How common is RI's with BP's? What has been your experience?

[BostonMacK]

I know, kind of a big question. I am curious what the percentage is with all of you here. Is it almost a given one would come accross an RI as a BP owner or are there some of you here who have never had a ball get an RI? I have had my snake almost a year now and he is doing great. Living in New England it is very hard to keep his temps perfect all the time, his ambient temps have dropped to 77/78 at times and that always got me nervous. In short I am just curious how common RI's are among all you BP owners.

Thanks for any feedback,
~Jason

[JoshJP7]

Your husbandry would have to be off real bad either temp or humidity for your snake to catch and RI. I've heard people says they can get RI's from stress but the stress is usually husbandry related. My first ball got an RI due to low humidity and was cured simply with a couple shots of bayatril. Not everyone is as lucky with their RI's and they can lead to death if not treated. My snake had no mucus in its mouth but was holding its mouth open gasping for air... Good sign of an RI... My tanks right now are all between 78-80 on the cool side and Ive had no issues. Its not ideal but Id be willing to say youd prolly even be ok with cool sides being in the low 70's. Personally Id be worried if temps were below 76 and if humidity was below 50%.

[Freakie_frog]

I have had animals catch RI from stress and I have one that keeps knowcking over her water bowl and she is now under treatment. RI's can be cause by a plethera of reasons to nail down why I get one can be tricky sometimes some times it is as plain as the nose on your face.

Any breeder you talk to will tell you they deal with RI's more often than people think. The trick is to pay attention to your animals and treat it early. BAD RI'S are rare because most people notice when something is off with their animal.

[Reediculous]

good question for some big guys on reptile radio!

[Spaniard]

No RI's yet for me but my collection isn't that large. I'm sure I'll have to deal with it at some point.

[LadyOhh]

I've had it in my collection several times, and as long as you notice early on and adjust to compensate for it husbandry-wise, things are pretty easy to solve.

[janeothejungle]

I've had it in other snakes I've rescued over the years, but never in my bp collection. Vigilance is key.

Cheers,
Kat

[Larry Suttles]

good question for some big guys on reptile radio!

You know I've asked a lot of these breeders that very question. To be honest as of late I'm pretty nervous myself about the well being of my animals with all the threads floating around the net lately.

They've all pretty much said "husbandry is the key" and with good husbandry it's pretty easy to keep a large collection healthy.

Mites seem to be the issue that comes up the most with breeders that have large collections.

Knock Knock on wood but I haven't had an issue with RI's yet but again my collection is small. I aslo only use closed racks which I think really helps because there are zero drafts. It seems to me people that use tanks and open rack systems have a lot more problems with RI's. Just my opinion of course

[coldbloodaddict]

Never had a Ball Python with RI...

[Reediculous]

You know I've asked a lot of these breeders that very question. To be honest as of late I'm pretty nervous myself about the well being of my animals with all the threads floating around the net lately.

They've all pretty much said "husbandry is the key" and with good husbandry it's pretty easy to keep a large collection healthy.

Mites seem to be the issue that comes up the most with breeders that have large collections.

Knock Knock on wood but I haven't had an issue with RI's yet but again my collection is small. I aslo only use closed racks which I think really helps because there are zero drafts. It seems to me people that use tanks and open rack systems have a lot more problems with RI's. Just my opinion of course

Closed racks? What type do you use Larry?