Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys whats up, finally got my new ball python! It is about 15 inches long and it cost 50$. At the reptile show I was examanine all the ball pythons and the one I picked looked like the healiest one there. I handled it a little bit, good clear eyes, clean vent, no mouthrot, no mites or body abcesses and was flicking its toungue. After I got home i put him in his cage then all of a sudden I heard him squek/sneeze I knew at once that it was an upper respitory infection. I also noticed him tilting his head up and breathing with his mouth open a little bit. I heard in order to treat this you should reduce the humidity and increase the heat. In the warm part of the cage it is 97 degrees and the cool side about 90 dgrees. Is thhis ok? I am willing to take it to a vet if it gets worse. Also how much does a treatment cost from the vet. Im only 13 and have about 60 bucks to spare. Any other comments would be great. Thanx in advance, Chri$

Congrats on your new ball...but dont give up on him just yet...although UR's are not great, theyre still common in a few bps...even mines been through it before...as far as taking him to a vet, i would at least wait until you saw mucus around the mouth opening or that it was really starting to affect your snake. I have a 4' male right now, completely healthy, but sometimes he may wheeze or do a "half hiss" if hes stressed. My vet charged me right around $60 for a complete checkup, fecal, and treatment for his RI when i first got my boy, so i think youll be under your $60 limit. Also, those temperatures seem a bit high for right now. I would say since you have a feeling he may be sick to have your hot side around 94-95, but try to get your cooler side to at least 85, just so he can thermoregulate as needed...And btw, humidity helped my boy when he was down, so dont dry the air out too much. GOod luck with everything...

Sounds like you got cheated into an unhealthy animal. There are probably more problems if this little guy has RI. But alas, I do not have all the facts so let's address what you have.

I commend you on searching for the healthiest. Instead of increasing your temps too much, keep them constant. That is, do not lower your temps at night. Do this for at least a week. Try 80-82 in the cool end and 90-95 in the warm end. What substrate are you using? During this time I'd use newsprint and ensure there are no drafts. All the DVMs I have spoken to recommend reducing the humidity. If he gets worse, go to a vet.
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Jay A. Martin

cost me about 80 to treat mine - treated it aggressively with amikacin injections, vice baytril pills. Mine was a het for pied female, and didn't want to risk it. Not sure if baytril is cheaper than amikacin, but you definitely want to get this treated. Stress of show/transport/new home is enough to bring it on, even if you're set up with right temps and humidity. Wouldn't reduce the humidity, as the vet advised that keeping the humidity up is good for the snake's lungs and will help it heal.

Best of luck.

Neil