possible RI/hopefully not

[TeaNinja]

the new BP i just got has been totally fine. tonight when i came home he was roaming his cage so i took him out. i was holding him and i moved something by him and he got scared, so he tucked his head in super fast and started breathing slightly hard. and when he was breathing hard he would give a SLIGHT whistle. it only happens when he breathes hard. i'm really hoping his nose is swelling because he's gonna shed or he has a stuck piece of nose scale or something. i'm gonna up his temps for a while and hope for the best :X

[NennaMeerkat]

Would upping his humidity help at all?

[TeaNinja]

Would upping his humidity help at all?

not sure, but i gave the cage a nice mist and im gonna cover half the mesh with something to keep in some more humidity. and i'm not even sure its RI, i just hope it's not.

[TeaNinja]

also no crackling or popping or open mouth breathing or any other symptoms.

[Lankyrob]

What humidity/temps are you keeping him at?

[TeaNinja]

i don't have a good humidity guage atm but i mist every few days, i'm going to cover half the top mesh with something to try to keep humidity in better. i believe the temps are prolly somewhere from 75-85 with a little higher basking. maybe it's colder then i anticipate on the ground with a mesh top. i put the heating pad that i had in my old dums cage on the bottom of the hot side a few hours ago to boost up the ambient temp. also i have a 100 watt ceramic and i might wanna jump up to a 150.

/ maybe he's just having continuations from terrible petco husbandry? hopefully the correct environment can fix his problem (if he actually has one)

[Lankyrob]

I have a totally enclosed wooden viv that holds humidity well and still spray my BP daily. Humidity should be kept up around 55-60%. Basking spot should be about 91f. I would concentrate on getting both right as soon as possible.

[TeaNinja]

I have a totally enclosed wooden viv that holds humidity well and still spray my BP daily. Humidity should be kept up around 55-60%. Basking spot should be about 91f. I would concentrate on getting both right as soon as possible.

would lack of humidity cause a whistle when breathing? what could possibly cause this?
can i get some viv pics? and whever else you feel like shooting :D

[Lankyrob]

Havent got a pic of the individual viv but here is my setup

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo200/Lankyrob1975/Animals/Reptiles/Photo0180.jpg

My bp is in the middle bottom viv, four foot by two and a half by two and a half. Ceramic heating bulb, reptibark substrate, two large cork bark pieces, one large reptile hide, one large water bowl for drinking, one small bowl under the ceramic to aid humidity. His viv is sprayed so that it is pretty damp every morning, around 65%-75% humidity, it then dries during thr day to be around 50% the following morning when i respray. Inside the reptile hide is as much sphagnum moss (damp) as i could get in there.

The thermostat probe is directly under the ceramic, on top of the substrate and set at 91f.

Here is the guy in question "hanging out"

http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo200/Lankyrob1975/Reptiles%20Nov%202010/DSC_0077.jpg

[serpentshideawa]

nice cages rob

[NennaMeerkat]

Hey Rob did you make all those yourself?

[Lankyrob]

Lol, not a chance!! Even if i was healthy enough i have neither the skills nor inclination. They were bought from our reptile shop locally, as a by product of the shop the owner owns a workshop that makes vivs to order, whatever size shape colour etc you want, normally delivered within a fortnight.

[TeaNinja]

looks very nice. :)

[NennaMeerkat]

Lol, not a chance!! Even if i was healthy enough i have neither the skills nor inclination. They were bought from our reptile shop locally, as a by product of the shop the owner owns a workshop that makes vivs to order, whatever size shape colour etc you want, normally delivered within a fortnight.

God wish we had a place or person like that around here. Lucky lucky guy you are.

[mykee]

Not an RI, he's just doing his best to tell you he doesn't want to be held.
You're not listening.

[TeaNinja]

Not an RI, he's just doing his best to tell you he doesn't want to be held.
You're not listening.

that's a big assumption and i take a small amount of offense. i put him back in his viv immediately after, upped the temp and humidity and havn't touched him for the last 2 days; and i don't overhold him.

i appreciate your opinion that he doesn't have RI. i don't agree with how you said it.

[NennaMeerkat]

It was a bit harsh I suppose...

Has their been any change good or otherwise Tea?

[TeaNinja]

It was a bit harsh I suppose...

