Vet tomorrow

[JimiSnakes]

What do you mean by wheeze? It doesn't make any sense to me that there is even a problem. Does she cough phlegm up? Blow her throat out? Sneeze out bubbles? Blow bubbles? Breath with her mouth open? She probably had a slight RI for a long time and now has permanent damage because of it. That's my verdict.

[Colin Vestrand]

i agree, could be some permanent damage if symptoms are mostly gone.. have you noticed any neurological symptoms or regurgitation? i'm sure you and your vets have a handle on it, i'm just curious because RI's don't take long to clear up...

one more question, have you tried a nebulizer or steam?

[edie]

What do you mean by wheeze? It doesn't make any sense to me that there is even a problem. Does she cough phlegm up? Blow her throat out? Sneeze out bubbles? Blow bubbles? Breath with her mouth open? She probably had a slight RI for a long time and now has permanent damage because of it. That's my verdict.

i agree, could be some permanent damage if symptoms are mostly gone.. have you noticed any neurological symptoms or regurgitation? i'm sure you and your vets have a handle on it, i'm just curious because RI's don't take long to clear up...

one more question, have you tried a nebulizer or steam?

Thanks guys, I was wondering if it could just be something she would live with. Her health hasn't seemed to deteriorate because of the wheezing, if anything shes healthier now than when I got her - people before me used a heat lamp on her in a screen top cage with no humidity. I haven't seen any regurgitation and no neurological symptoms, shes just a very mellow snake - gets active when I take her outside and she moves around a lot - nothing out of the ordinary.

She doesn't breathe with her mouth open, I saw bubbles come out of her nose once when I first got her but haven't seen anything sense. The vet looks in her mouth every time I take her to him and he said that the mucus isn't a weird color but it is there.

I have not used a nebulizer/steam, how would I use that?

I'll read all these posts again before I go to the vet, and make sure I write down some notes and ask some questions to see what he thinks.

Thanks for all the questions/comments!

[kellysballs]

I would ask your vet before you use a nebulizer or steam.

A nebulizer is a machine that makes liquid medicine into a light mist that you can breath in. My daugher has to use one occasionally and the thing was expensive. I have only put albuterol in it so I am not sure if it will make plain water into a mist or if the vet would want you it use some type of meds.

For the steam you could use a regular run of the mill humidifier in the room to boost the humidity of the room.

Good Luck and Keep us posted!!

[Colin Vestrand]

the general consensus is that steam either from a shower running in a bathroom, or from a nebulizer filled with saline solution, is at least as beneficial as the meds themselves. it's definitley worth asking your vet about.

[qiksilver]

Colin and Jimi basically summed it up. Sometimes its just scarring or permanent damage. My 2 cents is that besides R.I. sometimes problems can just be caused by too low humidity over too long of a period. It happens more often with rainbow boas since they require such high humidity, but I have heard of it happening in boa constrictors kept in poor conditions. Which sounds like it happened before you picked her up, but that shouldn't be permanent.

[edie]

Thanks guys, this is really going to help me have some new questions for my vet