A really good idea re the aquarium heater. I've tried using big water tubs in the past, but she upends them every time. Will hunt around for something heavy and flat bottomed that she can't tip, which is a bit of a challenge for a snake of just under 50lbs. I spray every so often, but I tend to assume to be honest that if there's always water available and the snake sheds easily, the humidity is probably ok.

I agree about artificial light - I haven't used it in ten years. The ceramic provides only heat.

I checked the male out today. Although he showed no signs of wheezing, when I forced his bottom jaw open I could see a bit of mucus in the mouth. I began wondering if this could ever be "normal" or if it's always indicative of an RI? If the latter than they both have the condition, and one presumably infected the other. So it looks like a big boa family outing to the vets tomorrow.

Am a bit more optimistic about things with the female this evening - she has popped her head out for the first time since yesterday morning and shows no signs of discomfort. In fact if I hadn't neeeded to clean her on Saturday I wouldn't know about her condition, which is pretty scary. When I opened the door to listen to her breathing, I heard one wheeze and nothing else audible for the following two minutes. This is probably just because she's a lot more relaxed than when I was moving her yesterday morning, so is taking fewer breaths, but at least things don't seem to be getting worse at the moment.

[ Hide Replies ]

• Panic - big female has an RI - Conners, Sat Nov 10 05:08:40 2007
• RE: Panic - big female has an RI - jscrick, Sat Nov 10 08:18:45 2007
• RE: Panic - big female has an RI - Conners, Sun Nov 11 04:11:07 2007
• RE: Panic - big female has an RI - jscrick, Sun Nov 11 10:27:53 2007
• RE: Panic - big female has an RI - Conners, Sun Nov 11 12:53:20 2007
• RE: Panic - big female has an RI - bergmantis, Sat Nov 10 15:13:14 2007
• RE: Panic - big female has an RI - Conners, Sun Nov 11 04:12:47 2007
• RE: Panic - big female has an RI - Conners, Thu Nov 15 16:22:44 2007