Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok I just got in from work and was doing a once over in my snake room. Air temp was still a constant 87 so I was doing a quick glance in cages like i do every morning to see if any shed or need cleaning. Well the het pied female I just picked up in orlando was in the process of shedding, her first for me. so I waited for her to finish and i picked her up to get my monthly weight on her. I noticed a faint popping sound. I knew what it was immidiatly and was like no f$$$%%ing way. So i applied gentle preasure up under her mouth and sure enough a few bubbles came out. I immidiatly bumped her basking temp up to mid 90's and put her on newspaper. Will be going to vet when they open. The question is, with an air temp of 87 and basking at 91-92 and no other snake in my collection ever having a resp infection, did that snake probably have it when i bought it or could it have developed it here? It was kept on harlan lab grade aspen kept immaculately clean. Next question, as this is the first time I noticed it, with antibiotic treatment starting tomorrow do I need to worry about this snake not making it? This was my first major $$$ purchase with more planned on in daytona, but this is totally disheartening. Me personally I don't understand how this snake could have developed the infection here, I mean i have 11 other 05 babies kept the exact way with no problems there and have raised all my other babies in the past the exact same way. Someone please respond quickly. totally worried Josh Hutto
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2.1 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2)
1.0 het albino (ben siegel)
1.0 het citrus hypo(gulf coast line)
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
6 white eggs from pastel to norm breeding
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

I wouldn't worry..... sounds like you caught it early on and it should be fine. make sure before you bring her to the vet to have the humidity cranked to well in the 90% range, as well as the temps up in the 90's.

Some snakes are more prone to others for resps.... you'll have to watch her more carefully than the others now, she'll be more likely to catch one again now.

good luck, we'll be routing for you!
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1.0 gorgeous spider ball python
2.2 het for axanthic
5.9 normals
www.blazingreptiles.com coming soon!

Keep the snake dry, if you see an abundant amount of mucus from the snakes mouth then clean the air passage way with a Q-tip so the snake doesnt suffocate and die....Your snake wont die from the cold, it will doe from choking on its own mucus....Get it to the vet ASAP and have them do a culture. Good luck and let us know how it turned out.-Mike

Mike Brooks
TNS Reptiles
Long Island, NY
631-732-4233
Link

vet opens in at 7:30 already planning on being there when they open. this is just crappy, i've never had a snake come down with anything and pride myself on the care i give them. I'm just really courious if this snake could have had the bug when i purchased her? I'm not sure how long these things take to actually show their symptoms, does anyone have an idea? Basking area is up to mid 90's now so hopefully that will help. Another question, as I keep all my herps in one room heated appropriatley, the only place I could keep her seperate is with my other snakes on quarentine and don't want to expose them too, can a resp infection be passed on across a room or do the snakes need to come in realative close contact ie. same rack?
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2.1 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2)
1.0 het albino (ben siegel)
1.0 het citrus hypo(gulf coast line)
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
6 white eggs from pastel to norm breeding
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

Keeping a snake that has a RI in dry conditions is a fast road to killing it.

Humidity loosens and helps, drying out makes the mucus stay and harm.

I hope the vet told you to increase the humidity. If not, please check with any of the ball breeders that treat their own RIs.

Glad to hear she will recover!
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1.0 gorgeous spider ball python
2.2 het for axanthic
5.9 normals
www.blazingreptiles.com coming soon!

One of the reasons why this animal is showing signs of RI is probably because of too much humidity. If this was a CH baby and it was given too much humidity it can lead to the same sympotms as RI, mucus, bubbling etc...when in fact it is not RI. Anyone who imports snakes knows that many ball pythons that come in from Africa show signs of this if humidty levels are raised when the animal is used to very low levels of this. These animals are not from the rainforest, so you want to keep an eye on the humidity...too much or too less can be harmful and look like other problems so take her to the vet ...Good Luck

Mike Brooks
TNS Reptiles
Long Island, NY
631-732-4233

I never increase humidity, just temps and it has always worked.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

It depends on what "just got" means. If you picked up the snake Sat and noticed mucus Sunday, then it's likely it already had it. I have found that increasing the heat works most of the time. But get the animal to a vet for sure because it could be something else. Mucus in the mouth can be something other than RI. Be very careful handling this snake and other animals.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

I picked her up at the orlando fire show last month. I'm very careful when handling all my snakes as i soke my hands down with antibacterial wash between animals. I'm curious as to what the standard treatment for RI is as I want to make sure the doc knows what he's talking about, I've never had a sick animal and this is freaking me out. I know RI's can be contagious but could it be transmitted if this snake is housed on the opposite side of my snake room? I will be leaving for the vet in 45 minutes.
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2.1 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2)
1.0 het albino (ben siegel)
1.0 het citrus hypo(gulf coast line)
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
6 white eggs from pastel to norm breeding
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

I pick rescues here and there. The first treatment I provide is to increase temps. This has ALWAYS worked without the need for medication. Now, these have all been mild-moderate cases of RI. If things get severe, I have a vet I can get to within minutes.

