Carpet python help!

[Jim9075]

Ok I had just purchased a new Jungle carpet python a week ago. The snake seemed healthy and with no visable problems. I also heard no respitory problems. I got him out today and he started to make a whistling noise and had bubbles come out of his nostrils (I think it was his nostrils and not his mouth). I put him back in his enclosure and i have not seen anymore bubbles and the whistling stopped. I have learned that it could be that he got water in his nostrils from soaking and he is going into shead. However at the same time im thinking of RI. So I decided to increase the temp and humidity. I keep the warm basking side at 85-92 ( just increased heat by 3 degrees) degrees and the cool end at 72-75 degrees. I have both flexwatt heat tape with thermostat and an overhead ceramic heat emitter for ambient warmth. Im really worried about him. He is a 5.5 foot male. The bad thing is my vet is not open until Monday. Any ideas on this?

[tankslapt]

I've never had RI problems so don't know a lot about it, but it wasn't you that gave it to your jungle. Not that quickly anyway. I can't say I've heard of RI being intermittent either.
I wouldn't stress mate but I would be taking it to the vet on Monday if I were you.

[marvelfreak]

sounds like you got it under control with raising the heat and humidity. Just be sure to get him into a vet on Monday.

[mymichelle12472]

Ok I had just purchased a new Jungle carpet python a week ago. The snake seemed healthy and with no visable problems. I also heard no respitory problems. I got him out today and he started to make a whistling noise and had bubbles come out of his nostrils (I think it was his nostrils and not his mouth). I put him back in his enclosure and i have not seen anymore bubbles and the whistling stopped. I have learned that it could be that he got water in his nostrils from soaking and he is going into shead. However at the same time im thinking of RI. So I decided to increase the temp and humidity. I keep the warm basking side at 85-92 ( just increased heat by 3 degrees) degrees and the cool end at 72-75 degrees. I have both flexwatt heat tape with thermostat and an overhead ceramic heat emitter for ambient warmth. Im really worried about him. He is a 5.5 foot male. The bad thing is my vet is not open until Monday. Any ideas on this?

It could be u don't have enough humidity in his cage and if u said he was soaking in water thats prob where the bubbles came from ..make sure his enclosure doesn't feel dry and mist him 3 times a day . They weeze like ball pythons when there environment doesn't have enough humidity especially before shedding . But if he is having bubbles coming out of his nose after not being in his water and is dry then u got a problem also check him for mites if he is soaking and u just got him check in his water bowl too ..I would look for a 24 hour vet asap if he is still having bubbles coming out with out being in the water after he is dry. That's sad I'm sorry :'( poor guy ..hopefully its nothing

[rmfsnakes32]

I have dealt with three snakes that battled RI's for 3 months they do not always whistle and blow bubbles in the early stagess of RI's and also snakes do not breathe in water while soaking!!!!!!!!!! Also I had 3 vets tell me bump the heat to 90 drop the humidity to around 45 to 50 % high humidity just creates more moisture in the lungs therefore creating more bacteria cells. Please get to a vet on Monday!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck keep us posted.

[shaunyboy]

you keep your basking spot at 85 to 92,why does it fluctuate so much ?

using ceramics and a pulse or dimming stat,you should be able to keep the temps consistant (i'm not bieng cheeky),also you won't need heat tape as a ceramic on it's own,will heat the tank correctly

i would put his hot end up to 94F for a week and see if theres improovement

what is your humidty at ?

i have found carpets do fine at 30% to 60% humidity

if the bubbles are due to RI,then imo its far enough advanced to require antibiotics,so a trip to the vets

carpets can whistle from the nostrils,when coming up to and during their shed,even sometimes after shed,if it's down to a piece of shed stuck up a nostril

nervous carpets can huff and puff and whistle a bit,when they're being handled,just look at where their lung is situated and it will be going in and out really fast,like our chest does after we run and get out of breath

its the bubbles thats got me thinking its the advanced stages of a respiritory issue mate

take him back out and see if theres more bubbles,also check the mouth for excess saliva,if this is the case,take him to the vets

raising the hort end temps is all you can do until the vet prescribes a treatment

carpets are a hardy species,so please don't worry too much,until you get to the vets

cheers,shaun

[Terranaut]

