Sick Bp???????????????

[VI Reptiles]

Hi, my snakes just started making like a whistling sound and a clicking sound when moving around, im getting frustrated trying to figure out what is causing this! I took him out on Sunday and i was on the lawn with him for a little while. Could this be a respiratory infection and what would have caused it if it is one?
Everyone that has an idea, maybe you can tell me?

[snakehunter]

CHECK CHECK AND RECHECK your husbandry. If all is well with that I would up the temps (95 hot 85 cool)for a few days If it persits see a vet. He may be going into shed, sometimes my snakes tick and weeze a day or so before they start to blue, dont know why, just happens)

RI's can be caused by too much humidity, or too little, just keep the temps and humdity in the green and you can be sure to avoid this again.
-Jacob

[VI Reptiles]

Well its wierd on Sunday and yesterday I was like wow hes going to shed again and he just never does. he gets the murk eyes and gets all ghost looking and he hasnt sheded for a little while so im not sure...... All i know is he hasnt looked all nice and new for awile!!!! so maybe i'l give him a bath every couple hours and see what happens

[Artemis]

Snakehunter is right. Recheck your temps, and humidity. What sort of enclosure is your snake in. How long have you had him in there, etc. Describe it for us.

Sounds like a respitory infection to me. You can try slighty raising your temps to help the snake to improve, but if it does not improve quickly, you will need to take your snake to the vet.

Respitory infections in snakes are usually caused by a husbandry problem (such as temps or humidity being way off) or some other source of stress that has made the animals immune system weak, such as overhandling, or any other outside stressor.

Hope this helps- let us know how he is doing.

Artemis

As for the shedding thing, if this has happened repeatedly also, I would deal with the respitory infection first, rather than dunking him in water and stressing him out even more, and then worry about that. The vet can probably offer good insights as to why he wont shed.

[VI Reptiles]

right now hes in a 40 gallon aquarium but I am making a tupperware rack so i dont have to keep all my reptiles in aquariums as well as I can have more :) Well I leave a water bowl in there at all times but shouldnt that create enough humidity? I use an under tank heater and a heat lamp so the air is warm as well as the snakes hide. I will go pick up a humidity guage today and put it in and see what its at!

[arkuden]

heat lights soak up a ton of humidity tho. I started with one and i had horrible humidity. so i got rid of it and left it to jsut a UTH and a big water bowl. my humidity is generally about 50% now... pretty soon (once i get paid) ill be making a nice humid hide :D

[Artemis]

Covering the top of the screen will help, if you havent done that already, and you would be surprised at how little humidity tank enclosures allow for, even with a sizeable water dish.

Humid hides are a great option for people who have humidity issues, also.

You never did post your temps, and in general a UTH generates plenty of heat on its own. If you do not know your temps then you should also invest in a good digital thermometer with a probe (about 10-15 bucks US at walmart) and check your temps on each side of the tank. Ball pythons need a specific thermal gradient, explained here along with other basics:

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49236

Good luck-

Artemis

[Linds]

Originally posted by snakehunter
He may be going into shed, sometimes my snakes tick and weeze a day or so before they start to blue, dont know why, just happens)


Snakes sometimes whistle and click as a result of the excess skin beginning to clog the nostrils a little bit. Is your snake's belly pinkish? If so, it is likely that your snake is approaching a shed. If your snake's belly is still bright white, then it may be something respiratory related instead.

[VI Reptiles]

Is there a special treatment for RI like medicine? Could it wait till the weekend or does it have to be treated now? One thing can you keep more then one species in a rack like corn snakes, bp's, kingsnakes and whatnot all in the same rack?

Thanks

[mykee]

Get rid of the heat lamp. In an aquarium you want all the humidity you can get, and the heat lamp is just drying out the air. If you're UTH is working properly, it will provide all the heat that your BP will need. I would also suggest you purchase a book on the captive husbandry of ball pythons.

[VI Reptiles]

I do have one, So how do you get good humidity with paper towel?

[Artemis]

Humid hides, and covering the most of the top of the enclosure will help.

Artemis

[VI Reptiles]

How do you make a humid hide? I have a half log type hide

[nita]

Get a plastic tupper ware container cut a hole in the lid, stuff some damp sphagnum moss in it and voila! Your snake will use it when he needs the extra humidity. For my snakes in aquariams i use peat moss and cover 2/3 of the top of the screen and I have no humidity problems, good sheds.

For the rack you should only keep one type of snake in it unless you can control the heat and humidity to each tub individually since they all have different requirements.

[VI Reptiles]

ok, I will go out and buy a tupperware and butcher it until it looks like a good hide! Am i able to collect moss from outside or should I just buy? Thanks, i will but only bps in my rack then, thanks again

[mykee]

AND get rid of the heat lamp.

[VI Reptiles]

I turned it off to use on another reptile, lol


Am i able to use moss from outside?


Oh ya, I noticed something, he only whistles when he is trying to climb and do hard work for him.... like climbing my arm or whatever he wants to climb.