Is RI contagious? Some say yes and some say no. Personally, I don't know nor have I read any papers on the subject. So, is it airborne? I doubt it. But everyone should still have a quarantine room separate from their main room.

If you have had it for a month and it's now showing signs of RI, it may have gotten while in your care. You mention you use apsen. One of the reasons I don't like some aspen is the amount of dust produced. This can create a problem for many animals. I pretty much strictly use newsprint for my animals.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Many people keep their ball pythons on aspen, it's clean and has a VERY low dust rate. BUT, if you are feeding frozen thawed food, any kind of substrate other than a solid sheet could be very bad and lead to exactly what happened!

I'd love to switch from cloth towels like I'm using now to aspen, but I don't feed live, so I can't!
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1.0 gorgeous spider ball python
2.2 het for axanthic
5.9 normals
www.blazingreptiles.com coming soon!

>>Many people keep their ball pythons on aspen, it's clean and has a VERY low dust rate.

It depends on what you get. Many of the shredded aspen you find in pet stores is loaded with dust. I have asthma and that's one of the reasons I had to drop aspen. I use large pine shavings with my rodents because it has less dust, but still has more than I like.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

I'm with you I was using shredded aspen for my snakes and feeders - but I have hated the smell of the aspen and the dust - recently tried using chipped aspen for my snakes and love it - there is virtually no dust to it, and it doesn't smell quite so "wet-dogish" when it gets wet. I don't feed in the cage so I don't have quite that much of a problem with ingestion - my guess is that if I did the chipped would pass much easier than the shreded stuff.
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Tosha

"One of these days i am going to wake up..look around...and realize my place looks more like "Ace Venturas"s than my own." Coldthumb

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope John Paul "JP"
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 lizard rescued from vicious feline

oops, sorry! I didn't even think of pet stores (I haven't bought from a pet store in forever), so that makes sense though..... I buy from a feed/supply store and it's aspen chips I get for my rats, there's zero dust and it smells good too!

I'm allergic to everything as well.... yet another reason why reptiles are a great match for me!
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1.0 gorgeous spider ball python
2.2 het for axanthic
5.9 normals
www.blazingreptiles.com coming soon!

You are right. The key is to get the larger substrate. I get my stuff from a Farm & Ranch store as well. THey even sell the stuff full of dust. I just don't buy it.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

I had used Reptibark for my Rat Snake which was a big pain but looked really nice. Then I switched to Aspen thinking it would be easier to clean than the repti but I don't like it. I can't find the chips so I am stuck with the shredded version and its a mess! It is very dusty and falls everywhere when you scoop out the cages. I am going to bite the big bullet at cage overhaul time and try the heat treated cypress mulch from Petco, a place I try not to buy things, just to see if it is better for me.

I know some people use the cypress you can get at the Walmart or someother place that is made for gardens but I don't have the time or the lungs to bake that stuff and I despise bugs.

If I then hate that, I'll just got with newpaper or paper towels as perm substrate. Not as pretty but pretty darn easy and cheap. My snakes, as much as I hate to admit it it, really don't care how nice their house is...just their fussy owner does

Hate to tell you this - but the stuff they sell at petco sux just as bad - I've had problems with bugs in both the forrest floor and the jungle earth. I just had to return three bags of the stuff cause it had mites crawling in it. For chipped aspen try:

Superior

Hope this helps.

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Tosha

"One of these days i am going to wake up..look around...and realize my place looks more like "Ace Venturas"s than my own." Coldthumb

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope John Paul "JP"
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 lizard rescued from vicious feline

I use a combo of cypress mulch, sphagnum moss and bed-a-beast (coconut shells) for my carpet pythons..... I'm just worried that if I *heaven forbid* get mites, they would be hard to spot right away. At least my ball pythons have their own room!

The cypress and moss are hard to find, so I buy lots when I see good stuff.
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1.0 gorgeous spider ball python
2.2 het for axanthic
5.9 normals
www.blazingreptiles.com coming soon!

first off thanks for the quick responce from everyone. vet did quick exam of snake and said "yep RI" continued with exam, checked mouth and says "aahhh that explains it" my little girl had 2 pieces of aspen embedded in the roof of her mouth with the larger piece going into her nasal passageway which was probably the source of the mild RI. So now she's on oral antibiotics for 7 days so she's comming to daytona with me (don't tell the people at the desk of the hilton i'll have another guest in my room lol). Tonight all my snakes are back on newsprint as I'm exhausted, been up for 21hrs, did switch her over already though. thanks again, NOT AS WORRIED Josh Hutto
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2.1 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2)
1.0 het albino (ben siegel)
1.0 het citrus hypo(gulf coast line)
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
6 white eggs from pastel to norm breeding
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

>
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

did you feed he in her tank?

if yo did that would be he reason, were they small enough to breathe in?
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my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (mazy)
1 wc eastern milksnake (psycho)

Why stress her further by bringing her to the Daytona show? Don't you think she's best left alone to get over her illness?