It could be u don't have enough humidity in his cage and if u said he was soaking in water thats prob where the bubbles came from ..make sure his enclosure doesn't feel dry and mist him 3 times a day . They weeze like ball pythons when there environment doesn't have enough humidity especially before shedding . But if he is having bubbles coming out of his nose after not being in his water and is dry then u got a problem also check him for mites if he is soaking and u just got him check in his water bowl too ..I would look for a 24 hour vet asap if he is still having bubbles coming out with out being in the water after he is dry. That's sad I'm sorry :'( poor guy ..hopefully its nothing

Mist a carpet 3 times a day with ri?? Quick way to kill this snake.
Up the temps and keep the humidity around 50%. Carpets are not ball pythons and do not need much humidity. If the snake has ri then even less humidity is desired. Bubbles you can see is usually bad bad news if it is an ri. If it was just water it will go away right away. I would check for mites and check again for bubbles today. Raise the temps and keep the humidity down. Pull the water dish out for a day. If you still have signs of ri Monday go see a vet. Just do not mist it. Thats just silly.

[shaunyboy]

It could be u don't have enough humidity in his cage and if u said he was soaking in water thats prob where the bubbles came from ..make sure his enclosure doesn't feel dry and mist him 3 times a day . They weeze like ball pythons when there environment doesn't have enough humidity especially before shedding . But if he is having bubbles coming out of his nose after not being in his water and is dry then u got a problem also check him for mites if he is soaking and u just got him check in his water bowl too ..I would look for a 24 hour vet asap if he is still having bubbles coming out with out being in the water after he is dry. That's sad I'm sorry :'( poor guy ..hopefully its nothing

you don't need a 24 hour vet mate,just get him to a vet as soon as possible,monday,tuesday,thursday

if he's been soaking as has been said,he may have mites,this is easy to treat using provent a mite

unless you live somwhere the humiditys below 30%,then theres NO need to mist a carpet...

they will shed just fine at 30% to 60% mate

i definatly would NOT mist a carpet with a respiritory infection,you'll just make it a LOT worse

all you can do for now is raise his basking spot to 94F

please let us know how you get on at the vets

take your snake out its tank and listen to him again,if he's bubbling,wheezing or gurgling,then its vet time

cheers shaun

[Jim9075]

Well as it turns out I made a mistake getting him. Not only does he have RI but he also has mites. NEVER have I had them. When I first brought him home I had him on the other side of the house away from my tarantulas and other snakes. Now I got this problem. I swear I did not see them until I put him back in his enclosure yesterday. I seen little black dots the size off pepper grain moving on my hand. The good thing is I change clothing and scrub down before I handle my other snakes until I know for sure that a new reptile is 100% healthy. I checked on my others and the mites have not spread to them. Im surprised in a way because I had some stuff in the same room with my new snake and put those items in my other room with my other collection. I really dont know what to do :-( Any advise will be helpfull. I've never had these issues before and I always check for problems before getting a new reptile. I must not have checked hard enough.

[Lankyrob]

Kudos on the quarantine - this is exactly why its needed :)

I would get some Provent a Mite and your mite problem will be gone before you know it :)

[shaunyboy]

Well as it turns out I made a mistake getting him. Not only does he have RI but he also has mites. NEVER have I had them. When I first brought him home I had him on the other side of the house away from my tarantulas and other snakes. Now I got this problem. I swear I did not see them until I put him back in his enclosure yesterday. I seen little black dots the size off pepper grain moving on my hand. The good thing is I change clothing and scrub down before I handle my other snakes until I know for sure that a new reptile is 100% healthy. I checked on my others and the mites have not spread to them. Im surprised in a way because I had some stuff in the same room with my new snake and put those items in my other room with my other collection. I really dont know what to do :-( Any advise will be helpfull. I've never had these issues before and I always check for problems before getting a new reptile. I must not have checked hard enough.

you need to treat your whole collection mate,.especially as you moved stuff into your collection room,that were quarantined with the snake with mites

mite eggs are very easy to transfer,even a trip to a reptile shop,can have you bringing mite eggs home on your clothes,hair,etc,it will take time for the eggs to hatch,so don't be alarmed if mites show up later in other tanks

provent a mite is the way to go.....

use once mites dead,it also remains active for 30 days,so its great for preparing quarantine tanks for new arrivals,1 can treats a lot of tanks

re RI
it's best to keep that snake quarantined until 100% healthy,i don't go near my collection on days i work with sick snakes,i wait until the next day after i've showered and changed clothes

mites and a RI are easy to treat,so please don't worry too much

cheers shaun

[Terranaut]

Who did you get this snake from??
Wow. As said above consider all of your snakes to have mites and treat your entire collection. Provent a mite is great but if not available get Nix at your local drug store. There is another thread (about 100 actually) about how to kill mites.

