Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,

Last Saturday I purchased a subadult white-lipped python at a reptile show. He seemed healthy and active at the time; I noticed 1-2 strings of mucus in his mouth, but I was told by no less than 5 reputable herp friends that "1-2 strings are nothing to worry about."

So, I went ahead and purchased him. I didn't have proper transportation equipment at the time, so I arranged to pick up the snake the following Friday (yesterday evening). To make a long story short, he seemed OK from what I saw of him last night, but this morning, has a full-blown RI. What started as blowing bubbles earlier this morning is now foam emerging from the sides of his mouth, and slight swelling in the jaw.

I have a vet appointment scheduled for him on Monday morning (earliest I could get - for those of you in other time zones, it's midday Saturday here). In the meantime, what can I do to keep him comfortable? Or do RI's develop so fast that a Monday morning appointment is too late? I've already raised the temps in his cage to roughly 88-95, and I've been misting frequently. Should I be soaking him daily to keep him hydrated?

Secondly, what do you think caused the RI? It seems to me that the seller MUST have known about it before I purchased the snake. I doubt that transporting him home or the cooler temps last night could have caused the RI, but perhaps those conditions just took the RI that was brewing into full-force? Here's the temp specs for the last 24 hours. I guess I'm just asking for opinions, so I can find out whether or not to ask for some (or all) of my money back. I'll be keeping the snake regardless, as I really want to see him pull through.

Anyway, when I picked him up at 5:30 last night, the seller put him into a pillowcase for me, which I put into a styrofoam cooler heated with 2 10-hour heat pads; I monitored the pillowcase with a temp probe and the cooler was 81-91 degrees inside. The snake was exposed to cooler temps, about 55 degrees, for about 3 minutes as I walked from the house to the heated car. Once home, he went immediately into his cage for the night; night temps were 74-77. This morning, I got a higher watt halogen flood, and the temps across the cage are about 88-95.

Any advice, suggestions, etc. would be very helpful. I know that this industry is "buyer beware", but I'm a bit appalled at the condition of this snake, and the seller's integrity.
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::i believe in joy > http://www.winds.org/nekomi/hope.html

::my homepage > http://www.winds.org/nekomi

My Growing Zoo:

1.0 Husband (Byron) ^_^
0.1 black cat (Shade)
0.1 rescued stray grey cat (Ghost)
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Zia)
1.0 Leucistic Black Ratsnake (Houdini)
1.0 White-Lipped Python (Midas)
1.2 Panduro cichlids (A. panduro)

White-lipped pythons are well known for their extremely high susceptibility to RI when exposed to temps below 80 for extended periods. A few strings of mucous in the mouth is not a good sign and would tend to indicate the onset of an RI. You are currently doing the right thing, ie: keeping the temp between 90 and 95 for 24/7 and maintaining an elevated humidity within the cage. Many times this alone will pull one through without antibiotic treatment, if caught in the early stages. But in this case a vet visit would be wise. It definitely does not sound like anything you did caused the problem. I appears that it was exposed to sub-optimum temps before you purchased it. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

Kelly

Thanks for the info and encouragement. I didn't know that white-lips were so suscesciptle to RI; I'll make triple-sure to keep his temps optimum while he's in my care.

He's looking much better today. It seems like the worst of it was yesterday afternoon, when I noticed the foam dribbling out the sides of his mouth and nose and swelling. This morning, the swelling seems to have gone down a little, and I'm noticing only the smallest amount of bubble-blowing. I'm hoping that the hot temps yesterday may have helped him bounce back a little. Regardless, though, his vet visit is scheduled for tomorrow morning.

He also seemed dehydrated yesterday. His skin looked dry and somewhat "crunchy", as in, any wrinkle in his skin looked sharp instead of smoothly curved. The skin behind his scales had a dry grey color instead of the smooth, glossy black look that I remember from the reptile show and see in pictures of white-lips. I gave him a good hour-long soak, and that seemed to do him a lot of good. I'm planning the same thing today.

The poor thing... I still can't believe the difference between last Saturday and yesterday. Here's hoping that I can pull him through somehow.
-----
::i believe in joy > http://www.winds.org/nekomi/hope.html

::my homepage > http://www.winds.org/nekomi

My Growing Zoo:

1.0 Husband (Byron) ^_^
0.1 black cat (Shade)
0.1 rescued stray grey cat (Ghost)
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Zia)
1.0 Leucistic Black Ratsnake (Houdini)
1.0 White-Lipped Python (Midas)
1.2 Panduro cichlids (A. panduro)

URI's often sit and grow long before symptoms are obvious. I'd like to think that the seller is innocent, and the suboptimal conditions of the reptile show, and transit, as well as the stress of a new home, lept this into a much more obvious illness.
Kelly's given you all the advice you need

Ian