Seems to me a quiet, calm, stable environment is a better place for a sick snake then being taken to a herp show and all the travelling involved in that.

Joel
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0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Leopard Gecko

I think the driving factor is: she is on 7 days of oral antibiotics. If no one else can administer to her, he'll have to take her along.
Great to hear you have a handle on it, Josh.

Glad to her you've got her started on meds but I think taking her to Daytona is not going to be good for her and there is also the possiblity of spreading it to the other animals at the show - not cool. If there isn't anyone that can give her meds while you are gone, maybe see if you can board her at the vets. Or maybe skip the show this year.
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Tosha

"One of these days i am going to wake up..look around...and realize my place looks more like "Ace Venturas"s than my own." Coldthumb

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope John Paul "JP"
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 lizard rescued from vicious feline

typically i would agree that a sick snake def does not need to be traveling. I have thought about not going to daytona and having to pay for the hotel room as it's too late to cancel. because after all loosing 300 for the room is better than 1500 for the snake. and most of all, i would not want to spread it to other snakes at the show. i thought all about this and asked the vet if the snake could be boarded there and he's going to be out of town this weekend as well and is the only doctor at that particular place that treats snakes. I then asked if in fact how contagious is RI to other snakes. his responce is some forms have been known to transmit with very close contact of the snakes ie. same cage and those cases where it is contagious is usually from some bacteria that is effecting the resp system of the snake. Also snakes are like humans in that after a couple days on antibiotics they are no longer contagious and my snake will have received the 4th day of treatment sat. Again this was a mild RI and will probably be knocked out even before I leave for daytona but antibiotic treatment still needs to be completed as we don't want the snake to build up a tolerance to the meds. Also i will not be handling the snake before the show and will medicate in the evening saturday and sunday as to not risk bringing anything into the show. The drive is only a 2hr drive for me from the west coast of florida and the stress on the snake will be very minimal. Thanks for everyones concern, Josh Hutto
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2.1 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2)
1.0 het albino (ben siegel)
1.0 het citrus hypo(gulf coast line)
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
6 white eggs from pastel to norm breeding
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

Josh, it does sound like ya got a handle on it. Take care of the baby and have a good time at the show.

Quig

... If you only have a 2hr drive, have you thought about spending the night back at home vs. the Hotel? I think everyone would feel better at home in their own bed (including the snake). There's nowhere I'd rather be, if I were sick.

Just a thought,
Ken
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0.5 Normal Ball Pythons (Norma, Nova, Nala, Nimeesha, Nyoka)
1.1 Argentine B/W Tegus (Draco and Drucilla)
0.1 Columbian B/W Tegu (Diablo)
1.0 Black Throat Monitor (Razor)
1.0 Desert Tortoise (Tubbs) from Tortoise Rescue
1.0 Boxer (Shadow)
0.1 Feline (CK)
1.0 Memory of my Redtail Boa (Mo) which passed away after 28 years

Hey Josh defiantly dont take that RI lightly. Sometimes it is a pain to get rid of. I wont mention any names but right now their is quite a few big names who have it pretty bad in thier collection one was set up in Orlando. I would keep that snake warm and at home. I would auction my room off If I were you and just take the drive Saturday night and hit the show on Sunday. RI is nothing to play with dont take it lightly. Make sure you get the culture done to see if the bacteria is sensitive to the meds your giving. Some strands are resistant to some. If your using Amakcin make sure you keep the snake hydrated. It can cause kidney failure if not. If I read correctly this was a hatchling she has had many meals yet to keep nutrients in her body to fight, I would soak her in Pedilyte(I think thats how spell it). Please dont take this the wrong way. Im just giving you some of my experience that Ive had. Dont be suprised if it doesnt clear up right away. Sometimes its a real pain in the a**. I wish you the best keep the temps up and humidity HIGH. If you have a humidifier I would use it. Once again I truley wish you the best.

MIke

I'm surprized no one has asked you this yet. What antibiotics did the vet give you?

s
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2.1 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2)
1.0 het albino (ben siegel)
1.0 het citrus hypo(gulf coast line)
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
6 white eggs from pastel to norm breeding
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!