[Jim9075]

Who did you get this snake from??
Wow. As said above consider all of your snakes to have mites and treat your entire collection. Provent a mite is great but if not available get Nix at your local drug store. There is another thread (about 100 actually) about how to kill mites.

NIX safe to use? How can I apply it? I can get the other stuff but ill need to have it shipped.

[shaunyboy]

imo its worth getting,a couple of cans of provent a mite shipped,i keep a can for emergencys,its that good mate

as far as i know,most other treatments require REPEAT treatments...

with provent a mite you treat once,then relax,as all the mites are taken care of

cheers shaun

[Jim9075]

imo its worth getting,a couple of cans of provent a mite shipped,i keep a can for emergencys,its that good mate

as far as i know,most other treatments require REPEAT treatments...

with provent a mite you treat once,then relax,as all the mites are taken care of

cheers shaun

Amazing! Nerver heard of it. Going to order some asap. Last time I studied into mites was a couple years ago and heard they were extremely hard to get rid of.

[Terranaut]

imo its worth getting,a couple of cans of provent a mite shipped,i keep a can for emergencys,its that good mate

as far as i know,most other treatments require REPEAT treatments...

with provent a mite you treat once,then relax,as all the mites are taken care of

cheers shaun

Agreed but Nix is 1/4 the cost and in places like where I live it's everywhere. PAM imho is better for enclosures but I bathed my snakes in a Nix solution and all of the mites came off right away. Not 2 or 3 days later when PAM kills them. So Nix is cool to use on the snake directly. Both have their bennefits. If I could get Nix today but PAM later I would treat today with Nix then spray the enclosures after my PAM came. Mites truly bother me. They need to go immediately once spotted. Not treating then to me would be like finding 5 or 6 leaches on a person and thinking " ahh I'll wait until my shipment is here to remove them" :) I cured my mites long ago but have everything ready to go if I ever see one of those little buggers again. I have both Nix and PAM on standby ;)

[mymichelle12472]

I have 6 carpet pythons and 2 of mine are 7 and a half feet when they are going to shed and there cagei always mist mine Lightly 3 times a day during there shed . I've only had problems with weeping bc they were in a all glass cage or if there cage was not getting enough humidity . Anything below 30% humidity will cause them to weeze as soon as u bump up the humidity it will go away I never let my cages get below 80% during the day at night u can drop it down to 75% I have mine on controllersamd dimmers . Once he has shed mist him lightly every other day also have a humidity and heat Gun to check there levels everyday at least 2 times a day . I have 3 rescues that came from very bad owners that left them in very bad conditions . Carpets can act very nervous especially if u just got them they hiss, weeze , rattle there tails (shake) sit in water for days sometimes obviously if they are sitting in water no need to mist them ..one of my big girls that I rescued who is 7 and half feet was feed 3 jumbo rats a week and he kept her in a plastic tote the size of a cat litter box she was so fat her belly Hung down had no clue what it was like to be in a cage where she could stretch her body and move she filled up the whole entire tote coiled up . Her name is Athena 3 years old and got her to shed in one piece stopped her weezing with misting her kept her off feed for a few weeks bc she was struggling to digest this food in her stomach she was miserable scared she would breath so heavy when u went near her cage that she would lift her body up off the floor of the cage I don't think she ever seen people other than just being fed in her tote . Very sad case of neglect so I think I have slit of knowledge when it comes to Carpets . My vet said everything I did was awesome . If it is respiratory problems chill out with the humidity for sure its common sense u know if u had a cold would u want to be wet ? Nope ..lol also one of my rescues did come with mites no fun either I used olive oil basically bath him in it to suffocate the mites but its a pain in the *** to do but it worked and never infected any of my other 13 snakes luckily lol . Also clean out there cages with vinegar and water solution. In a spray bottle ( without the snake in the cage lol) go back over it with a spray bottle of water also I recommend using white paper towels after to see if he still has mites . I also only use newspaper in my cages not colored glossy paper just black and white paper I believe anything else will dry your snake out and cause weezing and respiratory problems also try adding a plant in the cage as well I keep pathos and palms in there . Sorry if I confused anyone with my earlier post ..I guess I didn't explain it to well lol

