Periodic Loud Breathing?!?!?

[Gerraldo225]

So over the last couple weeks i've noticed that my Brazillian Rainbow will periodically have a few highly audible breathes (Almost wheeze like i guess). It only seems to happen ever few minutes when he's in his tank(sometimes 10+ mins) and far more often when being handled (20-30 seconds) My immediate first thought was respiratory infection but none of the other "common" symptoms are apperent (eg. Open mouth breathing, fluid discharge from mouth or nostrils, lack of appetite,swollen or bloated body, ect...) So now i'm completely confussed. He's been isolated from that rest of the collection until i have some sort of better idea as to whats going on. Any and all help/input would be much appreciated!!!

[Strutter769]

I'm more paranoid than knowledgeable, so I would probably be making a vet appointment. Hope if doesn't get to that. Best of luck!

[ZARADOZIA]

Sasha makes noises like that every once in a while. For her it equates to a human's aggrevated sigh, like, "Seriously?! I"m sleeping. Go away." Sounds between a hiss and sigh, heavy breath, for her it's because she doesn' want me to bother her.

[Lankyrob]

My JCP does it occassionnally - normally when he is stressed or just been active - you can see his body puff up and then he kinda blows out and hisses at the same time - he will do it two or three times and then stop.

[CDN_Blood]

Snakes can be very good at hiding signs of illness, so careful observation is your best bet to see if there's anything seriously wrong.

Given your location, my first guess would be that it's perhaps a little on the dry side. How are the enclosure humidity and temperature levels?

[Gerraldo225]

Temp gradient 79-91
Humidity 20-30% (definately difficult to keep high during Calgary winter)

[CDN_Blood]

There's the problem :)

I keep my adult in a Rubbermaid-type tub and that *really* helps with the humidity, but if you switch it to one, do make sure it's got lots of ventilation and you'd probably need to drop the temperatures a little because the humidity really raises the temp.

[Gerraldo225]

I'll give that a go

[Snakesitter]

Temp gradient 79-91
That's your biggest problem. A rainbow-friendly temp gradient is 72F low to 82F high. Temps over 85 can kill these snakes if they have no escape. You do have an escape, but to almost high-end temps. I strongly suggest adjusting these values.

Humidity 20-30% (definately difficult to keep high during Calgary winter)Todd already nailed this one. Aim for 80% or higher if an adult, 90% or higher if a baby.

By the way, what type of enclosure is he in, and how much ventillation is there?

[millertime89]

80 for an adult and 90 for a baby? That seems REALLY high? No offense Cliff, but Nero is THRIVING between 70 and 80 %. Still quite a bit higher than the 20-30 the OP is getting. But hey, you're the expert, just my experience. I've found even in Tubs higher than 80 is hard to maintain, 70-80 is cake walk.

[Snakesitter]

It seemed high to me too, Kyle. But those are the official numbers handed down to me when I first started. Practically speaking, however, I've found that so long as you maintain a retreat in each cage that meets those requirements (usually, the humid hide, which is where the animal spend most of its time), the rest of the cage can be lower. I've had the general cage fall as low as 60% for older animals with high-humidity hides and all has been well.

[millertime89]

I gotcha, Nero is all over the place, he loves being under the substrate, very rarely do I catch him in either of his hides, usually only when he's in shed.

[C5Chris]

Dio used to hide udner the substrate quite a bit, but has just recently started using the hides I bought him... well one of them. Tends to go in phases I find with him.. first it was under the substrate... then in his moist hide... now its the cave.

The humidty in his cage seems to vary quite a lot depending on the spot. Ive got a mister that sprays onto some moss and that stays around 80% but outside of that it seems to average 50-60%.

I recently read on here that using a dehumidifier in the winter helps counterract the dryness of winter... Ive spent a few winters in Calgary and man does it get dry. I dont know why I never thought of the dehumidifier as a solution.. Im always thinking inside the cage. Also a large tub of water could help, it would at least give him another option if he was too dry.