Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Relic is about 3yrs old. 3 feet long. I was holding her a few minutes ago and i noticed that a high pitched noise was coming from her. Like a hiss but more high pitched....almost like a whistle or a wease. Anyone else ever notice this? Is it something i should look into?

High pitched wheeze might be either the beginning of a respiratory infection orrrrr you were holdin her in a way that made her breathe funny. Not that you were holding her wrong or anything close to that - sometimes they just arrange themselves in wierd ways. My female's done that a time or two.

And of course, double check your husbandry, make sure not too wet/dry/hot/cold, etc, etc, and gently check in the mouth for bubbles. If there's bubbles you know for sure it's an R.I.

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Lizard
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

just to add to that....the bubbles from what I understand are the very beginning stages of a RI. If you open it's mouth and see that his inner mouth is red/pink then that is def. RI. You might want to check your temps, a good way to knock of the early stages of an RI is to raise the temps raise to about 93 degrees. I am not a pro here..I am only going on what I have been told in the past.
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Nick

Sorry...when I said to raise your temps up to 93 degrees I was assuming you kept them at 90. I should have said whatever your temp is set at raise it three degrees.

Later
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Nick

I don’t mean to jump in but if you are in fact dealing with a R.I. the temps should be 95-100 to fight off the infection and not just raising them 3 degrease . And a Vet check is also a good idea . Thanks David .PS Good luck with all you do !!

isn't 95-100 a bit hot for a Ball? It isn't that hot at night in Ghana or in their burrows. I would think temps that high would weaken their system further, no? Also, is that an axanthic or a black and white photo?
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"yeah, eagles have feathers hanging off of them too and I don't smoke --- out of them!" PS it was a dream catcher!

Black and white photo

I'd only recommend raising temperatures that high during the day, and 100 is rather hot. Somewhere around 95 I think would be sufficient. At night things should probably drop back down to about 85 or whatever normal nighttime temps are.

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Lizard
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

even 95 seems kind of high to me though. During the day these snakes stay in burrows and termite mounds so as to avoid that kind of heat. Anyone know what the temps in these hiding spots are during the day?
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"yeah, eagles have feathers hanging off of them too and I don't smoke --- out of them!" PS it was a dream catcher!

high temp is the point, though. We're inducing a "fever" to help the snake fight infection - the cool side stays cool, and if the snake stays on the cool side constantly when it's normally going back and forth, temps can probably go back to normal.
Fevers kill bacteria, and by providing extra high temps on the hot side, you provide the snake the opportunity to give itself a "fever". I'm not entirely sure its the same sort of fever in reptiles since their body temperatures fluctuate so much, but higher temps fight off infection. They do NOT stay that high for more than a week or so though.

Make more sense? You can always call up a vet and get a professional opinion they can't charge you for a phone call.

~jenny
-----
1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Lizard
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

except that snake physiology is different than ours. I do see the logic to it but I am wondering where you learned that. It's not that I'm saying you are wrong, I just like to know the source of my info. I will ask my vet about it though, the next time I see him. He has proven to be very knowledgeable thus far and keeps snakes himself so he should know.
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"yeah, eagles have feathers hanging off of them too and I don't smoke --- out of them!" PS it was a dream catcher!