Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a beautiful 1 year old male Pastel. I was sitting at my computer here and all of a sudden I heard this loud coughing/barfing sound. I turned around expecting to see my cat, but it's one of my snakes. He had his mouth open and he was making a loud coughing-like noise though nothing came out. He ate about a week ago so It's nothing food related and he wasn't near his water at the time. I've never heard him (or any of my snakes) do this before.

I looked online and it seems like it might be a small respiratory infection if anything, so I could potentially wait it out to see if things get better on their own without risking his health if that's the case. His temperature is fine, so I'm not sure why he would have developed it.

I'm also very concerned that it might be related somehow to getting the house sprayed for fleas a few weeks ago. I took my snakes and their tanks completely away from the house for the day and the 2 days after they sprayed the carpets, to make sure they were not exposed, and I was given assurances by the pest control company that they've never had problems with sick snakes before, but I'm still worried, and though I really can't afford an unnecessary vet bill (student who recently got laid off from a part time job), I don't want my snake to get even sicker cause I didn't do something about it if it's because of the flea spray.

He seems fine right at this moment, after the coughing he just went into his hiding place for a couple minutes and then came out again to explore the edges of his tank.

My questions are: Does anyone have any idea what it looks like when a snake gets sick from flea spray? Is it safe to wait a few days to see if I see any other symptoms or do I really need to go see a vet right away? Are their other symptoms I should be looking for?

Thanks in advance!

Well, it would seem as if you had left them there when they sprayed then it would have caused a problem. I would not trust what the pest control place said though. "We have never had a problem uith any sick snakes". They can say that because thet have probabyly sprayed very few places that had snakes as pets. I would do this if I were in your position. I would call a veteranarian and ask what the symptoms would be if my snake had been contaminated by the flea spray And wait for more people to comment on your post. Yare in a situation with not a whole lot of money so before you take it to the vet call and ask.

I did also ask if they'd sprayed a lot of places with snakes and they said yes to that as well. We had a pretty bad flea problem, otherwise I wouldn't have done it at all. I think I'll try calling my local reptile place this morning and ask for a vet reference and if they have any suggestions. I'm not sure if the vet will give free advice, but it's worth a shot, thanks.

If it sounded like a cat hacking up a hairball it was probably a fart not a cough.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
The Blog
nihil facimus sed id bene facimus

I was thinking the same thing...but the poster did mention he saw his snake with mouth wide open after making the noise...it may have been coincidence...hard to say.

However, to my knowledge 'hacking' and open mouth gaping aren't typical signs of toxicity...I would check with the company who sprayed your house about what the symptoms are if anybody was over exposed to the spray. If they don't know then get the scientific name of the chemical and google it. I bet you can find a site that will give symptoms fairly easily. Especially in pet dogs, cats and children. Your vet may know too, if google fails to bring up any results.

In the mean time, keep your snake in a well ventilated area and high off the floor (especially if the room you keep the snakes have been sprayed on the floor...Good ventilation will help ensure any residue of the spray isn't staying in the room (ie open windows, or keep any exhaust fans (fans which suck air out of a room to the outside) turned on. Keep fresh water in the cage at all times, changing it regularly...so the water doesn't end up absorbing any airborne toxins, if any. Observe its behavior..is the snake having trouble breathing still? Coughing or gaping, or acting sluggish? Doing odd twitching or rolling around or twisting in weird ways?

I have had ball pythons make horribly lough coughing like sounds...sometimes it sounds like they just exploded...but most times, I open up their cage to a huge brown mess...of poop...often alot of solid matter with some wet goop...maybe a touch of parasites, but never had any problems with these with my snakes...But this explosive bowel movement I find happens rarely..maybe once or twice a year...so other than being rather startled when I hear it, nothing bad has come out of it.
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PHLdyPayne

I would not think that the Flea spraying had anything to do with him getting sick. I once had a very small mite problem about 2 yrs ago and I have a good amount of snakes. I bought the Bedding Spray from Walmart(much cheaper than provent a mite and works great)and used it in all the snake tubs. I just removed the snakes from their tubs, scrubbed the tubs and water dishes well,replaced the bedding,sprayed the tubs and bedding well, left the snakes out of the tub while it dried and then put them back in just an hour or so and gave them their water dishes back with water the next morning. I followed that up with the same treatment about a week later and Wa La, no problems after that with the mites or the animals.. I sure dont think it was the spraying as little a contact as your snake had. Good luck, Jay from Sunny AZ
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JEM from sunny AZ.

3.25 Normals
3.15 Pastels
1.0 Super Pastels(Thanks Dan Wolfe for the best looking Super male I have ever seen)
2.8 Normal Spiders
1.2 Spiders 100% het Ghost(thanks Mark Petros)
0.2 Spiders 66% het Ghost(Thanks Steve Beamer)
1.3 Orange/Butterscotch Ghosts(BallPython777 Mark Petros)
0.7 100% het Orange Ghosts
0.3 66% het Orange Ghosts(should prove this year)
0.1 Pastel Ghost
1.0 Citrus Ghost(courtesy of Josh Hutto)
0.1 Super Pastel 100% het Ghost
2.3 Albinos
1.1 Caramel Albinos
0.1 100% het Caramel Albino
0.4 100% het for Albino
0.5 66% het for Albino(should prove this year)
0.7 Yellow Bellies
1.0 Pastel Yellow Belly
1.2 Ivories
1.2 100% het for Clowns(Mark Petros)
1.6 Cinnamons(Thanks Stan Ruppel)
1.0 Pied
1.4 100% het for Pied(Josh Hutto and Paul the Pied Peddler)
0.5 66% het for Pied(should prove out next year with my visual male Pied)
1.5 Mojaves
0.1 Pastave het Ghost
1.1 Beautiful Black Pastels(thanks Gulf Coast Reptiles)
1.3 BumbleBees(thanks for the AWESOME Bees Marc Bailey)
1.1 Pewters(Myself and Scott Priester of Brookside Reptiles)
0.1 Chocolates(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.3 Lessers(Josh Hutto)
3.2 Fire's(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.2 High White Calico's(Thanks Brent from BRB)
1.1 SpotNoses(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.1 Enchi's (Me and Josh Hutto, Thanks again Josh)
1.0 Pinstripe
1.2 Pinstripe 100% het for Ghost
0.1 Lemon Blast
1.0 Vanilla Ghost(Thanks again GCR for all the great snakes)
0.1 Super Vanilla Ghost(Awesome Chris and Shelia from GCR)
0.1 Vanilla Yellow Belly
0.1 Vanilla Mojave
0.1 Vanilla(Another one from Josh Hutto,I must have all your snakes now...lol.) Thanks my friend, Jay
1.1 Stillwater Hypo Bull snakes(Brad Chambers)
0.0.1 Great looking Brown and Tan Desert Bull Snake)
0.0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty
1.1 Argentinian Black and White Tegus
1.0 Gotti Pitbull (Tank)
2.0 Beautiful Bengals (Stryker and Cynbad)
14 Tarantulas
Last but most Important 2.2 Children