My new BP - Would like some help

[lord jackel]

Smoking is deadly (there is no way to deny this anymore ) - you have 2 large lungs to ruin your poor snake has only one very small lung (comparitively). I recommend you quit smoking for both your sakes...if not at least move the snake to another room or smoke outside.


As for the mites...unfortunately all your efforts (though good) won't get rid of them. While you might have gotten rid of the adult mites (though they can hide really really well) you will for sure have eggs that you couldn't get. The best option is to go online and buy some "PAM" (Provent-A-Mite) - it has been tested on reptiles to be extremly effective against mites both adults and eggs. You can pick some up from Rich as www.reptilebasics.com

[jglass38]

Smoking is deadly (there is no way to deny this anymore ) - you have 2 large lungs to ruin your poor snake has only one very small lung (comparitively). I recommend you quit smoking for both your sakes...if not at least move the snake to another room or smoke outside.


As for the mites...unfortunately all your efforts (though good) won't get rid of them. While you might have gotten rid of the adult mites (though they can hide really really well) you will for sure have eggs that you couldn't get. The best option is to go online and buy some "PAM" (Provent-A-Mite) - it has been tested on reptiles to be extremly effective against mites both adults and eggs. You can pick some up from Rich as www.reptilebasics.com

I agree on the smoking. I think its wrong to subject any animal to second hand smoke.

By the way, Rich doesn't carry PAM. You can get directly from the manufacturer www.pro-products.com Use it EXACTLY as the directions say and your mite problem will go away.

[lord jackel]

By the way, Rich doesn't carry PAM. You can get directly from the manufacturer www.pro-products.com Use it EXACTLY as the directions say and your mite problem will go away.

Well crap...did he ever? :eek: For some reason I thought I remembered buying some from him....guess I need more coffee...oh well good catch.

[jglass38]

Well crap...did he ever? :eek: For some reason I thought I remembered buying some from him....guess I need more coffee...oh well good catch.

Not that I recall but its possible.

[Kyle6203]

Ok well I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is is I think the mites are gone, havent seen any on Smoke in the last 3 days. I'm not even sure they were mites, as they weren't really on the snake when i found them, more or less just devouring his feces.

The bad news is that I think he may have an RI. I've been reading alot about the symptoms and although he has some, he doesn't have others. If he does have an RI however hes had it since I bought and its not from my smoking so don't bombard me with hate please lol. When I first got him I noticed that whenever I held him he would yawn frequently, maybe like once every 5-7 minutes. (I read that this was normal whenever they were exploring so I didn't think anything of it.) However I also just recently started hearing a "popping" or "clicking" sound. Heres the weird thing, he only yawns and "pop"s when i'm holding him, if I put him in his cage and watch him he rarely ever yawns, and no popping can be heard. He doesn't rest his head on things like the glass or tree limbs I have in his viv, and he also doesn't have any mucous coming out of his mouth or nose, and when he yawns I look in his mouth and see no mucous in there either. He has a great appetite and will have the mouse dead and completely consumed within 5 minutes whenever I feed him (which is once a week). I read that causes of RI can be caused by too low temps or too low/high humidity, I don't think this was the cause however since my humidity is at a constant 55-60%, temps at hot side being 88-91, and cool side 80-84.

I would take him to a vet, but I live in bum :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: West Virginia and we don't have any herp vets anywhere remotely close to us. What should I do?

[lord jackel]

I would take him to a vet, but I live in bum :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: West Virginia and we don't have any herp vets anywhere remotely close to us. What should I do?

It is a tough call as none of us are vets to tell you yes/no it is/isn't an RI. You have described the symptoms correctly which could be the early stages of an RI...but it could also be just him adjusting his jaw.

My suggestion is to find the nearest reptile vet and call them...describe what you are seeing and hearing and let them make the call. Yes you might have to drive a ways but it is better then a slow painful death because you waited or did nothing.

Just my 2 cents.

[Kyle6203]

I took him out again and I noticed that his belly is really pink, he hasn't shed since I got him and ive had him for almost 3 weeks now. I've heard that cracking or popping noises can be confused with RI when the snake is about to shed. I also called the pet store to see if the other ball pythons that were housed in the same enclosure were showing symptoms since the disease is contagious and he had been yawning about once per handling since I had him. They said that the remaining 2 they had were perfectly healthy and the other 2 that were sold were healthy as well. I'm going to at least wait till he sheds and if the popping noise is still happening i'm taking him to a vet I found where I go to college, it's about an hour and a half away.

I've never taken an animal to a vet before, how much is this going to cost? I was reading that it costs a person $1,000 dollars for a vet visit and treatment, if this is true and thats what its going to cost me theres no way I can afford that. I could get plastic surgery for cheaper than that but I have to pay a grand for some half-doctor to look at my snake for 5 minutes and prescribe a bottle of medicine that probably cost 30 cents to make in Taiwain? If its more along the lines of 70 bucks thats fine but i'm not mortaging my house.