Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 4 yr old female corn, never bred. She's in a 4 ft long cage with a Cobra heating mat. Temperature is around 80 on the warm side. She eats great, slithers around happily, and is otherwise doing fine.

In the past few months, I've noticed that she tends to keep her mouth open when slithering, and I can hear her breathe. When she sleeps, and sometimes when she moves, she keeps it shut. Still, it is suspicious. There is no discharge, and like I said her appetite is great.

What can I do? I find nothing but basic care sheets online. I can't raise the temps, since it's just a plug-in mat. What do I need to do? Should I go the vet now, or try something else, or ... ? Thanks for any advice.

Brian

"I can't raise the temps, since it's just a plug-in mat."

Brian,
I use 3-setting (low,med,hi) heat pads from walmart that cost $10 and work great for most of my snakes (NOT the $15 ones w/20 minute auto shut-off either). You will be able to get the (surface) temps over 80 with that easily, which I have observed using a ProExotics temp gun (another great investment). Ambient temps are a different story.
~Jason

Im not sure what you use for substrate but changing it can cause some problems.Or if you use the fine stuff in the bottom of the bag.If you have clip on light in your garage you can use that to raise the hot side up to 90.You can use 75 watt house bulbs also.Also try to raise the humidity up a little bit.I just use a damp towel over the top.If your corn doesnt start getting better soon or gets worse take it to a vet...Paul

It's been ages since I've posted in here but this one caught my eye. Not too long ago, my four year old cream corn had a RI so I thought. To this date I'm still not sure. He was doing all the things your corn was doing. Ate great, acted fine, no discharge from the nose or mouth. But the noise it made while breathing was really concerning me. I did a lot of research online and found out where they where someone had used grapefruit seed extract to treat respiratory infections using a nebulizer. And somewhere where else where nebulizers had been used to treat reptiles with breathing problems. HUMMMM idea!!! I happened to have a nebulizer at home because my daughter suffered from bronchitis when she was a baby. So I hooked up a sterilite container that already had small holes punched in it and hooked the breathing tube to it and gave my snake breahthing treatements nightly for about two weeks with the grapefruit seed extract in saline solution (and I did turn up the heat in his cage to about 90). It actually seemed to help, his wheezing was considerably reduced and well it didn't seem to hurt him a bit. Then the snake shed. And then ALL his symptoms disappeared.....

SO did he have a real Respiratory infection or was his shed blocking his nose enough to make that darned wheezing noise!?! I'll never know. Just food for thought and but I would love to know if the GSE really did work. Maybe yours too is about to shed and if in doubt take him to the vet. I don't suggest trying my idea becuase it's NOT a proven treatment. I would just like to say for the record that if he would have shown any signs of getting worse I would have taken him straight to the vet, but personally I'm really bad about going the holistic approch before going to doctors.

Chantel

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Chantel a.k.a. sillygirl
"I came, I saw, I adopted"

2.2 green anoles (Stumpy (M)), and the rest remain nameless.
1.1 green tree frogs (Romeo & Juliet)
1.2 Firebelly toads
0.0.5 D. tinctorius (Cobalt froglets)
0.1 Anerythristic 'B' (Charcoal)corn snake (Popcorn)
0.1 Snow Corn (KandyKorn)
0.2 Amel Corns (KornSilk & KornMuffin)
0.1 Normal Corn (PepperKorn)
1.0 Creamsicle Corn (Kream)
0.0.1 Giant African Millipede
2.4 Domestic house cats (Bad Boy (m), Bart(m),Sasha(F),Little Bit(F),Spirit(F)
1.0 Rottweiler (Jake)
2.5 Rats (Mouse, Socks, Silver, Squishy, Fox, Lucky and B**CH)
1.3 Mice (My step-daughter seems to think they are pets)
2.0 Betta (Sushi, Blue)
1.0 Husband (David, who loves all my critters too)