My snake is about 8 months old (I got 3 months ago). About 6 weeks ago, I noticed that I could hear a very faint popping noise coming from his head when I was holding him - and also occasionally a fast outgassing noise (I wonder if this is what people call ‘sneezing’ in snakes but not sure). Then, later that week I noticed him hanging out with his mouth slightly open. So… I took him to the vet. She put him on a 3 week course of antibiotics (Ceftazidime, intramuscular every 3 days). That finished two weeks ago. I thought for a while that that was helping but the popping and ‘sneezing/outgassing’ hasn’t really gone away. Today I found him again hanging out with his mouth slightly open (see picture).
He has been eating and pooping fine and putting on weight. His temperatures are steady at 84, humidity is 40%.
So, what do you all think is the next step? I’m guessing another vet visit, but given that we just finished giving him antibiotics, I’m wondering if anyone knows what else the vet or I can do for him.
Back to the vet, for sure. He may need a longer course of antibiotics or a different antibiotic entirely. If it’s fungal or viral, another type of treatment may be required.
Welcome to the community, @dresbigmoney. @noodlehaus is right, your little guy needs some additional meds. In the meanwhile, you might bump up his heat a bit. A little extra warmth can be helpful when they’re fighting off a problem. Temps around 86-87 give a tiny metabolic nudge without getting into the danger zone. One other thing, if there’s any substrate in his enclosure, you could remove that and go with paper towels or newsprint. Nearly every sort of substrate can produce some degree of dust/particulate matter, which can be an irritant to the respiratory tract.
He’s a cute snake. Hopefully he’ll get over this challenge soon. RIs can be really stubborn. Good for you for paying attention and getting him the care he needs.
Ok, so thank you both, and I did I read about turning up the temps a bit. The thing I noticed though is that any time it starts approaching 85 on the hot side he tends to go to the cool side and is therefore colder overall… The vet also said to get him an overhead heat source for a couple hours a day (most of his heat is from under the tank), which I did, but again, he runs away from it when its on, even though I keep it pretty cool… ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Sounds like you’re trying all the right things. I had a female corn once who would get a persistent RI, but only when she was in shed. Other times, she was fine. Do you notice any cycling of worse/better symptoms? Or is it the same all the time?
@snakes_of_shadowlake Well, I don’t think there’s much cycling going on - I don’t think the (very faint) popping noise every really went completely away - and he just went through a shed maybe 3 weeks ago. I’m afraid to ask, but did your snake get better, worse or stay the same over time?
Get your vet, when you see them, to check the nostrils for debris. I have a python that makes chirping noises that appear when blue but go away after sloughing. Looking at the skin ,I see a small deformity in the nostril.
Checking for anything in the nostrils is a good thing, as @gabonica1 mentioned. Some of them will breathe with a bit of whistle or pop when they’re in shed. This doesn’t usually cause them to sit around with their mouth open as you describe yours doing, though. That’s definitely an indication that something is wrong, not just normal shed noise.
