Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My adult female has had about 1 URI since I have had her. She still eats, still drinks. she does her normal thing. But as of last night, I was cleaning her cage, and noticed her breathing VERY heavy. I opened her mouth, to check her airways. Very clear, but the very back of her thoat is all bubbly. I would stroke the bottem of her neck, and feel bubbles popping or her guts moving all making sounds. I have her humity lowed a bit to dry up some of her conguestion. Also highered the temps as always.
I'm really boggled about this. I don't know how she got this cold. The room temps are staying above 80. And her tank temps are 85-90F.
Can anyone shed some light on this problem. I'm starting to think she's one of those kind of boas that get RI's out of no where.

By the way, I have owned her since December of 2004. I've had her for 7 months now. And this is her second RI. Plus she's only got one nostrel to breath out of. Her last owner fed her Live Jumbo rats, and now she's got a really bad scare on her nose. Her nose healed shut, and she only breaths out of one side.

this is a picture of her three months ago.

-----
1.2 Normal BCI
0.1 66% poss DH snow BCI
0.2 Pastel BCI
0.1 Pastel Het Albino BCI
1.0 Anery BCI
1.0 Striped Albino BCI
0.1 Salmon 66% poss DH snow BCI
1.0 Salmon Hog Cross BCI ssp.
0.1 Hog Island Boa BCI ssp.
1.0 Poss. Super Salmon BCI

3.4 Ball Pythons

Well, I would think that the scar and only having one nostril will add to the problem. Anyway, in every room there will be a draft, check her cage for this. Also get some powdered Tylan, cut a small slit in side of rat and put it in. Then feed her the rat. Check out The boaphile site and look up Tylan to find out more about it. Raising temps is good. Excerisise is also good, just sitting around builds up fluids and they need to expel this. Just my 2 cents. Andy

Wait, I should move her around more often?
Sorry for asking that stupid question.
I'm thinking about building her a cage so that I can keep the drafts out for sure. Maybe that is the cause?
I put a moise towel on top to keep the humidity good, and also the temps inside good.
-----
1.2 Normal BCI
0.1 66% poss DH snow BCI
0.2 Pastel BCI
0.1 Pastel Het Albino BCI
1.0 Anery BCI
1.0 Striped Albino BCI
0.1 Salmon 66% poss DH snow BCI
1.0 Salmon Hog Cross BCI ssp.
0.1 Hog Island Boa BCI ssp.
1.0 Poss. Super Salmon BCI

3.4 Ball Pythons

You had said that you dropped the humidity; when in fact it is vital to keep this in normal perameters, or even slightly higher. 75-80% should be good. A dried mucus is much harder to expel than a runny one. Snakes do not have a diaphragm, so they cannot cough up phlegm. They also have a long, long lung that is very difficult to clear of an infection. I would not hesitate to have a veterinarian treat this, as postponing action will give it time to fester.

I'm not sure what Tylan is (Tylosin? American brand name?), but haphazard treatment is inappropriate at the best of times, let alone a snake with possible (shall I say probable?) pneumonia. This may be a difficult problem to heal, but if still up and alert, the prognosis should be good.

I agree that the nasal scarring may make your snake more susceptible to respiratory infections. Excersise helps break up the mucus deposits in the lung, and promotes expulsion. Another possibility is that your snake is immunocompromised from a long term viral infection, like a herpes virus or IBD.

Keep this snake quarantined.
Good luck