Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Posted by: dpj912 at Thu Feb 22 20:05:23 2007 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

Hi, I just got 2 Brazilian Rainbow Boas about 2 weeks ago, they are about 4-5 months old. They are currently being housed in a 10 gallon aquarium until I get my set-up complete (Vision 322 w/ pro-heat/Helix control). My question is this, when I got the snakes from Fed-Ex priority they were very cold, I was able to warm them up gradually and they appeared fine. They have eaten twice since I got them about 2 weeks ago (fuzzies). One of the snakes began acting strangely today, he/she opens his mouth and "yawns" often, if you listen you can hear a slight noise like bubbles popping from his face, I saw one small bubble next to his nose. He is acting ok but I am very worried about him, any advise would be greatly appreciated. The other snake does not display any of these symptoms at all.

Sounds like an RI (respiratory infection). What are your temps? I keep my hatchlings at 77 degrees and with an RI you should raise your temps a few degrees higher to 80. I'm away from home and on dial up so I won't be able to help much.

BTW, a visit to the vet would be a good idea!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
19.29 BRB
14.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

dpj912,
...The snake could have a respiratory problem caused by getting too cold in shipping. It could just as easily be a probem caused by inadequate control of temperature or humidity while you have been keeping the snake in a 10 gallon aquarium. Is it a typical aquarium with an open screen top? What is the temperature and humidity in there?
Jeff

>>Posted by: dpj912 at Thu Feb 22 20:05:23 2007 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]
>>
>>Hi, I just got 2 Brazilian Rainbow Boas about 2 weeks ago, they are about 4-5 months old. They are currently being housed in a 10 gallon aquarium until I get my set-up complete (Vision 322 w/ pro-heat/Helix control). My question is this, when I got the snakes from Fed-Ex priority they were very cold, I was able to warm them up gradually and they appeared fine. They have eaten twice since I got them about 2 weeks ago (fuzzies). One of the snakes began acting strangely today, he/she opens his mouth and "yawns" often, if you listen you can hear a slight noise like bubbles popping from his face, I saw one small bubble next to his nose. He is acting ok but I am very worried about him, any advise would be greatly appreciated. The other snake does not display any of these symptoms at all.

The tank is a 10 Gallon with under tank heater, I have a screen top with 1/2 - 3/4 covered with a plexiglass insert to keep humidity up. this is a temporary home unitil I get my Vision 322 up and running. The temp is around 75-80 during the day, but drops at night to 65-70, the humidity is good due to the plexiglass cover. The other BRB is fine, the "yawning" is often prolonged and occassionally he will sit with his mouth partially open for a short time. He appears to have fluid or mucus in his mouth that is visible when he "yawns" and sometimes you can see a very small "bubble" of mucus at the side of his mouth. I am really worried about this guy, I will keep the heat light on all night to keep the temps up all night. To make matters worse he appears to be going into a shed also. Thaks for the help.

...Do you live in Massachusetts and did someone ship to you two weeks ago with midnight to early morning low temperatures in the teens when the FedEx packages get into your local (Logan?) airport and then go out on trucks and what were they packed in and did they use heat packs? BTW, I am the master of the runon sentence. How do you know the humidity is good in that tank?
Jeff

>>The tank is a 10 Gallon with under tank heater, I have a screen top with 1/2 - 3/4 covered with a plexiglass insert to keep humidity up. this is a temporary home unitil I get my Vision 322 up and running. The temp is around 75-80 during the day, but drops at night to 65-70, the humidity is good due to the plexiglass cover. The other BRB is fine, the "yawning" is often prolonged and occassionally he will sit with his mouth partially open for a short time. He appears to have fluid or mucus in his mouth that is visible when he "yawns" and sometimes you can see a very small "bubble" of mucus at the side of his mouth. I am really worried about this guy, I will keep the heat light on all night to keep the temps up all night. To make matters worse he appears to be going into a shed also. Thaks for the help.

