Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I brought a 4.5 foot male brb home yesterday and noticed that I could hear its breathing, like a low hissing sound and was wondering if its normal for snakes to make these sounds when stressed (due to the traveling) or if it could be a resp prob. I don't recall hearing these noises at the shop before I brought him home and I can't hear anything now after he's had the night to settle down. What do you think?

Nat,
....BRBs usually do not make much noise breathing unless something is wrong. They do make more noise breathing when they are stressed and breathing more heavily. BRB respiratory problems are most often caused by suboptimal humidity. Many people keep them like other boids and this is way too dry for them. BRBs easily become dehydrated if kept too dry or too hot. This problem is best corrected by increasing the humidity. 100% humidity is not too high for a BRB that is dry and needs to be rehydrated. Soaking them in luke warm water will also help to rehydrate them. The longer the snake has been too dry the larger the chance of problems becoming more serious. If the snake has a full blown respiratory infection it may respond to slightly warmer than normal temperatures along with the higher humidity. Be careful if using higher heat. Too much heat without super high humidity will make the problem worse. Sometimes BRBs that have been kept a little too dry for a longer period of time will shed poorly and leave dried unshed skin around their nostrils and this can cause a whistling sound when they breath.
Good luck,
Jeff

>>I brought a 4.5 foot male brb home yesterday and noticed that I could hear its breathing, like a low hissing sound and was wondering if its normal for snakes to make these sounds when stressed (due to the traveling) or if it could be a resp prob. I don't recall hearing these noises at the shop before I brought him home and I can't hear anything now after he's had the night to settle down. What do you think?

thanks for the advice, I have him in a giant rubbermaid elongated contatiner with ventalation holes and I have misted him quite a bit since I have had him home. I took him out today and handled him and couldn't hear anything like what it sounded like yesterday. I believe the store wasn't keeping him at a high enough humidity as they had him in a glass tank w/ half the top covered w/ products from the self (bags of bedding, etc) which was the full extent of their attempts to keep him in a high humidity environment . I think some of the breathing noise was due to the stress of the move but maybe also the humidity. thank you for your advice. any other opions are appreciated .