Bubbly mouth

Jrich · 04-05-15, 03:04 PM

I purchased a beautiful ball python on March 8th from a reptile expo I attended. Before buying her I inspected around her mouth and for mites and she looked healthy. I also had her checked by the vet a few days after purchasing her.
So I've had her for almost a month now and have had a few meals in her, which she has pooped out already but she has refused for the past 2 weeks, which is ok too.
I've been letting her settle in so I haven't disturbed her much lately.
However today I opened her cage to get her out for some pictures and noticed she looked like she was about to shed. That's fine but upon closer inspection she had bubbles coming out of her mouth and she would slowly open and close her mouth with a little bit of squeak. Just great. Also you'll see that there's a dark rusty color smeared around the edge of her mouth. Now I don't know if that's dried blood or if it's stained from the reptibark because I lightly misted in there a few days ago on the reptibark. I really don't want to try rubbing around her mouth or her head right now.
Just a few notes on the enclosure. Hot spot is under tank heater that sits around 90-95 Fahrenheit that is plugged into a thermostat. Cool side is 70-73. Both are monitored by thermometer probes. She's in a plastic tub with many many ventilation holes at the top and a water dish large enough to soak herself.
I'm thinking respiratory infection but I could be wrong. I'm going to call the vet as soon as they open tomorrow to try to get her in. Right now if there's anything I can do for her please let me know or if you have any other information. Thanks all. This really ruined my day.

Jrich · 04-05-15, 03:04 PM

Here is the picture.

reptiledude987 · 04-05-15, 03:09 PM

Whats the humidity level in her tub?

Jrich · 04-05-15, 03:17 PM

The gauge on the thermometer that reads humidity says 60%. It's one of those cheap ones though so I'm not sure how accurate it is. I looked at her again and she's breathes really fast in out of her mouth with bubbles coming out. I really hope she makes it through the night so I can get her some help.

SnoopySnake · 04-05-15, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jrich

The gauge on the thermometer that reads humidity says 60%. It's one of those cheap ones though so I'm not sure how accurate it is. I looked at her again and she's breathes really fast in out of her mouth with bubbles coming out. I really hope she makes it through the night so I can get her some help.

If you're talking about the analog ones I would highly recommend going digital... The analog ones are notoriously inaccurate so your humidity quite possibly could be too high or too low. That could be the problem...Good luck, hope she gets better!

Jrich · 04-05-15, 03:27 PM

Thank you. Yes I need to do that. I'm wondering if I should remove all the bedding out of her enclosure and place papertowels down or put her in a different enclosure for the night. I really don't want to stress her out.

Jrich · 04-05-15, 05:03 PM

Here is a picture of the enclosure.

Sublimeballs · 04-05-15, 06:13 PM

Sounds like RI to me. Your cold side is nearing on 10 degrees to cold.

Jrich · 04-05-15, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sublimeballs

Sounds like RI to me. Your cold side is nearing on 10 degrees to cold.

Her cold side is about the same temperature that my apartment stays at throughout the year. I often find her on the cool side but that may because it's the only other hide when she wants to get away from the warm side. Do you know of any ways I could up the heat on the cool side in a plastic bin?

Chris72 · 04-06-15, 03:20 PM

Yup we like to keep cool side at 82-84.

Sounds like R.I.

See a vet, get a culture (gram +\-), then an Rx. (Fortaz, Baytril, etc)

Bump the temps, keep humidity high and see a vet.

MDT · 04-06-15, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris72

See a vet, get a culture (gram +\-), then an Rx. (Fortaz, Baytril, etc)

You mean....Get an Rx ONLY IF THE CULTURE SUPPORTS IT. Right?

Jrich · 04-06-15, 09:37 PM

Update: Seeing a vet tomorrow afternoon. She's still bubbling away. I hate to see her like this. Thanks for the input everyone.

Ballchris · 04-07-15, 12:48 AM

as far as the cool side you could do another heat mat and set it for the cool side temps, iv never done this but it may help i have read on other forums that some do this for there bins and of course get another t stat.

Chris72 · 04-07-15, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MDT

You mean....Get an Rx ONLY IF THE CULTURE SUPPORTS IT. Right?

Well of course. Less drugs are always better.

Brian from bhb does a vapor protocol that's very popular in Europe.

Wounding if anyone has tried that?

**millertime89** · 04-07-15, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris72

Well of course. Less drugs are always better.

Brian from bhb does a vapor protocol that's very popular in Europe.

Wounding if anyone has tried that?

Yes. If you're seeing bubbling at the mouth it probably won't be effective. It only works for RIs caught really early. Once you see the bubbles it's probably too late for that. I've tried it before when I saw bubbles on my old dwarf burm's mouth/nose and it helped for a little bit but it didn't actually get rid of the RI, just reduced the symptoms.