Bacon
01-28-15, 08:39 PM
I was on here almost a year ago with my corn and an RI (or what seemed like one). I sure you can see where this is going. Since too much information is probably better than too little... I've written a small book, I deeply appreciate any thought or insight.
The short of it being: Bacon is an '08 I bought at a show in OCT-13. In January last year I moved him to the living room and he started getting restless and then sneezing. He took a few trips to the vets. All in all over 4 months or so he got a 3 vet trips, 2 fecals, a 9 dose round of fortaz, dewormed with panacur/metronidazole, culture + sensitivity (negative), new bedding and eventually moved back to the other room he was originaly in. He went off food after the first vet trip and lost some weight. The only thing to make a difference seemed to be the room as the sneezing and restlessness stopped and he turned back into his lazy, hungry self. He gained back all the weight and then some. Chalked it up to stress or maybe allergies.
Come this past December, I brought him back out to the living room, and upgraded him to a 4x2x2 viv. The room he'd been in gets chilly in the winter and I wanted to give him a better elcosure. The new cage has a RHP, soil substrate, lots of cover and many hides. Temps are mid 80s on the warm side and room at the cool/several hides. He seemed to adjust fine, found all the hides, spent time basking, had a nice shed, took two mice (one per week) all in all doing fine... Until the last week or so.
He's again been persistently trying to get out the front glass like its the end of the world, refused his mouse 2 weeks in a row and now the sneezes are back. He is most sneezy when he is actively trying to get out (pushing on the glass, trying to squeeze out between the panes or down into the litter dam) - when he is calm no sneezes. I'm assuming because he is breathing heavier. It's in the nose region, I can't feel any rattling or popping in his body area though I'll be honest I'm not sure exactly where his lung is. It's the same "chuff" noises as last winter. Could this be the same thing? New thing? Coincidence? Stress/allergies?? How often do snakes get sneezy when it's not an RI? Or conversely, how long can a RI linger and go basically unnoticed?
I've upped his heat a little but I'm still getting used to the RHP and don't want to cook him, and covered his glass with a blanket. It's only been up for an hour or so and the lights have been off but he's calmed down and was coiled up in his hide. My first thought is to put him back in his little tank (the big one won't fit in any other room) in another less busy room and see if that does anything. I'm also now worried about my little Hognose who lives above him. He actually started sneezing too but then promptly shed and I haven't heard another peep from him.
If moving him doesn't clear it/calm him down again, then I'm thinking I need to get bloods done. I'll be looking for a new vet - the last one gave some poor advice and I generally dislike the clinic. Unfortunately they are the "recommended" exotics practice in my area. Considering I might be up for a drive and want to get the best I can out of this... Any suggestions on questions for helping screen a new vet (or recommendations for central Ohio), I am all ears.
The short of it being: Bacon is an '08 I bought at a show in OCT-13. In January last year I moved him to the living room and he started getting restless and then sneezing. He took a few trips to the vets. All in all over 4 months or so he got a 3 vet trips, 2 fecals, a 9 dose round of fortaz, dewormed with panacur/metronidazole, culture + sensitivity (negative), new bedding and eventually moved back to the other room he was originaly in. He went off food after the first vet trip and lost some weight. The only thing to make a difference seemed to be the room as the sneezing and restlessness stopped and he turned back into his lazy, hungry self. He gained back all the weight and then some. Chalked it up to stress or maybe allergies.
Come this past December, I brought him back out to the living room, and upgraded him to a 4x2x2 viv. The room he'd been in gets chilly in the winter and I wanted to give him a better elcosure. The new cage has a RHP, soil substrate, lots of cover and many hides. Temps are mid 80s on the warm side and room at the cool/several hides. He seemed to adjust fine, found all the hides, spent time basking, had a nice shed, took two mice (one per week) all in all doing fine... Until the last week or so.
He's again been persistently trying to get out the front glass like its the end of the world, refused his mouse 2 weeks in a row and now the sneezes are back. He is most sneezy when he is actively trying to get out (pushing on the glass, trying to squeeze out between the panes or down into the litter dam) - when he is calm no sneezes. I'm assuming because he is breathing heavier. It's in the nose region, I can't feel any rattling or popping in his body area though I'll be honest I'm not sure exactly where his lung is. It's the same "chuff" noises as last winter. Could this be the same thing? New thing? Coincidence? Stress/allergies?? How often do snakes get sneezy when it's not an RI? Or conversely, how long can a RI linger and go basically unnoticed?
I've upped his heat a little but I'm still getting used to the RHP and don't want to cook him, and covered his glass with a blanket. It's only been up for an hour or so and the lights have been off but he's calmed down and was coiled up in his hide. My first thought is to put him back in his little tank (the big one won't fit in any other room) in another less busy room and see if that does anything. I'm also now worried about my little Hognose who lives above him. He actually started sneezing too but then promptly shed and I haven't heard another peep from him.
If moving him doesn't clear it/calm him down again, then I'm thinking I need to get bloods done. I'll be looking for a new vet - the last one gave some poor advice and I generally dislike the clinic. Unfortunately they are the "recommended" exotics practice in my area. Considering I might be up for a drive and want to get the best I can out of this... Any suggestions on questions for helping screen a new vet (or recommendations for central Ohio), I am all ears.