HELP PLEASE, female makes popping cracking noises when breathing

[mrobert875]

i have a female 09 that is eating great and looks great too. she makes what seems to be a cracking or popping sound when she breaths. anyone have this problem before ?

in the future i plan on breading her. can this effect my breeding plans down the road ?

[cornball252]

Poss. RI take her to a vet to get checked out. Also check her mouth for spit bubbles. and off colored gums. both signs of RI. I would keep her in a separate room away from your other snakes incase. and wash hands between holdings

[Calift]

Go to a VET immediately!!!


My female (hatchling at the time) had the same problem...it came out of nowhere and very suddenly. Luckily, I took her to a good reptile vet and was able to start treatment right away. It can progress quickly (in a negative direction) if you don't get help. I suggest you do NOT wait any longer! Good luck!

[mrobert875]

Poss. RI take her to a vet to get checked out. Also check her mouth for spit bubbles. and off colored gums. both signs of RI. I would keep her in a separate room away from your other snakes incase. and wash hands between holdings

what color should the gums be and what is RI ? also it seems like when i hold her i can feel it vibrate down her.

[Kaorte]

She has a respiratory infection and needs to be seen by a vet for antibiotics. She will not get better without antibiotics.

Once she has fully recovered, she should stay that way assuming your husbandry is correct or has been corrected to prevent it from happening again.

Her gums should be a light pink color. An RI shouldn't cause the color to change, you will just basically notice "snot" in the snakes mouth.

[mrobert875]

i have never taken any of my snakes to a vet this will be a first. so how much should i be looking to spend on this visit ?

[rabernet]

She has a progressed case of a RI (respiratory infection) and she will not get better without treatment. RI's can be deadly to your snake if not treated. Each veterinarian charges differently, you'll need to locate an exotics vet in your area and call them for pricing. I'll post up a couple of links to help you locate an EXOTICS vet (not a vet that primarily sees dogs and cats and very few exotics) in a moment.

[rabernet]

Enter your state in this link:

http://www.arav.org/ECOMARAV/timssne...t_mdsearch.cfm

http://www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html#vetlist

And we have another list here from our membership, of vets that they've used and reviewed:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=56792

[mrobert875]

man that sucks i was really trying to trade her off. i just looked at her today and saw that her eyes were glazed so shes about to shed soon. could shedding have anything to do with that noise ?

[SquamishSerpents]

Poss. RI take her to a vet to get checked out. Also check her mouth for spit bubbles. and off colored gums. both signs of RI. I would keep her in a separate room away from your other snakes incase. and wash hands between holdings

to the OP, no, what your snake has definitely sounds alarming, i would go to the vet immediately.

and just wondering, are RI's contagious? or is it just the assumption that if one has an RI from improper husbandry, then so do the others?