Confused about Respiratory Infect.

[BP_okay]

Hi there,

I've had a 5 yr. old male Saharan Sand Boa for about a year now, and for the first time he showed signs of a possible RI tonight. When I took him out of his tank, every 30 seconds or so, I could hear him breathe(not clicking, just puffs/huff). He doesn't have the nose bubbles or a gaping mouth though. After being returned to his tank, I couldn't hear it, but he's never done this before, while I've handled him. I have two questions.

1.Will he be okay until Tuesday, as I can't get him a vet appt. until Tues. b/c of MLK day on Monday. I did raise his temps by about 5 degrees, to keep him warmer.

2.How did this happen. I have kept his warm side at 90-92 degrees and cool side around 78. I raised it to 95 last week when it got really cold here. Now I am adjusting it to around 100 degrees b/c of the RI possibility.

As a side note:He hasn't eaten since September 10(approx 4 months), but I have talked to many breeders, herp friends,etc., and understand it is common for male adult sand boas to stop feeding throughout the winter. I do try every 10 days or so. Secondly, I assume it was a good idea to move my corn's tank to another room, as I understand RI's are contagious to snakes in the same room.

Thx so much for reading and any thoughts would be appreciated.

Traci

[BP_okay]

Update: So Last night, 5 hours after my sand boa had been in his tank with increased heat..he exhibited pretty normal behavior. He was out and about exploring his tank, and I couldn't hear any breathing. He actually stayed out more than usual. Something to note...I picked him up again, and no labored breathing or anything. He sounded fine! I don't know if he had substrate in his nose or what, but I must be going nuts. I'm going to keep the temps raised and check him again tonight.

Any thoughts why this would happen? Has this happened to any of you guys before?

[Squisher]

I do not have any experience with Sand Boas so if there is something breed specific that needs to be adjusted i will be of no use. I'm glad things seemed to have turned around for you two with your update. However i was wondering what your hygrometer stands at with the raised temp as well as what it was before..assuming that is, that humidity is an issue with Sand Boas as i stated earlier i'm not familiar with. I know when i was using heat lamps for my Retics enclosures i didn't catch right away how quickly they were drying out the air and had to mist alot more often as they would occasionally get a whistle or a slight wheeze till i was able to maintain the level over 50%. Then it seemed to have cleared right up. I've had RI before as well from a snake i had adopted and brought in unbeknownst to me and it was considerably more than just a stuffy nose. Wasn't a good time as within a week of adopting it i was going to the vet and doing home antibodie injections