Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My normal male burm is about 8 1/2' and has not eaten for almost three months. He has been sneezing or in some way coughing. I have had a humidifier in his cage and raised the temps about 80% humidity and 88 degrees what should i do??? I have offered him every form of food. I know its not the best idea to house two burms together but he has been with an albino female about 8' for about six months. The are feed out side the cage (622 Vision) in seperate rubbermaid tubs but for the last few months the male has refused food and like i said has been sneezing leaving mucus on the glass. I am extreamly consearned about him, he was my first burm.

1.0 Normal burm
1.0 Albino green burm
1.0 albino het granite burm
0.1 granite burm
0.1 albino burm
1.1 jungle carpets
1.2 Kenyan sand boas
1.1 mountain king hybrids
1.9 leopard Geckos

A few observations/suggestions:

1) Keep your burms in separate cages.....there are many reasons but if your burm has a respiratory illness, this can be quite contagious and instead of only having to treat one snake, you might end up treating both and jeopardizing their health. Plus, feeding out of the cage puts undue stress on the snake which can then expose your snake to various vectors of disease.

2) You increased humidity and temps which is important but I would try to bump your temps to at least 92-94 degrees F on the basking area while still providing opportunities to cool slightly; somewhere around the low to mid 80's. Also, make sure that you are NOT sacrificing good air flow in your attempt to increase humidity; that will only exasperate the problem.

3) GET YOUR BURM TO A GOOD VET. Seriously, no one on this forum, even those like myself who have been working with burms for decades, should be giving advice that should only be coming from a qualified vet. There is a chance that this animal will need some form of antibiotics.

Hope this helps. Rob Carmichael, Curator of the Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm

I can only agree with the above post. My male burm had the same problem but it past over night and has no feeding problems. The noises he made sounded like a high pitched gasp and almost like slim continued to come out of his mouth. GET HIM TO A VET.

Please get him to the vet i agree with the two above.

Trust me your snake has Pneumonia. I am a Respiratory Therapist!!! Sean