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A horrible start to the day as I discover my big female has an RI.

I was slightly concerned about her breathing over the past week as it has become clearly audible.

On Monday, with her having shown little interest in the male who's been courting her, I separated them and gave her a large feed. On Thursday I put the male back in, more from expediancy than anything else as he's too big for his holder viv and his own 48" viv doesn't arrive until Monday.

This morning I cleaned them and the female gaped, showing mucus in her mouth. I have immediately removed the male. Other than that the temperatures are optimal, so don't need adjusting. They were set high anyway because she was digesting a big meal - 90 at the hot end and 82 in the cool.

I've kept the temperatures at about this level the whole time the male has been courting. Since he didn't seem to need any encouragement, I saw no value in lowering the temps and risking an RI.

But it's happened anyway. I wonder if the male being in has stressed the female and made her vulnerable to the infection?

The male was quarantined with a reptile breeder I know for a fortnight before I introduced the two of them, and he has no signs of any such illness. They've been together off and on for about 6 weeks.

Anyway, she has an appointment at the best reptile vet in England at 09:30 on Monday.

Hope to God she gets through this.

There's a lesson in here that sometimes factors other than temperature can trigger an RI. I really think it's the stress of the male being with her that's done it.

Bugger my breeding plans for this year, I just want her to get well now.

Things happen, you know.
This is what I'd do. Strictly my opinion. Just a suggestion.
I'd raise the sick boa's hot spot to about 98 deg. F. Just allow her the opportunity to thermoregulate at the higher temp.
Just like when we get sick and run a fever, they need the opportunity to do the same. Helps fight the infection. Improves immune efficiency.
Also I'd make sure she's got plenty of humidity and no drafts.
Do what the vet says of course and make sure any course of antibiotics is continued through to the end, regardless of diminished symptoms.
Good luck.
jsc

Thanks for the advice, JSCrick.

The temperature does get up to about that level immediately beneath the ceramic bulb.

So far she's staying resolutely in the cool end, which is typical of her behaviour. When she had a high vivarium she had the opportunity to stay in an area that was as low as 74-75, and that was generally her favorite spot (she outgrew that viv).

I wonder if there's any possibility that temperatures that are uncomfortably high for her could have caused the cold? Grasping at straws I guess.

I'm not a big fan of overhead heat lamps for snakes. Boas are low light level nocturns in nature, for the most part. They have no eyelids. Bright light isn't requited or desired.
Those lamps tend to lower the humidity. It's my belief too low humidity is is a primary cause of RI in Boas.
Use the subfloor heat. Think about it. Snakes don't go out on the road at night to get sun, they go on the road at night to absorb retained heat from the pavement through their belly. The air temp can at times can be much lower.
Here's another suggestion: Get a tub (buss tub, cat litter pan)as large as the cage will allow, within reason. Place a submersible aquarium heater in the water filled tub. Allow enough freeboard for displacement, should the snake choose to get in, of coarse. Set the heater thermostat at 99 deg. F. I have added an aquaruim air pump with an air stone for circulation and atmospheric dispersal.

Photo of example. Submersible circulating pump is black box. Heater is not seen. Airline to airstone is seen. Airstone is not.

A really good idea re the aquarium heater. I've tried using big water tubs in the past, but she upends them every time. Will hunt around for something heavy and flat bottomed that she can't tip, which is a bit of a challenge for a snake of just under 50lbs. I spray every so often, but I tend to assume to be honest that if there's always water available and the snake sheds easily, the humidity is probably ok.

I agree about artificial light - I haven't used it in ten years. The ceramic provides only heat.

I checked the male out today. Although he showed no signs of wheezing, when I forced his bottom jaw open I could see a bit of mucus in the mouth. I began wondering if this could ever be "normal" or if it's always indicative of an RI? If the latter than they both have the condition, and one presumably infected the other. So it looks like a big boa family outing to the vets tomorrow.

Am a bit more optimistic about things with the female this evening - she has popped her head out for the first time since yesterday morning and shows no signs of discomfort. In fact if I hadn't neeeded to clean her on Saturday I wouldn't know about her condition, which is pretty scary. When I opened the door to listen to her breathing, I heard one wheeze and nothing else audible for the following two minutes. This is probably just because she's a lot more relaxed than when I was moving her yesterday morning, so is taking fewer breaths, but at least things don't seem to be getting worse at the moment.

Thats too bad, I know where your coming from. I just had the same exact thing happen to my male when I put him with my female. Hopefully they recover before the season gets too late..

Mat

Thanks mate, appreciate your comments.

Assuming she recovers (not taking that for granted by any means), I think I'll forget the breeding attempt for another year.

Thanks to those of you who offered your thoughts on this - I'm pleased to say that she appears to be recovering.