I have a male blonde trans pecos rat snake that is about 5 feet. He recently got a minor respiratory infection. It's not a bad infection yet. He's just doing a little bit of gaping at the mouth and you can hear him breath every now and then. There is no fluid coming out of his mouth and he is still very strong and active. I called the dealer I got him from and he told me what I should do. I keep him in a rubermaid. He told me to cover up some of the holes but leave enough so he doesn't suffocate. After I covered up the holes I turned his heating pad from low to medium. After that I gave him and the enclosure a heavy misting to where it would condensate on side of the tub. He said to keep the humidity up until he was better. He said that I would notice when he was better and after he was back to normal that I could fix his enclosure back to normal and resume feeding. He said it might take 1-2 weeks. Does this all make sence and will it work? Thanks and please let me know.
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Is this a good method to use? Please help...
Replies (1)
Increasing the heat will often help minor respiratory infections. You didn't mention what the current temperature is in the enclosure, so it would be impossible to say "yes, you should turn up the heat from low to medium." I would also hold off on plugging up the air holes. Take it one step at a time -- you don't want to cook your snake. If the temp on the warm side of the enclosure is currently in the low 80's, try getting that side up to 85-86, but be sure to leave a thermal gradient. You may be able to get the temps up without reducing ventilation.
I'd hold off on the misting. Subocs can develop additional problems if kept in too high humidity. They are from a dry, arid region, and I'd be inclined to give them dry heat. Plus, I've never heard of snakes with respiratory infections benefiting from high humidity, so someone else might want to chime in if they know differently.
Also, what kind of substrate are you using in the enclosure? Snakes can develop symptoms of a respiratory infection from dusty substrates, or anything with cedar.
Assuming your snake does have a respiratory infection and the gaping/wheezing is not a symptom of some other problem (such as substrate), a vet would be able to prescribe some antibiotics that would help.
Good luck,
Ronda
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Ronda Van Winkle
Northwest Herpetoculture
