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Another question from a new BP owner. I can see my snake breathe and it looks heavy to me but I am new at this. He is not wheezing or gaping or sqeaking. So the question is, is it normal to see this? Is it something I should be worried about? Thank you for your help.

does he do this when you approach the tank or does he do it all day long regardless of where you are.
describe what size cage he's in & the setup inside (hidespots,temp,humidity,etc.

I just picked him up on 2/1. He was hatched in May of 2003 and he is in a 20 gallon long. The substrate is aspen and the temp on the warm side is between 87 and 90 on the cool side 80. The humidity is 55%. I fed him with a prekilled small rat on 2/3 because he is on a 10 day feeding cycle. He ate right away. Maybe he just needs some time to adjust to his surroundings? I have one hide on the warm side and one on the cool. Thank you for your help.

now does this breathing issue occur when you approach the tank or handle him? or does he do it all day long even if he's left all alone?

fyi your setup sounds fine to me

Hey again thank you for the replies. I'm not sure if he does it all day long because I am at school and work and he is not yet very active in his new surroundings. So to answer your question yes I have have noticed it when handling and right after he fed. What kind of problems may this be a precurser for?

One more thing when I handle him he displays all the signs of a healthy snake. Exploring, tounge flicking, etc. Like I said no gaping or wheezing or any of the signs of a RI. That and he ate readily. Maybe try a new substrate and let him sit for a while?

Although I use primarily newspaper for my "at home" herps (and a variety of natural substrates for my exhibition herps at the wildlife center I am curator of), we also use aspen for a couple of our displays. It has been my experience that some snakes are extremely sensitive to aspen and other wood based products. It seems that the dust produced by these substrates causes irritations in the linings of various airways. I would recommend that you might consider switching to newspaper for a while and see if you notice a difference. We had to do this with a few of our herps and everything came out fine in the end.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation (IL)

Should I maybe try cage carpet or a larger substrate like reptibark?

i agree with the other post. go with newspaper . it doesnt look as attractive but it will rule out substrate problems if that's the case. i asked if it happened when you approached the cage because maybe he's not comfortable in his surround & is just nervous about you coming near. if you can get a lock on him from far away & approach the cage as normal; & try to monitor if his breathing gets more violent as you come near. this way you can rule that out too if it doesn't change.

>>Although I use primarily newspaper for my "at home" herps (and a variety of natural substrates for my exhibition herps at the wildlife center I am curator of), we also use aspen for a couple of our displays. It has been my experience that some snakes are extremely sensitive to aspen and other wood based products. It seems that the dust produced by these substrates causes irritations in the linings of various airways. I would recommend that you might consider switching to newspaper for a while and see if you notice a difference. We had to do this with a few of our herps and everything came out fine in the end.
>>
>>Rob Carmichael, Curator
>>The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
>>City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation (IL)

I have had snakes kept on aspen "dry out", loose scales, get it in their mouths when burrowing, and develop breathing problems. Now I use Ecofresh (a recycled-newspaper based pebble-like substrate) for my desert herps, and bed-a-beast for anything requiring moisture. Haven't had a problem with either, except the bed-a-beast does need to be checked weekly for mold.

-cat
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http://chaoscat.lowerground.net/herps/
My collection and herp photography

www.lowergroundreptiles.net

...it's not unusual at all for a young BP in a new situation to get a bit alarmed, especially if it hasn't been socialized with handling. This 'fear-response' is most commonly manifested by an increased respiratory rate and depth, increased tongue-flicking, pupil dilation, etc. ("flight or fight" response of the sympathetic nervous system). Over time as the snake learns he isn't going to be harmed, after a breath or 2 the rate/depth will be back to resting state.

Most aspen products have the least amount of dust compared with pine, but they can still be a problem as Rob said. I use unprinted newsprint.

No worries mate!

Scott J, Michaels DVM