Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First of all I would like to put a few things out on the Record I've been dealing with snakes as pets for well over 12 years now so I know how to take excellent care of them... But My newest full grown Female ball python (Sweety) has had a tiny infection since I rescued her from the pet shop she was in But Recently and oddly enough since it's started getting warmer shes started wheezing worse but so far no discharge from the nostrils or mouth anyway this is what I want to know is there a home treatment I can give her that could clear it up before it progresses to a major respiratory infection cause I'd hate to stress her out going to the Vet But If thats what it takes thats exactly what I'll do It's just that I want her to be as comfortable as possible anyway thanks in advance
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Courtney1245

(1)Keep the animal at a temp of 90-95F (no less) until it clears up.

(2)You will also want to make sure the humidity is high enough, but not too high (60-80%), and make sure you have adequate ventilation.

(3) Don't stress out the animal whith handeling ect.

(4) As long as the temp is at an optimal range & the humidity is not too high or too low, it should clear up within 2 weeks.

This has always worked for me if caught early enough.

Good luck,
Chad

This exact method has worked well for me.

Good luck.
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-Iman

1.1 Sugar Gliders
2.0 Balls (Spot and Speck)
0.1 Colombian BCI (Belle)
1.0 Colombian Rainbow (Rex)

Loving to Learn
Learning to Help
Helping to Love

But Recently and oddly enough since it's started getting warmer shes started wheezing worse

Why would the outside temperatures affect your snake cage's temperatures? Unless you are breeding or cycling that animal, it doesn't matter if its December or if its August, you should have the PROPER thermal gradient set up.

Outside temperatures mean jack.

it's pretty Simple it gets hot outside it get hotter inside the house considerably hotter inside then out the house retains heat and since the aquarium has heat sources it gets warmer for her to versus when it's 35 degrees at night and the heat sources in the aquarium are the only sources of heat And No we don't have Central A/C nor window units
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Courtney1245

By that I meant this house in particular not houses in general.since we don't have air conditioning what ever the temp is outside the house it's either colder or hotter inside depending on the weather and time of year it's usually pretty humid too being in houston Tx
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Courtney1245

Then you should invest in a proper thermostat to control your snake's temperatures. They cannot regulate their internal temps and are at the complete mercy of what YOU give them.

Alright I'm starting to get the impression your a kid by your comments and your starting to tick me off Listen an pay attention I'm over 30 years old and have had reptiles since I was 5 Do not sit there an try an lecture me about the biology of reptiles if you want to help fine if you just want to smart off at me two words SAVE IT!! I'm not going to tolerate crap like that I thought although your original post was worded provocatively that maybe you didn't intend it to be interpreted that way but this little cheap shot reconfirms my oppinion your just a self righteous know it all kid and if your not a kid your old enough to know how to articulate what your thinking in a fashion that won't offend people when I wrote this post on here I was looking for suggestions as to an antibiotic I could use or other helpful information such as that posted prior to your post all your comments do is P--- me off so if you can't write in a way that is more courteous then don't write at all the way you wrote your post I took as quite insulting an disrespectful and for your information I've had to give My Boas injection of amikacin before and the other leading antibiotic prescibed by the local vets so in closing from now on if you can't show me respect don't talk to me bottom line you didn't help at all you just inraged me TO THE OTHER TWO WHO ACTUALLY GAVE USEFUL INSIGHTFUL INFO THANKS ALOT I APPRECIATE YOU GUYS
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Courtney1245

Telling you to get a proper thermostat to control your temperatures for your Ball Python efficiently is NOT useful info?? WTF?

Can I have some of that glue you are sniffing?

I don't care if you've kept reptiles as pets for 200 years, it doesn't change their biology. Just because your outside temperatures change, doesn't mean your cage temperatures should. Why is that hard to understand, and why does that make me a "kid" for telling you that? LOL! You're funny. Not "ha ha" funny, but you know, weird funny.

"I'm starting to get the impression that you're a"..........

And what does "inraged" mean?

I must completely agree. Though you seem to be knowledgable when you choose to be, more often then not you present yourself in a snide way. Like you are trying to make yourself superior and by belittling the poster. If you truely want to help the hobby then give out information in a usefull and courteous manner. Todd

I appreciate you saying that, and yes thats exactly how I took his comments very offensive. He comes of as arogant and demeaning which I'm sure no one appreciates. and now I know I am not the only one with that view of his remarks. I appreciate it Todd Considerably.
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Courtney1245

She meant "enraged".... it means to make angry, infuriate.

Thanks alot man Your obviously an intelligent person with a diverse vocabulary. I just hit i instead of E so you accomplished clearing up the question which I suspect was just another attempt to enrage me, which in actuality just made him come off as either narrow minded or dense though thats what he attempted to do to me. and at the same time you corrected my spelling which also helps me with future use of the phrase in question

P.S. 1 other thing though I'm not a woman and yes I totally understand the reason you probly thought I was though. In either case It's no big deal Again THANKS ALOT I appreciate it
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Courtney1245

as Todd said it's not what you say because the info in an of it'self is useful it's how you word what your saying that makes it insulting, and this most recent post of yours is yet just another fine example of that stop being a self righteous prick and your comments will be more welcome. Todd said all this much more eliquently though. in either case it's not what you say it's how you say it in the future please try to be alittle less offensive thats all you have to do and believe it or not that isn't hard to do.

