Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a mole kingsnake that is healthy, but he seems to be sneezing. sometimes he will just be on the crawl and then he just stops and it looks like his body puffs up then he makes a sneezing noise. why is this?

>>i have a mole kingsnake that is healthy, but he seems to be sneezing. sometimes he will just be on the crawl and then he just stops and it looks like his body puffs up then he makes a sneezing noise. why is this?

Sounds like a respiratory infection (RI).
What are his temps and humidity level?
What kind of substrate do you have him on?

If it is an RI I would suggest a vet visit, but it can usually be cleared up by removing the water bowl and raising the temps for a week or so....Dry heat.....
-----
John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

As John suggested, take a good look at your bedding. I found that the finer cut aspen and pine generally made my snakes sneeze more. Sometimes the cheap stuff also has a lot of dust in it as well. You can always screen your bedding to try and eliminate all the fine stuff. Also, beware of some of the calcium sands on the market. My buddy kept his bearded dragons on it ONCE, but immediately stopped because of the break down into flour like particles that got everywhere, including the eyes and nostrils of the dragons.

Either the snake is going to shed, or it is the bedding. I have had this happen. Switch to newspaper immediately and see if the sneezing stops. That will tell you if it is the bedding. If the sneezing continues for a few days, then it could be RI. But I've never seen a kingsnake with RI ever, so without seeing the snake, I always guess bedding.

Not all snakes are identical - some individuals are more sensitive to a particular dust (especially wood dust) than others. I had a grayband sneeze on aspen but be fine on coconut fiber bedding and any non-wood-particle bedding.

I've seen it with various kings over the years, few but it happens. It sometimes manifests itself as a general "depression" where the snake does not seem so energetic. Then you change bedding and it makes all the difference. Humidity helps alot too. Lowers the dust as well.
-----
Mark

I have him on aspen, and Ive noticed that it is really dusty and when I pour it out of the bag into the tank I even sneeze. im gonna change to paper towels because I cant get any newspaper to put him on right now.