respiratory infection that bad will kill your snake if left untreated.

[gold217]

Bump up the heat to 95 on the hot side, make sure the humidity is at least 70% and that the ambient temp (room temp) is at least 82. Then get your snake to the vet as soon as possible. A respiratory infection that bad will kill your snake if left untreated.

Shouldn't you keep the humidity down at about 55%?

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Why is it that every time I look at the forums, the hot and cool side recommendations just keep getting higher?

Are we trying to cook our snakes?

I'd say keep the hot belly heat at 90-92 max and ambient temp at 81-83.

Humidity should be at about what you'd have it at if the snake were shedding. 60-70% but not where there is any moisture in the enclosure.

Keep the snake on paper towels or very clean bedding and change it the moment it becomes damp or soiled. Change the water daily.

The slight raise in temps and humidity helps the snake to keep the mucus from building up and causing problems but it will still need a trip to the vet for a course of treatment.

[ed4281]

Why is it that every time I look at the forums, the hot and cool side recommendations just keep getting higher?

Are we trying to cook our snakes?

I'd say keep the hot belly heat at 90-92 max and ambient temp at 81-83.

Humidity should be at about what you'd have it at if the snake were shedding. 60-70% but not where there is any moisture in the enclosure.

Keep the snake on paper towels or very clean bedding and change it the moment it becomes damp or soiled. Change the water daily.

The slight raise in temps and humidity helps the snake to keep the mucus from building up and causing problems but it will still need a trip to the vet for a course of treatment.

No, I think you misunderstood why I was telling him to bump up his temps. What you are stating is optimal, however since this snake has a RI. I was suggesting that the op temporarily raise the temps until he can get his pet to the vet. The raised temps do help relive some of the RI symptoms and raise the snakes metabolism, so it can start to fight the infection. This is all said with the assumption that the op is providing proper husbandry in the first place.

The hot side recommendations that are on the care sheet that this site has is 88-94

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

My main concern is your last sentence. If the under belly heat is, or heat lamp, whatever the case may be, is not controlled by a probed thermostat and then closely monitored with a probed thermometer, there is the risk of burns.

To the OP. Yes it's true raising the heat just 2-3 degrees above the normal recommended amount is good, and raising the humidity, it must be done under controlled conditions. As with anything else concerning BPs. But do try to get it to a vet ASAP anyway because when an RI gets as bad as that sounds, they can't fight it off on their own.

[Skiploder]

my new ball might be in trouble.
he is wheezing with every breath, just noticing a barely audible sound every few minutes when i hold him out and her mouth opened a few times, not real wide but wider than needed for his tongue to come out.
aside from taking her to a herp vet, which i cannot do right now, any thoughts?
i've had him a week, he's 5 yrs old, havent fed him yet.

Most vets have an emergency answering service. Hopefully that is what you are referring to when you reference not being able to take her to a vet.

If yours does, ask for the vet to be paged and the you can talk to someone qualified to give you advice.

As you have seen in this thread, you are going to get conflicting opinions. Some will help a little, some will hurt alot. None are a substitute for getting your advice from a vet.

Double check you ambient, cool side and hot spot temps versus the target range and adjust as needed. Then make every attempt to see the vet ASAP.