Gravid Female is breathing loudly...

[JohnMcD]

Hi guys, this is my first time breeding ball pythons and I am really worried about this. My female just went into her pre-lay shed and I just went to check on her progress. She has about half of it off but I noticed that every so often I can hear her breathing.. it is kind of a whistling noise. I am extremely worried that she has an RI but I've heard that it could be some skin stuck in her nose from the not-so-great shed? If anybody has any info or advice please help!

Should I take her to the vet tomorrow?

Edit: I should add that I keep her with an 88-92 hot spot and ~50% humidity (but I've had it between 60-70% the last few days for her shed)

[JohnMcD]

Ugh it has to be an RI since my humidity has been so low.. should I be as panicked as I am?

[coldbloodaddict]

Ugh it has to be an RI since my humidity has been so low.. should I be as panicked as I am?

Probably not...Is she drooling, blowing bubbles, smearing on the sides of the enclosure?

[Maddumpling]

Check if she is drooling, blowing bubbles, mucus and breathing out of her mouth, if she does have these signs go to vet. I have a female adult ball python who does a whistle every once in a while and has been doing it for a year now, but she does not have RI (I know because no signs of RI, none of my snakes have gotten sick ever, and eats regularly, poops regularly, and has not died even though she is 15+ years old).

[JohnMcD]

Probably not...Is she drooling, blowing bubbles, smearing on the sides of the enclosure?

No mucus or bubbles of any kind anywhere

[SquamishSerpents]

I wouldn't worry too much. When you said she had half her shed off though, do you mean it is flaking off, or was she halfway through slithering out of her old skin? If it's flaking off, you must certainly need to get your humidity in check.

I've had snakes whistle before with bits of skin stuck, yes. Also is she a particularly large ball python? My 4000g girl kind of wheezes a bit if I'm holding her a certain way. Kind of like a fat person wheezing when they get up out of a comfy chair, lol. My Dumeril's also kind of whistles/huffs sometimes, but she is huge.

I'd suggest putting a bigger water bowl in her cage, especially if she is gravid. If she lays and you don't get to them right away you don't want them to dry out too much.

Also - depending how close she is to laying, you may want to get the rest of her shed off. If it's estimated to be the next few days that she will lay, I would wait as additional stress is a recipe for disaster.

[JohnMcD]

I wouldn't worry too much. When you said she had half her shed off though, do you mean it is flaking off, or was she halfway through slithering out of her old skin? If it's flaking off, you must certainly need to get your humidity in check.

I've had snakes whistle before with bits of skin stuck, yes. Also is she a particularly large ball python? My 4000g girl kind of wheezes a bit if I'm holding her a certain way. Kind of like a fat person wheezing when they get up out of a comfy chair, lol. My Dumeril's also kind of whistles/huffs sometimes, but she is huge.

I'd suggest putting a bigger water bowl in her cage, especially if she is gravid. If she lays and you don't get to them right away you don't want them to dry out too much.

Also - depending how close she is to laying, you may want to get the rest of her shed off. If it's estimated to be the next few days that she will lay, I would wait as additional stress is a recipe for disaster.

Thanks for the feedback, yes it did flake off unfortunately.. it has been an especially cold and dry few weeks here in IL and I have had my humidifier running and I spray her down at least once a day. I think I'll give her another couple of days to get the rest of her shed off then help her out if theres any left.

I just put in a larger water bowl hopefully it will help, Thanks again!

[SquamishSerpents]

Is she in a tank or a plastic enclosure/rack? If tank you may want to think about carefully taping down some aluminum foil to the exterior of the lid to hold the humidity in. But yes I find a larger water bowl works wonders. Larger footprint, that is. Not taller.

Hope your girl is okay!