Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a problem with my 2 year old cali kingsnake, who is sick. He is making a "coughing" or sneezing type of sound every once in a while. He also has his mouth slightly open and some of the substrate (repti bark) looks like it is sticking around his mouth. he is still active and moving around the cage. I would guess it is some type of respiratory infection. Does anyone know for sure what this may be? What do I need to do to treat it? My tank is always very clean and he is kept at the proper temps, so I'm not sure what could have caused this. Thanks in advance for any help.

"Does anyone know for sure what this may be? What do I need to do to treat it? My tank is always very clean and he is kept at the proper temps, so I'm not sure what could have caused this"

It has an upper respiratory infection. All those things you mentioned are VERY classic signs. It probably got this way from the temps being too cool.

You need to monitor the snake with a thermometer placed directly where it will be and up the temps to about 86-88 degrees, but DO NOT guess at the temps. This will help it's auto-immune system begin to combat the infection. But at this point, you need to also get it to a vet that is familiar with reptiles, so they can perform a sensitivity culture to see what antibiotics will best target the bacteria to get it well again. If this is let go, your snake can very likely die, and I am telling you this straight up! This can lead to other problems as well in a REAL hurry, so please spend the few bucks to get it better, and don't hope it gets better. Often this ends up with a dead snake.

It needs to see a vet ASAP!, and right now you need to immediately get the temps where it is at 86-87 degrees or so.

good luck with getting the snake better.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

As Doug said, vet. But before you do this, get the snake off that bark stuff and onto newspaper. See if the sneezing stops. Elevate temps - snakes need higher temps to combat infection.

I had a few kings sneeze with mucous. Took them off of wood-based particulate substrates, put them on newspaper and all symptoms went away. In those cases, it was the substrate irritating their nostrils and not a viral or bacterial infection. Worth a try for sure.

Post back here and give an update.

Really, bark is not the best substrate for Cal kings. In fact, if I remember correctly, doesn't tree bark have a high concentration of certain chemicals that have been shown to irritate mucous membranes? I think true for some trees, certainly not all (cork for example). I had better look that up before I state it as fact. Anyway, newspaper for your Cali.
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Mark

Sounds like the snake has an infection. A reparatory infection can either be or act like pneumonia. Also this infection could be or lead to mouth rot.
What Doug and the other guy have posted here is correct. I would say do both what Doug said and change that cage substrate to paper. You will be able to tell if the paper is staying dry and also it is easy and cheap to keep changing it every day to reduce reinfection to the snake while it is sick.
I would also say to make sure the cage has real good ventilation. The air flow in the cage has to be good to keep some types of bad bacteria from growing. If the air flow is bad and the cage is too damp and or the snake not warm enough then you are in fact keeping the snake in a large petri dish and he is not able to have a fully functional immune system either since he is not up to temp.
Some species more than others are very sensitive to this kind of environment. Cal kings come from stock that tends to have been collected from desert or at least bear desert conditions. They are found near water a lot, but even then the air in these areas tends to be dry and air flow is high.
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Noah was the first snake collector. ~Eric~

Good advice from all, get your snake to a vet "ASAP". It could mean life or death if you don't....

Scott

I think the importance/unimportance of ventilation has been misplayed for a long time. This is a Cal king, a snake which spends the majority of its life in dirt, under the surface.

The desert Cal kings live in burrows where the humidity is rather moderate. One can tell because their skin is not dried out when you find one. They are able to retain moisture under the surface, because there isn't too much ventilation.

When one finds a Cal king under a board, it is often a board where the grass has grown around the edges and the moisture is sealed in. Not damp necessarily, but not an open window either.

Too much of anything is not good. For a Cal king, lack of ventilation some of the time is not a bad thing, nor is alot of ventilation some of the time. If lots and lots of ventilation is provided all of the time, better to have lots of tight hides so the snake can avoid the dry air if need be.

I have a friend who for nearly 20 years used those First Phillips acrylic boxes with lids, no air holes (lids aren't tight, so air gets in, but ventilation is poor). He has some Cal kings that lived nearly 18-19 yrs in those boxes. Just going by that, I can argue that low ventilation is not a necessarily a terrible thing.
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Mark