Todds comment which I REITERATE WAS GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!

"I must completely agree. Though you seem to be knowledgable when you choose to be, more often then not you present yourself in a snide way. Like you are trying to make yourself superior and by belittling the poster. If you truely want to help the hobby then give out information in a usefull and courteous manner. Todd"
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Courtney1245

Okay, so maybe Jeff needed a little more tact in his original post, I'll second that opinion. Nonetheless, he typically does give good advice and this is no exception. When I read your original followup (before his response), in my own head, I was drafting a response and it was going to start out: T-H-E-R-M-O-S-T-A-T...so Jeff and I had the same thinking on this one. Thermostats are KEY in maintaining a comfortable and accurate environment for your herps. Sorry if that is insulting you, I totally don't mean for it to come across that way (and anything I say here for that matter...if I cover information that you are well aware of, then I apologize but maybe there are people out there that aren't aware and this will help them).

Unless your indoor temps get so hot that it's actually hotter than your hotspot temperatures (let's say you have your ball pythons and you want them at 89 degrees but your inside temp is 92 degrees), then a thermostat will help. In a case where you're running 60 degrees in the winter and 95 degrees in the summer, then I'd suggest you climate control at least one room in your house to be suitable for reps, or find an alternative spot to keep them. Unlike running 'open' or using a rheostat, a thermostat will read the heat and act accordingly. Running wide open without a rheostat or thermostat will definitely be a problem, not only are a lot of heating methods too hot for a reptile when running full blast, but it will also be susceptible to outdoor temperatures as you mentioned. A rheostat is one step better in that it controls the amount of voltage (if I'm correct there...I apologize if it's th wrong term, I suppose it could be amperage) going to the heating element. However, you set it at say 80% and it will maintain 80%, it has no 'brains' to know when the inside temp has gone from 76 degrees to 84 degrees. The thermostat is the ideal methodology to use. It actually monitors the heat source with a problem and maintains the temperature at that level.

Within the thermostat world, there are two types, proportional and non-proportional. A non-proportional thermostat (A-Life, ESU, Ranco, a ton of others) work with an on/off mechanism. Say you have it set for 89 degrees, when it reaches 89 degrees, it shuts off, then it goes down to a temperature (typically one or two degrees depending on the thermostat...Ranco's are actually programmable) and then kicks back on. So you're hotspot is actually between say 87-89 degrees. Those thermostats run from $25-$100 dollars (Ranco running on the top end of the scale there). Then there are proportional (or pulse proportional thermostat) thermostats. This would include Helix, GCS, and Big Apple's Herp Power units. Those thermostat vary the amount of voltage (again, I could be wrong on the terminology) going to the heat source so that they maintain almost a constant temperature. They are effectively on all the time, but sending voltage pulses less frequently when up to temperature and more frequently when below temperature. I believe the 3 thermostats I noted above have less than a 1 degree variance in them and they are truly amazing (and highly suggested for high dollar animals and for incubation purposes). However, they do carry a price tag. Those thermostats run from $110-$150 depending on the model, night-drop options, etc. I'm personally a big fan of the GCS 4-zone thermostats. I do like Helix units, but dollar-for-dollar, they come out way ahead. 4 independent proportional zones with built-in night drop AND an alarm system for $259! You can't beat it.

Anyway, sorry again if this is stuff you're well aware of. In your response back to Jeff, you didn't say whether or not you actually did have a thermostat. If you don't, I'd highly suggest it. 95% of the fluctuation that you see will go away (at least on the hot spot, obviously the ambiant air temps will vary depending on how you heat/cool your house).

Take care,
Jason @ Jason's Jungle

Do you have personal experience with the GCS thermostats. I have been thinking about utilizing them fo rmy burm cages that are stacked 4 high. I have been asking on the burm and retic forums for any one with personal experience on these but got no reply. If you do tell me what you think and if they are reliable. Thanks in advance Todd

Indeed I do. I believe I was one of the first 20 to invest in their 4-zone thermostat and I've had no regrets. Like most thermostats, probe placement is key. To be able to have a single unit control multiple zones independently is incredibly invaluable. I have one on my (4) 10-slot breeder units. I keep two units for sand boas so they're at 92 day, 89 night. I have one with rosy boas that are at 90 day, 87 night, and I have one with balls that I keep at 90 day, 86 night. The photo-eye is built in, no external cords or modules. The photo-eye is adjustable for sensivity. The best feature in my opinion is the alarm and the auto-off. That is also adjustable (the alarm feature). I have mine setup to alarm out if it's 5 degrees too hot or 5 degrees too cool for 15 minutes. After 30 minutes, it actually shuts the zone off. Very cool stuff.
Drop me a line if you have other questions, I'd be happy to help!
Jason @ Jason's Jungle

It's really hard to understand what you are writing when all of your sentences run together.