[Lankyrob]

Could you please type your posts with punctuation and paragraphs? It makes it almost impossible to read as a mass of print :)

[Terranaut]

Sounds like my big female. Raised in the same 24" cube all her life. Hissed and stuck at the pillow case she was in on the front seat going home. Punched me a few times but now with proper care she climbs onto me to get off grass(she hates to be on dry grass outside) and when I open her viv she uses me as a ladder to climb out. I solved any humidity issues by building a dedicated reptile room and keep the room at 50% I mist my ball python once a week and my day gecko twice daily. Other than that I fill the humidifier as needed which is never in the summer and daily in the dead of winter. No ri's. No shed issues nothing with any of my snakes or lizards. My beardies stay dry because I use heat lamps with open top glass vivs for them. Sorry if you meant something else but you did just tell a guy with potential ri and low temps to go mist his snake 3 times a day. And that was not good nor would it be if he went and did it. I had to say what I said and hope the op did not mist his carpets before checking into ri and raising the heat.

[mymichelle12472]

Sounds like my big female. Raised in the same 24" cube all her life. Hissed and stuck at the pillow case she was in on the front seat going home. Punched me a few times but now with proper care she climbs onto me to get off grass(she hates to be on dry grass outside) and when I open her viv she uses me as a ladder to climb out. I solved any humidity issues by building a dedicated reptile room and keep the room at 50% I mist my ball python once a week and my day gecko twice daily. Other than that I fill the humidifier as needed which is never in the summer and daily in the dead of winter. No ri's. No shed issues nothing with any of my snakes or lizards. My beardies stay dry because I use heat lamps with open top glass vivs for them. Sorry if you meant something else but you did just tell a guy with potential ri and low temps to go mist his snake 3 times a day. And that was not good nor would it be if he went and did it. I had to say what I said and hope the op did not mist his carpets before checking into ri and raising the heat.
Ok ok... I'm sorry ..wow !! He said when he took him out of the water he had bubbles coming out of his nose . If he is still having bubbles coming out of his nose then obviously he is sick . Obviously your not going to mist him . All of my snakes are in critter condos with heat and humidity controllers in my opinion when snakes are in there shedding life if they don't have enough humidity they will weeze . So if no other symptoms other feeling dry and scaly then I help them out by misting lightly .. also I put my hand in there cage to feel if its not getting enough humidity or heat . Also if my snake was sick like that I would be giving my vet a call ASAP . Everyone is misunderstanding my post lol...

[mymichelle12472]

Also I'm using my cell phone not a computer so my text get Really screwed up !! Haha I didn't realize how bad it was til I went back and red my post ..:):):)

[mymichelle12472]

Mist a carpet 3 times a day with ri?? Quick way to kill this snake.
Up the temps and keep the humidity around 50%. Carpets are not ball pythons and do not need much humidity. If the snake has ri then even less humidity is desired. Bubbles you can see is usually bad bad news if it is an ri. If it was just water it will go away right away. I would check for mites and check again for bubbles today. Raise the temps and keep the humidity down. Pull the water dish out for a day. If you still have signs of ri Monday go see a vet. Just do not mist it. Thats just silly.

First of all I never said he is like a ball python ! Second of all if u red my post correctly I never said to mist him if he is sick !! Seriously read my post and tell me. I said mist him While he is sick !!

[shaunyboy]

Amazing! Nerver heard of it. Going to order some asap. Last time I studied into mites was a couple years ago and heard they were extremely hard to get rid of.

all you do with PROVENT A MITE is.....