Has their been any change good or otherwise Tea?

i'll hold him alittle later. maybe he was just weezing cuz he was stressed, i hope that's the case. i bet he'll enjoy the extra heat/humidity either way. :)

[clmclark]

Since you guys are talking humidity... I've only had my BP a week. I haven't been misting at all and it's not very humid... but I have a humidity box in there. Does anyone else do this? It's just a plastic strage container with a hole cut in it. I keep the moss pretty wet and she goes in there everyday for a little while. Has anyone else done this? Any idea which way is better?

[mykee]

"that's a big assumption and I take a small amount of offense"

"and i don't overhold him."[/"


Quite frankly, I'm not overly concerned about hurting your feelings. my concern is solely for your ball python, which I believe is why you came here looking for opinions in the first place, correct?
Whether you chose to believe it or not, your ball python does not want to be held. Ball pythons are solitary creatures who would prefer NEVER to be held. The hissing you are hearing is your ball python telling you that he is scared, stressed out and does NOT want to be held.
YOU ARE LOT LISTENING to your ball python.

"i'll hold him alittle later"

and you're still not listening....

[Lankyrob]

Since you guys are talking humidity... I've only had my BP a week. I haven't been misting at all and it's not very humid... but I have a humidity box in there. Does anyone else do this? It's just a plastic strage container with a hole cut in it. I keep the moss pretty wet and she goes in there everyday for a little while. Has anyone else done this? Any idea which way is better?

I do both, you are looking for a relative humidity of about 55-60%. I provide a humid hide with sphagnum moss plus i mist the cage every morning taking it up to about 65% it then goes through a drying process until the following morning where the humidity is usually about 45-50%

[TeaNinja]

Quite frankly, I'm not overly concerned about hurting your feelings. my concern is solely for your ball python, which I believe is why you came here looking for opinions in the first place, correct?
Whether you chose to believe it or not, your ball python does not want to be held. Ball pythons are solitary creatures who would prefer NEVER to be held. The hissing you are hearing is your ball python telling you that he is scared, stressed out and does NOT want to be held.
YOU ARE LOT LISTENING to your ball python.



and you're still not listening....

honestly, you were 100% right, he didn't want to be held.

with my steady slow holding regiment he now NEVER whistles and is much more used to handling. if you're just gonna be an a$$hole don't bother posting on my next post. i usually don't listen to my fullest when i'm having my attention sidetracked to the fact that you are a complete d1ck for no reason.

and it's good that i "don't listen" to you, because now my pet is much happier.

Edit - rude comment removed

[Ch^4]

Certainly not trying to take sides or start a debate, but that is mykee's style. Mykee just wants to insure the well being of your pet. He has years and years of invaluable experience and offers great advice. As a "middle man," I suggest heeding his advice, but the name calling isn't necessary. Good to hear your little guy is doing better.

[Shmoges]

You could do like I do and cover 2/3 to 3/4 of the enclosure with plastic wrap to hold in more humidity so it doesn't evaporate as fast. Granted if you have heat sources above the tank thats not a good idea. I also have a humidifier in the room with my snakes on a timer its at a good 60% for the corns and the BP, it helps keep it nice and high in the enclosures when I mist. Another thought is I highly recommend you make a moist hide for your BP. All my snakes spend the majority of there time in them except for the sand boas (not in the same room)

When I first got my ball python it was from a friend and the poor thing was in a dirty cage no water no heat and it had a wheeze. Once I got the heat and humidity up in his new tank the wheezing stopped after a couple of weeks. Thank go dit wasn't an upper respiratory infection.

[shaunyboy]

Would upping his humidity help at all?


upping the temperature by 4 or 5 degrees aids the snakes immune system


imo mykee was only trying to tell you to listen to the snake as its telling you what it needs or in this case don't need

the longer we have our snakes the better we get to know them we learn to read them and look for signs

i honestly don't think mykee was being hostile towards you mate

i've found it helpfull to take everyones personal experiences on board when i'm trying to figure out any problems i'm having with my snakes

sometimes when things are wrote on a forum they can be taken the wrong way as theres no indication of voice tones facial expressions etc

just words on a screen

i'm not wanting to further the arguement only trying to smooth things out folks

cheers shaun