Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought 5 snakes, two baby ball pythons, 2 baby normal berms, and a baby albino burm. I just found out today that all of them have RI. I have only had them for about a week, could this have been caused by my cage conditions? All of the rest of my snakes are fine, it is just these 5. I am going to keep the same temp (95 basking, 75 cool side). I am also going to raise the humidity. If I do this and the shots, how long do you think it will take to clear up? If 5 snakes you get from the same place all have RI, is it their falt? Can snakes that are kept in good conditions catch RI from another snake? Thanks, Jacob.

It has been my experience that URI is contagious. It can transfer from snake to snake much like a cold in people. I don't know if it is airborn or if we do it ourselves carrying germs from one snake to the other, but if you have a sick snake your best bet to contain it is by removing the snake to a quarantine area and dealing with that snake last of all and washing your hands afterward.
It is possible the URI spread while they were in your care(by keeping them in the same room, the natural stressful time of acclimating to a new environment, low humidity, etc.) but it is also possible you brought a snake home with the original URI and that would be the source of the problem. I would increase the low temperature to 80 at least since the warmer temps create a higher metabolism for the snake and the antibiotics wil work faster. It will be a few days -about 3- before you see an immprovement. As for the high humidity baby BPs really need a high humidity at least in the low 80s. Make sure your vet cultures one snake (at least) to know what he or she is dealing with before prescribing anything. Mild URI can take care of themselves with high humidity and high temperatures.
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Marcia Pimentel
Tango River Reptiles
GiantFeeders