I don't want this to escalate into a big tear down, drag out forum fight, but, respectively,.. I agree with Kelly on this one. If this is in fact an RI, and if it is in fact bacterial in nature (needs to be verified by a culture performed by a vet before ANY measures are taken) then the worst things one can do is lower the humidity. The reason for this is quite simple and fundamental. If the snakes lungs and trachea are filled with phlegm and/or fluid you don't want this to thicken due to evaporation due to low humidity. The snake must expell this fluid eventually in order to clear its lungs of it. It can't simply reabsorb them through its lung membranes. And if the fluid/phlegm thickens due to evaporation then it can and will clog the relatively narrow trachea and the snake will certainly die of asphyxiation.

Note to the snake owner:
If strong antibiotics must be used please consider administering them orally and mixed with lots of electrolytes or even pedialyte. Perhaps on a 100 to 1 mixture or greater. Consult your vet (a reptile specializing vet) for the best mixture that will best hydrate the snake from within.

Just my personal take on it.
-----
David Beauchemin
High End Herps.Inc
http://HighEndHerps.com

[ Hide Replies ]

• Retic Behaving odd VERY ODD Need Help - worldsocold, Fri Jul 28 09:12:12 2006
• its definatly a resperatory infection!!! - BWatkins, Fri Jul 28 12:02:07 2006
• RE: its definatly a resperatory infectio - worldsocold, Fri Jul 28 12:55:49 2006
• Humidity issues and R.I..... - Kelly_Haller, Fri Jul 28 17:34:53 2006
• RE: Humidity issues and R.I..... - grunt, Fri Jul 28 18:39:47 2006
• Further discussion on humidity and RI... - Kelly_Haller, Sat Jul 29 16:10:15 2006
• temperature and humidity are related... - BWatkins, Sun Jul 30 20:52:16 2006
• That is not exactly the case, and..... - Kelly_Haller, Mon Jul 31 18:36:44 2006
• Well Ive raised the temps and lowered.. - worldsocold, Mon Jul 31 19:26:27 2006
• water bowl science & healthy snakes... - BWatkins, Mon Jul 31 20:01:19 2006
• Your temps and humidity must be.... - Kelly_Haller, Tue Aug 1 00:51:25 2006
• RE: Humidity issues and R.I..... - HighEndHerpsInc, Sun Jul 30 00:04:08 2006
• RE: Humidity issues and R.I..... - grunt, Sun Aug 6 15:47:09 2006
• lower humidity to lower acceptable range - BWatkins, Sat Jul 29 13:54:58 2006