Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I took out one of my larger male rtb bci this morning to do my regular morning check ups, and as i was letting him crawl about around my shoulders and chest I heard a super faint whistle/wheezing, i almost passed it off as me for a second but then i heard it again really faint... this time I knew it was him.
so I immediately started checking the rest of him out his eyes, nostrils, and mouth are all nice and clear. He was nice and strong and exploratory (his norm) no signs of any skin abrasions or ailments.
my thought was his tank,nice and clean, he defecated nice and smooth about 5 days ago and was feed 2 days ago this morning f/t lrg rat. his humidity is good, his temp was nice when I picked him up... about 75 at 7am (he was on his cooler side of the gradient though) my only remaing variable is overnight temps, his warm side stays about 70-80 depending on the outside temps... but his cooler side here recently i've seen in the 60's at night...
what should I do? I don't want to jump to conclusions i.e.(IBD)
but then again I want to make sure I can help him in time?

how many respitory ailment are there that cause wheezing?
which ones are treatable?
how would u go about doing so?
how long should i monitor him before i should seek a professional?( have one already)

any comments would be greatly appreciated

From what you describe it sounds like the ambient cage humidity may be a little low. This typically may cause the lungs and nasal passages to dry and cause this slight wheezing sound while breathing. If you were getting into the initial stages of an RI, you would see a little excess clear mucous in the mouth, and sometimes around the nares as well, along with the slight wheezing sound.

Bci are very resilient and much more tolerant of cooler night temps than Bcc. However, I would recommend a minimum temp of 80 to 85 during the day, with night temps no lower than 70. The only time I would allow temps on any of my Bci to fall into the 60’s was when I was running them through a cool down period prior to breeding. Even then, I would always bring the day temps back up to the low 80’s. Humidity does not need to be high with Bci, but should be somewhere in the 60% range. Raise temps and humidity slightly and see if it disappears. Even if it does move into the initial stages of an RI, higher temps (low 90’s) and elevated humidity (70 to 80 %) can still be used to resolve the condition. Typically, only more advanced cases of an RI require the use of antibiotics.

Kelly