Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all, I'm a first time retic owner, with a juvenille purple albino female. She's currently being treated for mites and a head scab, but tonight I noticed not what I would call wheezing, but but sounds like a whistling upon her exhaling. Having never owned a retic and never experienced this with any of my snakes previously, I was just wondering if anybody had any insight on what it might possibly be, hopefully not a URI.

When entering a shed cycle, sometimes they can wheeze due to the loosening skin around the nostrils.

Of course, a retic that was compromised and stressed due to mites and probably insufficient temps etc are more susceptible to infection.

I make sure the cage is warm thru and thru, no cold spots, though you can still have a gradient, like low of 80. Make sure it is hydrated - may need a soak. Sometimes, that plus food makes all things better. If not, a vet can help with meds. Too cold a cage will make things worse no matter what.

Any recommendations on pumping up the temperature? She's got a nice hotspot to warm herself on but the gradient is usually about 76. I run a 100 watt heat emitter, and a 40 gallon heat pad at all times and a 40 watt day light during the day. Any thoughts? Thanks

In my reply to your post in the Herp Health Forum I didn't mention humidity. Lack of proper humidity can cause an URI with retics along with horrible sheds. What type of cage are you using? Heat emitters and heat lamps are great at drying out humidity rather quickly. The only heating devics I use with any of my constrictors is under cage heat. Bill
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...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.

She's in a 40 gallon glass with a screen top that's half covered by glass to help hold humidity. The humidity is usually somewhere around 65-75% on the cool side of her tank. I do know that the heat emitters/bulbs can dry out quickly, but I don't really know any other ways to keep the heat up. It's already only about 76 ambient with a hot spot of 85ish so I'm looking to take it up. How do you get the temps you need with just UTH/How many do you use? Thanks

You have the humidity covered and that is good. I understand what you are doing as I used glass tanks years ago and they are hard to heat and keep humidity. I keep all of my snakes in Herpcages except the largest ones are in Vision cages. I use a single Exoterra Heat Wave pad on a rheostat to provide a hot area of 88-90 degrees that covers a 25 percent end area of the cage floor. At the cool end of the cags the temp is around 71 degrees which is the ambient room temp. Except for basking on the heat to digest a meal, most of my snakes stay in the cool zone. Bill
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...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.

So it sounds like we're pretty similar in heat and humidity, that sounds like a load off my mind, haha. Her bowel movements are a little irregular so I was hoping to get the head up and see if that helps. Thanks for your help!

You are welcome and I am glad to be of help and share knowledge. I appreciate your care for your retic. Bill
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...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.

Sarge is correct.

With glass cages, it is best to cover the top. I would go even farther than 1/2, more like 3/4. Then use undertank heat on a controller or use your ceramic emitter or radiant heat panel.

Too much ventilation is often the culprit, especially in Winter. In Summer, ventilation is usually no big deal.

The little 5 gal tank I have here - see how much of the screen is covered? In Winter, I even put a strip of foam in that open space. And this is for a colubrid.

I also have a small retic in a 40 gallion and i'm using a similar setup as you are.

Under tank heating pad under about 1/4 of it, one 40 watt party bulb in red for night light and one 60 watt ceramic all on the heat end.

What I did is build a shelf on the heating pad end.4 pieces of wood, 2 sides, one shelf on top and one in the center. So 3 levels for my girl to choose from at varying temperatures. I also use small towls on that enter under the shelf with her water bowl on top of 1/4 of the heating pad so humidity can rise and daily I will spill her water when i change it. So the small towl will hold moisture and help humidify the enclosure.

Just my temp setup until I can build her something in the next few months that will last a few years.

Just be sure to get her a nice *cozy* spot thats 90 or so. If she's stressed she may pick a dark cold spot and you cant have that with a possible URI and mite stress.

Have fun, Randy.

PS If anyone has any great retic enclosure plans Im all ears.

Woops, I forgot the original reason I wanted to reply to this.

As an alternative to your glass on top of the cage I might suggest what I did. Duct tape. I used a black variety. It covers super tight if you overlap about a mm. I covered probably 90% of my top and only left open the areas where my light and ceramic heater are. I have a good 70-80% humidity.

You can increase humidity by putting aluminum foil on half the screen top. And have a big flat pan of water, and daily misting with a spray bottle.