RI / cleaning cage

[johnny wobble]

**question at the bottom**

my ball has a RI, the thermostat went haywire while i was gone for a few days and got too hot, so the snake stayed out of his hides for a couple of days at least probably, maybe 3-4, just staying in the middle of the tank off of the UTHs...

(some husbandry info, 20 gallon long tank with 3 sides covered in black foamcore, screen top partially covered. heated by under tank heaters, plugged into rheostats, then into a reptistat 500r. identical hides, warm side has normally been mid-90s, cool side mid-80s.)

...so i took out the reptistat, and am just using the rheostats right now. apparently the rheostats had gotten bumped at some point, so when the thermostat went, they got hot, but not extremely hot, and at least the snake didn't stay in the hides and burn himself.

i went to feed him and heard popping. took him out and he had clear mucous on his face. then he coughed up a big bubbly, clear slimeball. the wife took him to the vet today and got started on the gentamycin. she also said to give him a warm bath every night while the treatment is going on to make sure he stays hydrated, he's keeping his head in his water dish a lot right now, thought he was gonna drown himself yesterday he was doing it so much.

now, he's rubbing his face on the tank and wiping some snot on it.
should i do anything special as far as cleaning the tank? clean it everyday until he's better?

[stevepoppers]

So why did he get a respiratory infection? I haven't heard of heat causing them. Maybe low humidity. Unless you've already, addressing the cause would be my #1. I haven't heard of any special cleaning regimen for RIs yet. Sorry I'm not too helpful. Good luck.

[johnny wobble]

i assume because he wasn't staying warm enough, since he was staying away from the heaters. humidity has always been over 50%.

[stevepoppers]

Oh, I see. Makes sense. Well, like I said, I haven't heard anything special. Sorry and good luck.

[Zach Nasty]

Wash and disinfect his water bowl frequently.

[mpkeelee]

go to a vet as soon as u can, get a culture done to find out what exactly is making ur snake sick so the vet can put ur snake on the correct antibiotics. i switched from glass enclosures to tubs and my normal has been doing so much better it is unbelievable. i highly suggest u do the same. clean and sanitize as often as u can. the areas ur BP likes to be will most likely be the most infected to keep those dry and clean. wate dishes are bad for bacteria so switch it out every day

[j_h_smith]

Unless you live in the Artic, having your snake live on the cool side of the tank will not cause an RI. If your cool side is in the 70's, which it should be because of the ambient temps in the house, there's no way it could get an RI. You need to find out what part of your husbandry is lacking and fix it immediately. You were only gone for a few days to a week. Not enough time for something to happen.

You may need to pay a visit to the vets to find out exactly what's wrong.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

[johnny wobble]

i did go to the vet. and he was given the first shot of gentamicin there and was sent home with the rest of the medicine to be injected every 3 days. ambient temps are around 80 usually in his tank.

she opened his mouth and said it wasn't pnuemonia because his trachea (sp?) was clear, just an upper RI.

what else could cause the RI if not the temps?

[stevepoppers]

Dusty substrate. Low humidity. Mold spores? Generally weakened immune system that allowed a normally present bacteria to take advantage? Dirty water?

I have read here that temperatures below 75 can cause one. Though, op says his temps aren't that low, so no, that shouldn't be it...

What are you using to measure your humidity and what are you using for substrate? Those are the two things I've heard for sure.

[blackcrystal22]

Could have been caused by stress alone.

What is your overall husbandry? Size of cage?