ohhhh nooooo (RI?)..UPDATED.

[danktat]

Thanks. First one of these I have had to deal with in years and never in a Suriname :( A few in retics from air being too dry in the beginning but, wow, wasn't looking for this (especially in one of my adults)

	Boa Constrictor Constrictor

[danktat]

Just tempe gunned the basking spot and the surface is 98.1°. That should be enough without risking burns. She isn't using it though.

[HaloedSatan]

If she went through her blue stage of shedding and hasnt shed yet it could cause the hissing sound. The skin starts to loosen up in the nasal cavity and makes it ever so much harder to breathe. My first boa did that once a long time ago. I thought it was a RI, but I didnt realize she was in shed.

I didnt see any mucous, but I still heard the wheezing. She opened her mouth every once and a while as well. Is she going to shed soon?

[danktat]

Doesn't appear to be. This sound is different than a normal gasp from clogged nostrils. The force behind it is intense and the body gets very tensed up. I will keep an eye on her and see what the vet says if this persists.

[HaloedSatan]

Hope it turns out all right.

[JuliusSqueezer]

No need really to lower humidity for a mild RI. If she has A LOT of congestion, you wouldn't want high humidity breaking that up. Raised temps to high 80s 24/7 (NO NIGHT DROP) will keep her natural immune system at optimal performance and she should be able to shake it on her own. If she gets worse or doesn't improve in a week, then she might need some Amikacin or Baytril to kick it but usually just the raised temps do the job if you catch it early.

And then of course, she may not be sick at all and just has an oncoming shed with loose skin in the nostrils. Gently squeeze her lips together and see if any bubbles come out her nostrils. Open her mouth and look for excess mucous. If you don't see anything coming out of the nose or mouth, she's probably just joshing ya

[JuliusSqueezer]

Originally Posted by danktat

Doesn't appear to be. This sound is different than a normal gasp from clogged nostrils. The force behind it is intense and the body gets very tensed up. I will keep an eye on her and see what the vet says if this persists.

oops...here I go again...walking away from the keyboard before I hit enter and missing posts. Sounds like she does have a little cold or something. good luck. If you do go to the vet and get some antibiotics...double check the dosage before actually giving it. Some of these vets give some pretty screwed up dosages and end up blowing kidneys.

I have no idea if you have treated RIs before so I'll just assume you haven't for fun and tell you what I do if I have to treat with antibiotics.

Amikacin, I do 5mg/kg IM initially and then half that (2.5 mg/kg) every 72 hours for a couple of weeks

Baytril, I start out at 10mg/kg and then 5mg/kg every 48 hours no more than 5 total injections or PO doses. If given PO, keep it at 10mg/kg for all doses and mix it with some ensure or something so it doesn't burn going down.

Both of these antibiotics will dehydrate and can cause kidney failure. Simply making sure she's well hydrated while being treated will prevent this.

Baytril injections are cytotoxic. This means tissue damage at the injection site is somewhere between possible and likely. If you cut it with a little injectable saline, you reduce the risk of "baytril burn" scars.

10mg of baytril per kg of snake does not mean that if your snake happens to weigh 2.2 pounds or exactly one Kg that you draw up 10mg / 10 CCs of baytril. Use this formula. weight times dosage divided by strength. Let's say your snake weighs .75 kg then you multiply that times the dosage (10)..you get 7.5. The baytril you will get comes in 22.7mg per ml strength. So 7.5 divided by 22.7 = .33 ...that's how many cc you draw up into the syringe. Using a little 1cc insulin syringe you would pull up about 3 and 1/2 10ths of a cc. If you are injecting and not doing oral, then you would give that dosage at first and then cut it in half for the next 4 shots given every other day.

Typically, if the dosage is less than a half CC, baytril burns don't happen...at least I've never burned one on such a low dose. It's the big ones that need like a whole cc or 2 that tend to get burns and need it diluted.

Very important to inject in the upper 1/2 of the snake's body towards the head. If you inject towards the tail half, you can blow the kidneys and kill your snake...slowly and painfully. Antibiotic shots cause local soreness. If you have ever had one...you know. SO be nice and rotate sides. Don't keep shooting in the same spot. That's mean There's a nice little back strap next to the spine. If you roll the skin up a bit with your thumb and inject under the skin at either side of the spine along lengthwise...that's a pretty good injection site...you can easily go IM there or SQ.

If your vet tries to tell you to give baytril daily...whack him with a hammer and tell him to please call Bayer (That's who makes it) and speak to someone about dosages for reptiles. cats and dogs don't easily overdose on it (It takes a LOT for them to OD) and they metabolize it much faster than reptiles do ....too many vets just try and pass off mammal doses...and they kill people's snakes.

[ssjsmits]

Whatever the case may be, it's a crappy situation to be in even if nothing becomes of it. Brett is probably going to put me on his "Ignore Lists" with all the PM's I send him regarding Fiona. :laugh:

[nickstone]

This might have absolutely nothing to do with whats going on with your boa, but its an experience I had. I heard one of my larger females making weird noises one nite, I had no idea what it was. The best thing I could compare it to is a really loud burp in a human, everytime the female made the noise she tensed up alot too. I asked somebody with many many more years experience than me, and he said he had heard of similar digestive issuse from too big of a meal or not proper temps to help digest, or possibly a combo of both. It had been a while since this female had eaten and also passed a stool. Temps were fine but I did remember the last meal I fed her was a good sized one. I bumped my temps up to low 90's, I also remebered how sometimes my smaller boas would use waterbowls as toilets so I bought a cat litter box and filled it 1/2 way with water. 10 mins after I put it in the cage she was trying to fit into it. I had to leave for a meeting and when I came back a few hours later she had left me a nice present in the litter box, ( maybe I should have taken a pic of the first litter box trained boa) I've never had and issue like this before or since, it just seemed like one of those weird things that boas do every now and then. Good luck,Nick

[brooksie2]

Oh no dank! My fingers are crossed for you. Keep us updated