1.put snakes and water bowls in a seperate room from the tanks your treating

2.take out and spray all the tank contents

3.spray the tanks

4.open a window in the tank room and leave them for 2 hours,this allows fumes to disapate

5.wash water bowls with hot soapy water

6.return snakes and water bowls into tanks

JOB DONE

DO NOT SPRAY THE SNAKES OR WATER BOWLS

cheers shaun

[shaunyboy]

Agreed but Nix is 1/4 the cost and in places like where I live it's everywhere. PAM imho is better for enclosures but I bathed my snakes in a Nix solution and all of the mites came off right away. Not 2 or 3 days later when PAM kills them. So Nix is cool to use on the snake directly. Both have their bennefits. If I could get Nix today but PAM later I would treat today with Nix then spray the enclosures after my PAM came. Mites truly bother me. They need to go immediately once spotted. Not treating then to me would be like finding 5 or 6 leaches on a person and thinking " ahh I'll wait until my shipment is here to remove them" :) I cured my mites long ago but have everything ready to go if I ever see one of those little buggers again. I have both Nix and PAM on standby ;)

i hear what your saying regards nix and you like to act straight away

that said....

the second you spray tanks with mites,provent a mite starts killing the mites,it then waits on the eggs hatching and kills the mites as they leave the egg

what i like about provent a mite is...

once you treat the tanks,you know the mites are sorted out,because theres NO need for repeat treatments

as far as i know,ALL other methods require more than 1 treatment and putting chemicals directly onto the snake

i'm not keen on putting chemicals directly onto my snakes mate (just my way of thinking,i'm not being cheeky)

cheers shaun

[Lankyrob]

Ok ok... I'm sorry ..wow !! He said when he took him out of the water he had bubbles coming out of his nose . If he is still having bubbles coming out of his nose then obviously he is sick . Obviously your not going to mist him . All of my snakes are in critter condos with heat and humidity controllers in my opinion when snakes are in there shedding life if they don't have enough humidity they will weeze . So if no other symptoms other feeling dry and scaly then I help them out by misting lightly .. also I put my hand in there cage to feel if its not getting enough humidity or heat . Also if my snake was sick like that I would be giving my vet a call ASAP . Everyone is misunderstanding my post lol...


You have hygrometers and temp probes in your fingers??? COOL!!! :)

[shaunyboy]

You have hygrometers and temp probes in your fingers??? COOL!!! :)


wish we could get fingers like that over here Rob

that would be cool:cool: :);)

cheers shaun

[Jim9075]

Well it seems I was wrong about RI. Ever since I raised the humidity levels he has stopped the weezing sound and no more bubbles. I think the bubbles came from excessive soaking because of the mites. Im waiting on my provent a mite and just useing mite off for now. He has just went into pre-shead last night too. So hopefully after useing the provent a mite everything will be 100% :-)

[Terranaut]

Do you know what your humidity levels are?

[Jim9075]

Do you know what your humidity levels are?

Well it was in the 40's. However my hygrometer was broke so it was giving me false readings of 60-70 percent (go figure) and I used another one and it said it was 45%. So I used a wet towel and it made it rise. So he stopped the RI symptoms. Im also thinking it is pre shed also. He is in a glass enclosure for now and I cant wait to put him in my snake room so I dont need to use lamps to keep a good ambient air temp. I picked up some NIX at the drug store today and followed instructions on applying it to everything and my carpet. Nix seems to kill mites quickly and im very happy with the results. I got my carpet from a pet store where I live and a guy their breeds them. I never buy from a pet store and im regretting it. However this carpet is extremely laid back and excepts rats with no problem. Im still very happy with him so he is worth the extra effort to treat everything.

[Terranaut]

Thats all good news. Be sure to re Nix everything in 2-3 weeks and it should all be good.
45% humidity should have been fine. Heat lamps burn off moisture at an alarming rate if the enclosure has an open top. My beardie tank falls off to 20% ish in a room that is usually 60%+. I keep it at 50 minimum. Glad you didn't spend a fortune on a"24hr vet".
Good luck!!

[Jim9075]

Thats all good news. Be sure to re Nix everything in 2-3 weeks and it should all be good.
45% humidity should have been fine. Heat lamps burn off moisture at an alarming rate if the enclosure has an open top. My beardie tank falls off to 20% ish in a room that is usually 60%+. I keep it at 50 minimum. Glad you didn't spend a fortune on a"24hr vet".
Good luck!!

I try not to jump to conclusions on diagnosing a problem so I go and figure out solutions before taking final steps as in seeing a vet. Could not find a 24hr vet for reptiles and the vet I take my herps to is always closed on weekends. At least everything turned out good. Thank's for all the advise everyone! :-)

[GUITARZAN509]

they wil give it a shot of baytril and he'll be good to go