Yes, they did ship to Massachusetts when the temps were very low. They packed in a styrofoam box with newspaper, there was only 1 heat pack and they snakes were in individual palstic containers. They were very cold when I got them, but I was able to gently warm them. I was very worried when I got them, but they seemed to respond well and were doing nicely (until now!) I have a humidity guage in the tank also, it is currently reading 50, but that is because I just had them out and the top was open, it is usually around 70-75% humidity. I mist a few times a day to keep it up.

Hey Dave,

I keep my babies in shoebox raqcks and maintain the temps at 77 degrees 24/7.

Get them seperated.

Reflectix arround three sides of the tanlk will help with temps. Reflectix is like foil wrapped bubble wrap.

What are you using to control the temps? Thermostat or dimmer?

Floor temps are most important since that's where the snakes are.

IMO the supplier should NOT have shipped under those conditions. I have 15plus snakes waiting for shipping right now and still not looking good for shipping.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
19.29 BRB
14.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I have them seperated now, I moved the sick one to a small plastic vented top container with a zoo-med bottom heater, I covered the cage with a towell to keep the heat in. I will get some insulation tomorrow and insulate the sides of the 10 gallon until I get the heat panel and controller shipped to me. My only concern is that this may be inclusion, I hope not, and I hope it turns out to be a respiratory infection due to the shipping conditions.

...Dave is right about the cold weather shipping. I shipped snakes staying in the southeast last week and I was thinking it may have not been the best thing to have done. I use styrofoam lined boxes and heat packs but if the box had been lost for a day, which does occasionally happen it would have been too cold for the snake's health. And, welcome to the forum.
Jeff

>>I have them seperated now, I moved the sick one to a small plastic vented top container with a zoo-med bottom heater, I covered the cage with a towell to keep the heat in. I will get some insulation tomorrow and insulate the sides of the 10 gallon until I get the heat panel and controller shipped to me. My only concern is that this may be inclusion, I hope not, and I hope it turns out to be a respiratory infection due to the shipping conditions.

If I do move him into a small shoe-box size container how would you recommend heating it and keeping the temp constant? I am going to the hardware store this morning to get the insulation for the 10 gallon tank. I will hopefully have the vision cage set up by next week as soon as the heat panel and controller arrive. I also left a message for a vet in my area that specializes in reptiles.

Try and use a home heating pad that is adjustable if you have one. But make sure the temps are right before you stick him in.

Bob

Just an update for everyone that responded. I took him to a local Vet that specializes in exotics, Dr. Greg Mertz in Weymouth Ma. He confirmed that it is a respiratory infection and prescribed Axikacin??? every 3 days. He is confident that since it was caught early enough that they will be fine. Thanks again to everyone that replied, and if anyone lives in the area and needs a great vet, call Dr. Mertz!!

I have some experience with the symptoms you are describing. First, take breath. I don't think your snake is in any immediate danger.

Warm your temps. Consider moving your snake into a small container (plastic shoebox size) where you can keep a constant temperature throughout. Get the animal's body temperature up to 84 or 85°. Don't worry too much about allowing the animal to thermoregulate right now. Offer the animal regular meals. If it eats, this is a very good sign and it will need the nutrition to fight off any possible infection.

My money says that this is all it will take and the symptoms will clear up in a matter of weeks.

A visit to a good reptile vet certainly wouldn't hurt. They may provide you with injectable antibiotics to speed recovery. This is hit or miss depending on the particular bug that is causing the problem.

Good luck. Please keep us posted on your progress.
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

The other BRB is displaying the same symptoms, although not "yawning" if you listen closely to him you can hear the popping bubble noise from him when he breaths.

Are the animals still feeding regulary? It is possible that your second snake caught an RI from the first or it may have developed symptoms on its own. I still wouldn't get too alarmed. Get their body temps to 85°. Do this by housing them in plastic shoe boxes with some type of bottom heat connected to a dimmer switch. Watch your temps carefully. Don't let them overheat.

Have you found a good reptile vet yet? If you take them in they may be able to prescribe something or, better yet, do a culture and find out exactly what you've got. This may give you some piece of mind.

Symptoms like this are slow to correct themselves. They may persist for several weeks to a month even at high temps. As long as the snakes are feeding and the symptoms aren't getting worse, I think they will come out of it.

Continue to keep us posted,
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com