Ball python breathes with a whistle

[JustinGatCat]

Hey everyone

So I noticed that Lily Dragon has a slight whistle to her breathing. It’s sort of a faint whistle, kind of like when you get a booger in your nose and it makes your breathing whistle. Her hot temps are around 90-91 and her ambients are around 80. Her humidity is usually about 50-60, but right now it’s at about 70 because I just missed her tub. Is this the start of a RI? The whistling is very quite, like, you have to put your ear right up to her head hear it.


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[dakski]

My BP had something similar a few months ago.

Temps and humidity were spot on and unchanged.

Took her to my trusted reptile vet the next day and she seemed fine. Probably a piece of dust/debris in her nose. I noticed it handling her.

Long story short. There was no mucus in her mouth or nose and as a precaution we drew blood. Long trek there and if white blood count was high would have watched her more carefully and potentially done a lung flush IF symptoms persisted and blood test showed elevated counts.

As as it turned out. She was back to normal breathing at the vet and since and the blood test came back perfect.

I have heard that if they are starting to get an RI to raise temps a little but keep humidity stable. I am not a vet.

I was terrified at the idea of a lung flush unless the blood test and symptoms warranted it. It’s not fun for the BP.

I will not tell you what to do. I only wanted to share my experience. I felt my vet was very good at explaining what could and should be done.

Wishng you you the best of luck and hoping for the best for your BP.

[SherlockAstral]

Hi Justin

My BP used to have a nose whistle as well. It would only happen every now and then, and was very quiet. If this sounds like your dear Lily, I wouldn't worry too much. She likely has shed or debris in her nose.

If your bp shows any signs of a RI, like labored breathing or an uptilted head, make sure to take her to a vet asap. If another shed passes and the whistle persists, I would try a humidity tub, and then a vet visit. Can't be too safe with this little ones!

I hope your dearie does well

[Craiga 01453]

Did the snake shed recently? It could be a tiny piece of skin from the shed causing the whistle the same way as the booger you referenced.
Could also be a piece of substrate or something.
My guess is there's a bat in the cave, but if it persists I would have it checked out. In the meantime, watch to see if she is keeping her head propped up most of the time, watch for mucous in the mouth as well as streks of mucous on glad, water bowl, enclosure decorations, etc...

[JustinGatCat]

Did the snake shed recently? It could be a tiny piece of skin from the shed causing the whistle the same way as the booger you referenced.
Could also be a piece of substrate or something.
My guess is there's a bat in the cave, but if it persists I would have it checked out. In the meantime, watch to see if she is keeping her head propped up most of the time, watch for mucous in the mouth as well as streks of mucous on glad, water bowl, enclosure decorations, etc...

She hasn’t shed for me yet. I’ve barely had her two months. And last night checking up on her, the whistle was gone, or I only heard it once. She usually likes to wander around her cage, and the only propping up she’s done is her trying to see if there’s a way out of her tub. She also Periscopes sometimes, like this
And like this

And ⬆️ when i took this photo, she didn’t have a whistle



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[Craiga 01453]

Ok good to hear. Was probably a piece of substrate, but worth keeping an eye on.

[SDA]

It is possible that stuck shed is built up on the nostrils causing this. RI has some tell tale signs outside of noises and whistling may be a sign of shed either oncoming or stuck. If there is no other signs of a RI then the best thing to do is to make sure humidity is set around shed time and that they have a complete shed next cycle.

If you do feel it getting worse and see visual signs of mouth infections (heavy saliva, slack jaw or discolored discharge from the corners of the mouth) or see that the snake is constantly holding the head upright and seems to act like they are resetting their jaw outside of feeding then you can take the next step and find a qualified vet. I hate to see someone make an unnecessary trip to the vet so for now just observe for signs outside of whistling which may just be shed related.

If you do see any of the symptoms I pointed out above especially slack jaw and discharge from the mouth, it is best to let a vet evaluate the snake and not try and treat this yourself.

[dr del]

Hi,

This can also be caused by the snake going into shed as the fluid layer builds up between the old and new skin it constricts the nostrils slightly.

Unless there are other signs like mucus and holding the head elevated with the mouth open for long periods of time I try and curb my panic. Keep monitoring though just in case other signs appear that raise concerns.

[Maddumpling]

I had the whistling a few years back when I had a normal. After on shed, I noticed she started making a slight whistling sound every time I held her. i freaked out too, but noticed no other RI systems and ate fine and all my other snakes were fine as well. Kept her for a 2 years and had that slight whistle sound. My guess was it was a piece of shed that was in the nostril.

[gnehsse]

My ball python (Nagini) does this all the time. I only notice it when she's around my neck. I was concerned about it so I checked the forums, thanks to everyone here I believe it probably is stuck shed in her nose or substrate or something.

She pokes her head out of her hide when I walk by her cage to let me know she wants out; I hold her for about 12 hours a week while watching TV/movies.

I like to think of the breathing as a sigh of affection, or fangirling .