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When I was holding Snail today she started twitching abit and on closer inspection it was like a sneeze. I heard her wheeze about so panicked and phoned my local reptile shop.
They told me the tank I have her in (3' x 1' x 18" glass) loses heat too quickly and the temps I have her at were too cold so she basically has a cold. So I've put polystyrene sheets at the back and one side of the tank to insulate it more (already had some under the tank) and have the heat lamp set to come on for more hours.
Is there anything else I can do to help her?
I'm really worried coz this is the first time anything has gone even slightly wrong with her!

Please help!!

I'm not sure what they mean by loses heat too quickly. What temps DO you have it at (warm in and cool end), do you have any heat on it at night, and what substrate to you use. What is the max temp and min temps during any given day on the earm and cool sides of the cage?
KJ

>>When I was holding Snail today she started twitching abit and on closer inspection it was like a sneeze. I heard her wheeze about so panicked and phoned my local reptile shop.
>>They told me the tank I have her in (3' x 1' x 18" glass) loses heat too quickly and the temps I have her at were too cold so she basically has a cold. So I've put polystyrene sheets at the back and one side of the tank to insulate it more (already had some under the tank) and have the heat lamp set to come on for more hours.
>>Is there anything else I can do to help her?
>>I'm really worried coz this is the first time anything has gone even slightly wrong with her!
>>
>>Please help!!
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KJUN Snakehaven

The average temps are ~80 at warm end and 60-70 at cool end. In hindsight I realise these are much too low.
During the night I have a small under-tank heat pad at the warm end(~ 12" x 12" to take the chill off but honestly dont know what the temps go down to.
For the substrate I use woodchips, they're the only type sold in my reptile shop. They're about 2cm thick over most of the tank bottom and before I got the pad she would sometimes burrow into it but haven't seen that behaviour in over a year.

>I'm not sure what they mean by loses heat too quickly. What >temps DO you have it at (warm in and cool end), do you have >any heat on it at night, and what substrate to you use. What >is the max temp and min temps during any given day on the earm >and cool sides of the cage?
>KJ

Well, it's not a good thing to guess at temps., it just doesn't work!....those are VERY cool temps on the cool side, and I suspect they got well below 80 on the warm....in any case, you want to immediately get those temps to around 85-87 for right now with an underneath heating source, such as a heating pad on one half of the cage. With a hide box at each end so it can thermoregulate it's own temp...you need to put a readable thermometer down in the bottom of the substrate, and BTW DO NOT use Cedar bedding, as this has oils dangerous to reptiles.....do not attempt to feed him for a two week period while he gets warmed up to get rid of the respiratory infection!...if this is caught early enough he should pull through at the warmer temps. If in two weeks, you don't hear any "wheezing" at all, and suspect he's okay, offer the snake a VERY SMALL meal at least half the diameter of it's body, and see if it holds it down. If the snake has held it down past three days, there's a good chance things are getting better!.......offer another SMALL meal in a week, and see what happens.....if he holds that down, you can very gradually go a little bigger each time until he's eating normal sized meals.......after several weeks of the higher temps(84-87) you can reduce it to about 82-85 degrees on the warm end.....if none of this helped, you need to get it to a vet ASAP!!, the health of the snake depends on YOU!.....hope this helps!...............................................Doug
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

Yeah, even without the nightime drop, a cool end at 70F is too low. 2" of chips is ok, but it may be insulating it too much meaning that the warmth of the undertank heater isn't reaching the surface of the chips where the snake hangs out. It sounds like it REALLY is too cold.
KJ

>>The average temps are ~80 at warm end and 60-70 at cool end. In hindsight I realise these are much too low.
>>During the night I have a small under-tank heat pad at the warm end(~ 12" x 12" to take the chill off but honestly dont know what the temps go down to.
>>For the substrate I use woodchips, they're the only type sold in my reptile shop. They're about 2cm thick over most of the tank bottom and before I got the pad she would sometimes burrow into it but haven't seen that behaviour in over a year.
>>
>>
>>>I'm not sure what they mean by loses heat too quickly. What >temps DO you have it at (warm in and cool end), do you have >any heat on it at night, and what substrate to you use. What >is the max temp and min temps during any given day on the earm >and cool sides of the cage?
>>>KJ
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KJUN Snakehaven

...is reflectix. I use it with some of my snakes like my suboc's during the cooler part of the year at night. but you have to remember to pull it away from at least 2 sides if not all four before turning the normal heat lamps back on because it'll skyrocket the temps up into the 100's in no time flat.

Most hardware stores used to carry it. It is still used for construction and specialty use and I know hollywood hardware/ace hardware still carry it.

Basically it is a sheet of bubblewrap that has reflective emergency blacket on each side. Taping a sheet of it arround the outside walls of my screen top tanks for the subocs allowed small belly heaters and the lowest watt ceramic heat emitters to keep the tanks up to temp even when the house was down in the 50-60 range.

If you use it though NEVER forget to remove it because the temps with a normal strength lamp are insane.

Sean.

That sounds WAY too dangerous to me. All it would take is forgetting once or being sick and sleeping too late (if your heat source is on a timer) to kill it, right?

If you do this, I'd suggest putting the heat source on a thermostat so that it can't over-heat as long as the equipment functions properly. Heck, all of my heat sources have a thermostat, anyway. MUCH safer. My racks have a thermostat and a rheostate both belt in.

A thermostat - and a good one - costs less than most of the snakes people buy. It is a good investment.
KJ
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KJUN Snakehaven

well the dangerous aspect is why I was so emphatisc about the risk.

It is only dangerous if you have everything timered though. When I pull it out for especially cold days I make sure the heat lamps are on the untimed plugs(which for my subocs currently they normally are anyways).

Refletix is cheep and effective(if your carefull) is the only reason I mentioned it. By the way, If your not familiar with it then you have probably seen it in pictures of rack setups. It's the silvery stuff often on the back wall in each slot of a rack shelf setup.

Just wanna say thanks for all the useful advice people have given me.

The temps are now up to ~100F at the warm end and ~80F at the cool end, does this sound better?
Despite the cool temps she always prefers to hang out at the cool end. There are hides at both ends so its not just the hiding aspect of it, infact I just got her another so she has lots of choice, maybe too much?

I wouldn't worry about it. Too many hides causes no problem, just more stuff for your snake to play on.

Most snakes will, give the oportunity, go to the temp they prefer and it will be different temps between snakes. There is a full about 10degree difference between what my male and my female BRB's prefer.

While she's getting over this should I limit how much she's handled? She's still active in her tank.

Don't handle the snake at all during these few weeks unless absolutely necassary, as handling adds even more stress to their system......She's probably active from the now "overly-warm" temps!. again,....maybe 89- 90 at warm end, and cooler at the other end,(high 70's) AND remember, these temps are only temporary high temps so she can get better!, normally they would ideally be a little lower.......if you do all that was suggested, she might have a good chance of recovering.
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

in the cage!!!.....100 degrees is WAY too hot now!!....why can't you make it high 80's in warm end, and low 80's in cool end like was suggested to you??, now all you did is go from one extreme to another!!
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

...
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Arlon Delorge
Classic Constrictors