Whistling when he breathes

[froglily]

Last spring my 3-yr-old male bp Yonni developed an ominous whistling when he breathed. I rushed him to the vet, who examined him and did a lung culture that turned up negative. The vet said either wait and see or give him a course of antibiotics, which involved numerous injections over a number of days.

Since the culture was negative we decided to wait. And he seems fine -- eating, sleeping, pooping, curious, happy to come out of his cage and hang out. He does not lie around with his head up or seem to have any difficulty breathing. But the whistling has continued. Sometimes it's not noticeable but for the past few days it's been really really loud.

I increased his humidity two months ago to about 50 percent, and he has a good thermocline. He's on aspen with moss tucked into the corners. Any suggestions on why he's whistling or steps we might take to make it stop?

[dr del]

Hi,

You didn't mention shedding - how is that going?

Have you checked for obstructions in his nostrils?

Are the sounds coming from his nose or lungs?


dr del

[scales owner]

Hi,

You didn't mention shedding - how is that going?

Have you checked for obstructions in his nostrils?

Are the sounds coming from his nose or lungs?


dr del

This is what i would suggest.An incomplete shed or a piece of skin that could be partially covering the nostral could be creating the noise.

[blackcrystal22]

Humidity should keep at around 60% at all times and up to 70-80% for a shed.

Are all your temperatures correct? Make sure to check for a stuck shed, and even if your not sure, try soaking him in LUKE warm water (if it's warm too the touch it's probably too warm) and rub a wet washcloth on his nose a couple of times and see if anything comes up.

Has he shed since this happened and it continued?

[West Coast Jungle]

as mentioned whistling can occur from retained shed in the nostrils or heat pits. It can also be be a sign of a RI. You want to look into her mouth and see if you see any sign of fluid or mucos, that is a sure fire sign of a respitory infection. If your snake is not shedding in one piece it is a sign your humidity is too low and retained shed could be your problem.

Hope this helps you idenitfy the situation.

[froglily]

Thanks guys. I hadn't thought of a retained shed piece -- he has always had difficulty shedding, although his cage-mate sheds perfectly. I'm moving them to a new, lower longer cage and will up the humidity overall. He has shed since this started and I can't *see* anything stuck on his face but I'll take a much closer look.

An RI was my first thought but if the culture came up negative doesn't that rule it out?

[blackcrystal22]

Thanks guys. I hadn't thought of a retained shed piece -- he has always had difficulty shedding, although his cage-mate sheds perfectly. I'm moving them to a new, lower longer cage and will up the humidity overall. He has shed since this started and I can't *see* anything stuck on his face but I'll take a much closer look.

An RI was my first thought but if the culture came up negative doesn't that rule it out?

Woah woah, wait a second.
You have two snakes in one cage? I'm going to highly suggest you separate them, especially if one seems to have a condition that could easily spread to the other.
Also, the larger the cage, the more difficult humidity is to regulate. One adult bp can live happily in a 20 gallon and have a much easier time regulating humidity and temperatures.

[dr del]

Hi,

There is also the probablility of re-infection unless you treat both cagemates if it is, in fact, an infection. Thats one of the biggest downsides of multiple snakes in one enclosure - well that and diagnosing when you have no idea which one just passed the worms etc.

Can you do me a favour (bear with me I know it sounds wierd)?

Hold the snakes head up to your ears then hold his body up to your ears about a third of the way down and tell me which one makes the whistling sound louder and if you heard any other strange sounds like clicking or popping?

Do you only hear this when you have him out and about and he is breathing fairly hard or does it also happen when he is just chillin in a nice relaxed pose?


dr del

[froglily]

sorry -- I got sidetracked. That's an interesting test, Dr. Del. Maybe it'll locate where the sound is coming from. He's down for a shed now but I'll try it as soon as he sheds. I think it's when he's relaxed and it's from his head, but I will double-check.