Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was told on this forum the other day that soaking your ball in a warm bath right before shed is a good idea. I did this and she quickly dipped her head under water and came up and made a funny weezy noise. I was wondering if this could be sign of respiratory infection or just something they do if suddenly dunked in water, maybe trying to clear the water out or something??

Thanks

Mine does kinda them same dunking, only without the wheezing. She'll (or maybe he'll) try to sit at the bottom of the pot. I have no idea how long they can hold their breath, but I'd imagine she'd come up for air if she felt she needed it. At least I hope so...

Anyway...does she wheeze when she hasn't dunked? I'd watch and see. If she still wheezes when dry, that could mean a respritory infection. Or she may have just accidentally breathed a bit of water. Either way, watch and see.

Chris
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0.1 Normal
0.2 Het Piebald
1.0 Reduced Pattern
0.1 Banded
0.1 Screaming Child

No she has never made the weezing noise before, that was the first time. I'll keep an eye on her to make sure that it doesn't happen again though, thanks a lot.

Oh, good lord. Please don't soak them, it stresses them to no end. If (and that's IF) they're having a bad shed, put them in a damp pillowcase for a couple hours in their cage (so it stays at the proper temps). Presto, they'll shed out. Don't like the pillowcase idea? Put them in a container with damp rags or paper towels, it'll have the same effect. Both work wonders WITHOUT the trauma of a forced soaking. These are not water snakes, they can easily stress, tire out, and drown in water that's deeper than thier bodies. Snake wheezing? It got water in it's nose - probably more than it cared for. I wouldn't do that trick again. If they climb in their water bowl to soak, fine, but please don't FORCE them to soak.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Thanks a lot, I guess I learned my lesson about taking everything that supposed "experienced" people say at face valuable.