Hello,
I currently have a May 08, what I believe to be a female.(I watched and re-watched the 8-ball pythons popping vids and did my best to be gentle and found no hemipenes) I purchased this girl in september from her first owner that bought her from a local reptile show. she has never missed a meal for the first owner(a good friend of mine) and never for me. she has shed 3 times since i have had her and has grown remarkably since i have gotten her. I am worried tho because I currently am in college in Dekalb IL and our winter days are super cold so I have been struggling with humidity, and today I had her out of the tank and i heard a squeak.... I put her head close to my ear and after a few seconds another one, they are very faint and not every breathe but definitely noticable, i also noticed her in her humid hide with her head up against the side, clear sign of RI... So I made an appt. for thursday with the local exotic veterinarian and i am hoping I caught it early as there are no signs of mucus build up or bubbles on her nose or mouth.
I am sorry if this post seems wordy, I am just trying to do everything I can for my girl; Hope I can get some help
20g long tank
Cool side (sorry for glare just want to show the tank)
It is hard to make out but there are two hides on this side. One in the corner(cool hide) and one adjacent to it in the middle of the tank with a UTH underneath. I currently do not have a thermostat so i have a light dimmer setup with a digital thermometer ontop of the glass.(until i can afford a nice herpstat!) the snake loves both hides because they are small and has no problem switching inbetween the two.
Warm side
In the right corner i placed I small tupperware that is her Humid hide, it has a breathable lid and about 3/4inch of water in it. i changed the water everyday to everyother(as often as I can)
Top
Okay.. I have the Temp gradient set... cool side is 82-84 with a night time low of maybe 76-79... warm side temp is 90-92 but my humidity stays under and around 30% depending on the time of the day, i do have a digital hygrometer/thermometer and it is currently on the cool side reading 25%. I also spray the tank 1 or 2 times a day and several times when i notice she is going into shed, and that will bring it up between 60-70%. her last shed was perfect but now i question why she is wheezing? is it because of the constant low humidity?
As for a substrate I am currently using astro-turf with 2 layers of papertowel underneath. could this be the culprit? it made cleaning very easy for me because i can just replace it with a new sheet and thoroughly clean it. I had been told by my friend i got the snake from that the turf was okay and his older brother has used it for several of his snakes in the past without a problem, but now I am thinking that I need to switch to aspen or cypress or desert snow to maintain the humidity. Please help!!!
thank you.
Husbandry help please, my girl might have RI
Originally Posted by bobbyd6929
Hello,
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