Kobi

[Kobi Baby]

Ey-yi-yi, Kobi is trying to drive me insane!
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So she's been on a feeding strike for months now, but isn't loosing any weight, so whatever. She's just stubborn. But I took her out last night, and when she would breath, it sounded like there was a blockage in her nostrils. First thought: RI! Oh no!! But then, it occurred to me, that she hasn't shed since October. So I looked at her nostrils, and they looked "small" .... probably because she's due for a shed....maybe soon...but she hasn't gone into blue yet. This has happened before, and when she shed, her nostrils "opened up" and the noise went away. But also, last time, she had a "bugger" or some "nostril shed" in there -- dunno what it was but it was due to the shed. Not this time. So I'm like, okay...do I wait for her to shed and see if that fixes it? Because I think that's what it is. Or do I take off work, take her to the vet, and be safer than sorry. Sheesh. Generally, I would take her to the vet in a heartbeat, but I just don't think its RI. Humidity is 40% (I usually mist daily or every other day unless she is in shed, then I mist heavily every day), ambient is 87 (a little high, but its a big cage, and the thermo is near the warm side), Surface temps -- basking 95.5F, cool around 80F. I checked her mouth briefly, and it looked normal from what I could see (she didn't want me in there! lol).
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So if I take her to the vet, what exactly is he going to do? I mean, how would he check to know if its an RI? Cause I really don't think it is, but I may take her just in case.
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Also, anybody else's BP's do this when they're due for a shed?
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Thanks,
KB

	Ball Python

[ophiophilia]

My Ball Python whistles when he's near a shed. Sometimes he'd even take a quick deep breath and you would see his entire body just jump (it used to scare the crap out of me when I first got him)

He hasn't done the quick breath in a while though.

HE ALSO WILL NOT EAT. He's not losing weight but he REFUSES to eat. Whenever I show him a rat, he comes out of his hide, sniffs it, looks interested but then figures "HAY, the cage is open. I can come out." He then becomes occupied with trying to get out and always ends up SITTING on his rat wherever it is.

askdkajsndjansdjn I want to kick him out the window sometimes.

Good Luck with Kobi.

[trendkill]

Yeah I would hold off on the vet. Respiratory infections are bacterial and have to be picked up somewhere. If the temps in Kobi's cage are that warm, if all your other critters are healthy, and if you haven't been handling other reptiles (friend's, pet stores, etc).. it's likely not a respiratory infection.

If you DO take her in, the vet will check for fluid in the mouth, feel/listen for it in the lungs, and some will take a swab of the inside of the mouth and test the sample for present bacteria.

To be on the safe side, keep the temps up a bit, and drop the humidity (unless she starts to go into a shed cycle). No misting.. bacteria, if there is any, will thrive in a more humid environment.

[Kobi Baby]

Alrighty then, it sounds like the consensus is what I thought I just was wondering about if other people's BP's did it too.
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The humidity is already low (40%), but I may bump the temps up a little tiny bit.
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I know that she didn't come into contact with any other snakes, cause she doesn't come out that often. I take her out about once a week, and when I take a snake out, its the only one that comes out that day (due to having a lack of free time). Hands are sanitized before and after handling, and no snake ever gets in anyone else's cage. Also, she hasn't been around anyone besides me and my fiance since October..maybe early Nov, and neither of us have handled other reptiles other than my own, but that goes back to only one coming out per day.
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All signs point to it being shed related, I just wanted second opinions.
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Thanks all

	Ball Python

[Kobi Baby]

Originally Posted by ophiophilia

My Ball Python whistles when he's near a shed. Sometimes he'd even take a quick deep breath and you would see his entire body just jump (it used to scare the crap out of me when I first got him)

He hasn't done the quick breath in a while though.

HE ALSO WILL NOT EAT. He's not losing weight but he REFUSES to eat. Whenever I show him a rat, he comes out of his hide, sniffs it, looks interested but then figures "HAY, the cage is open. I can come out." He then becomes occupied with trying to get out and always ends up SITTING on his rat wherever it is.

askdkajsndjansdjn I want to kick him out the window sometimes.

Good Luck with Kobi.

Sounds like our BP's are friggin' twinkies! LOL ....in their stubborn-ish-ness anyway
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Have you tried offering him mice? I am going to offer Kobi a p/k mouse tomorrow. I hate to do that, but she hasn't eaten since mid-September .... silly snake!
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Good luck with yours as well!

	Ball Python

[JuliusSqueezer]

Temps are all way too hot. I know it's steamy hot in Africa where they come from but that's above ground in the searing sun. Down in the burrows where ball pythons spend their days, it's rarely over 80 if that. Then at night when they come out to hunt, it's cool then too. They do NOT enjoy heat nor do they enjoy light. Get rid of all that heats except a little heat pad on one side and lose anything that shines light on them and they eat like champs. Ball pythons are typically resilient and forgiving (Idiot proof) so they manage to adapt to a wide variety of husbandry situations. If they were a little more fragile, perhaps someone would have written better care sheets. Unfortunately, they were poorly thought out from the begining and have been regurgitated for decades now and few people have ever dug in deep to what a Ball python really wants and needs to live a good life in captivity. Surviving has rarely been an issue...so merely surviving us is all they typically have to look forward to.

Humidity should be in the 50s on average. It can drop to near nothing as long as it doesn't stay there long. I mist with hot water and spike the humidity into the 70s-80s and let it drop. During shed, I'd keep it spiked as high as you can get it till after the shed.

Now I have a question. Has anyone ever witnessed a verified by Vet who actually ran cultures RI in a ball python? I've been doing rescue / rehab since the mid 80s. That equates to several hundred...maybe even over a thousand ball pythons that I've had in my care over the years. I've treated prolapses, supposed feeding problems, bad burns, crush injuries, rat bites...you name it but not a single respiratory infection of any kind with this species. I'm not saying it doesn't happen. I'm sure it does. But I've still never seen a ball python with an RI.

[Kobi Baby]

So the ambient needs to be no higher than 80? I know its a little high, but does it matter that the thermometer (digital) is on the warm end of the cage? The cage dims are 6w x 2d x 2h. So if it does matter what side the t-meter is on, then the cool side it probably closer to 80. The 80F surface temp on the cool side is above the hide, not below it. Under her hide its about 79-79.5.

Or were you saying that no surface temps should be over 80? If so, that seems a little low..

About the humidity, I always shoot for 55%, but when I noticed this, I let it drop to 40%. I keep the same misting routine as you described above, but use room temp water. Does it help the humidity last longer by using warm water? That's a good thing to know if it does!

Did any of your BP's ever make that noise when they were about to shed? A lot of BP's seem to do that from what I have gathered (which isn't that much...but still..haha)

Thanks for the info, JS. I'm not second guessing you, I just want to be sure I understand you clearly.
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PS. I use a radient heat panel, if that helps you answer any of my twenty-something questions lol.

	Ball Python