i think she has a respratory infection! help!

[Inxis]

I am a new Bp owner... just got my baby girl, Inxis, about 3 days ago from a reptile show. She has been making some funny popping noises when she breathes. I didnt think it was normal so i looked it up on the internet... i'm pretty sure she has an RI, i'm just not sure what to do!!! the web site told me to hold her upside down for 5 minutes... tried that, she's not to fond of having her head held down... do you guys have any useful advice? things i can actually do to her?!

[Shaun J]

take her to the vet.thats your best bet

[SatanicIntention]

Are you sure she isn't about to shed? They can sometimes have pieces of skin in their noses that make whistling sounds. Don't hold her upside down or try to hold her head, it will only stress her out even more, and make her not trust you very much. Does she have any mucus or drainage coming out of her nose or mouth?

Also, what is your set-up like? Temps, heat source(s), etc. How are you measuring temps/humidity? If you are using the strip temp gauges or the analog circle gauges, they are most likely inaccurate. Some have found them to be 20 degrees off of what the actual temp/humidity is. If you haven't already, take a trip to WalMart and in the outdoor thermometer/air conditioner section there should be an Accurite Digital Thermometer/Hygrometer, it should run ~$15.

If you got her at a show, you should take her to the vet regardless, but especially from being at a show around all other breeder's snakes. The vet will be able to figure out what is wrong, if there is anything wrong, or she may just be stressed from all of the moving. You may want to up her temps (depending on what they are-94 hot side,84 cool side) and leave her completely alone for a week to 10 days so she can settle in and get used to her new home. Let us know how she does. Good luck with your new baby

[sk8er4life]

yea cuz i freakin out about that and then a couple of days later her eyes went blue so it could just be an upcoming shed, here ill find m old post about it and give u the link...

[sk8er4life]

here it is

http://ball-pythons.net/PNphpBB2+viewtopic-t-5714.html

[hhw]

Do not hold her upside down. I do not see why that was ever suggested, or what was hoped to be accomplished by doing that.

Firstly, make certain that it is an RI. When she flicks her tongue, is the fork stuck together? Also, try and get a look in her mouth and see if there are any bubbles or strings of mucus.

If you've confirmed it's an RI, raise her temps a bit, making cool side/warm side 85/95 instead of the usual 80/90. Replace her waterdish often and make sure you sterilize in between. I would also avoid using a loose substrate for the time being, as it can easily get lodged in her mouth. Leave her totally alone; do not handle her at all and put her enclosure somewhere where she won't be disturbed. In a few days, try feeding her a pre-killed or live mouse or rat, a bit smaller than what you'd normally feed her (about 1/10th of her weight or so). Do not use frozen/thawed unless you are prepared to inject the prey item with vitamin C, as the freezing/thawing process destroys some of the vitamin C in rodents, and your ball python will need all the vitamin C she can get.

It will generally take quite a while before an RI will completely go away, depending on the severity. As long as she is active and feeding well, there should be nothing to worry about. If she has a poor appetite and is rather sluggish however, you should definitely make a trip to the vet.

[Adam_Wysocki]

Holding the snake upside down will do nothing.

For someone with only 3 days of experience with a ball python, I really wouldn't reccomend the "turn up the heat and hope it goes away" method of treating a URI.

Like hhw said, turn up the heat! ... If she has a URI, husbandry is the first thing to fix. Second, please take her to a vet with at least basic reptile experience. A proper diagnosis and anti-biotics are the safest, fastest, and only sure way of clearing up a URI.

Over the years I've seen plenty of "home-style" URI remedies end up allowing the infection to turn systemic and killing ball pythons from something that could have been fixed with a car ride and a couple of injections.

Do not use frozen/thawed unless you are prepared to inject the prey item with vitamin C, as the freezing/thawing process destroys some of the vitamin C in rodents

hhw, do you have any papers or references that back this up? I've heard this statement made for years now and have never seen any studies done that shows it to be true? There was a rumor about a paper being written years ago but I've never been able to get my hands on it. Any help you might be able to provide would be greatly appreciated!

Hope this helps

-adam

[Inxis]

thankyou for the tips guys, she is doing a lot better now... she ate 2 mice the other day, my little piggy girl haha.... and now she is shedding, they just grow up so fast!!! haha

[Marla]

Glad to hear she's feeling better! Congrats!