Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok so it has been getting kinda cool here at night... 68-70 degrees. Low of 64 tonight. I woke up yesterday morning and noticed it was much cooler in the snake room than usual. My GTP Thermometer read 78 degrees, so I wasn't too worried.

Sitting here on the couch and hearing what sounds like sneezing! He is opening his mouth and making a hissing or sneezing noise about six times and then it stopped. 10 Min later twice.

Is this something normal? I have been spraying him constantly because he is in shed.
I have hooked up a heat bulb for the night. Twenty minutes and not a sound since the heat was on. Cage temp read 80 prior to the heat bulb. He was soaking wet though.

generally the cage stays at 85-92 degrees all the time.

Thoughts?

Sounds like it could be an RI. I suggest examining the inside of its mouth. If you are seeing a lot of mucus, it is time for a good vet. If you are not seeing mucus, then I would continue to monitor closely until it sheds. Once it sheds, if the "sneezing" continues, it is vet time.

Couple things to consider. I would not spray constantly even in shed. If your setup has that much of an issue maintaining the humidity, change your setup. You also seem to be "all over the place" in terms of temps. 85-92 seems a bit high but it will be difficult to control temps in a room that drops to 64, and winter isn't even here yet. I suggest moving it to a more stable room of the house.

If it is an RI, a vet trip is only the first response. RI's are a strong indicator that you are having problems with husbandry so consider making improvements.

Good luck.

That is the plan... as the weather gets cooler they will move near the heater. Perhaps you misunderstood. The Low temp, outside was 64 not the cage.

Cage temps were never lower than 78 just this week only, and were getting as high as mid 90's do to record highs here in Texas last few weeks.

The good news is since I turned on that heat bulb it seems to have stopped. He should shed tonight.

Thanks for the tips!

Your temps are definitely not too low, and as stated in the previous post, the day-time highs may be a little too high. However, there are probably as many cases of RI caused by sub-optimal humidity with tropical boids as are caused by sub-optimal temps. Initial sneezing is many times caused by irritated lung tissue and not necessarily an actual RI, and can usually be eliminated by correcting the environmental conditions within the enclosure. This is if the condition is caught before it has advanced into a full RI.

Kelly