URGENT HELP NEEDED, sick baby albino

[scorpion fan]

I have a baby Albino (red) corn snake, and for some reason, it keeps making a clicking or almost popping sound.. constantly about every 5 seconds. should i be worried? or is this normal? any ideas would help a ton.

the last substrate was those little flat 5mm by 5mm wood squares. so i completely emptied the aquarium, cleaned and sanitized it ( antibacterialized ), replaced the wood pellets with new T-Rex brand aspen bed. sprayed lightly on the wood with water to lower dust particles. cleaned and sanitized all items within the aquarium. replaced water dish with newer one ( cleaned and sanitized as well). think this will help?? i really hope so. cause this really worries me! if anyone has anything else they can add.. anything at all.. please please do so. need some serious help here. (it's my first snake ) and it's still a baby. don't wanna lose her!

scorpion fan

[PtDnsr]

If I remember correctly, making noise is one of the symptoms of a respiratory infection. Can you give us other symptoms? Is his mouth open, does he have trouble breathing, is there any mucus coming from his nose, how long has this been going on, how big is he, what's he eating...? If he does have an RI your best bet might be to bring him to the vet. I'm not an expert in dealing with illness by any means, so hopefully someone with experience will jump in soon. But like I said, the more information the better.

~Katie

[CornCrazy]

Clicking noises are one of the symptoms of a respiratory infection. What temps do you house your snake at? What's the humidity level?

[Grima]

Raise the temp. a couple of degrees.
Maybe the viv is too cold for her. It sounds like a respiratory infection or a cold. It can also be a little piece of the last shed, stuck in the nostril.
But get her warmed up, and if it's not getting better in a couple of hours, you should consider calling the vet.
This is my opinion :)
Good luck!

[Tracee]

If it is repiratory and you've caught it early, you should increase the temperature (this apparently helps the snake fight the germs) and make sure the viv isn't too humid, as a dry environment is better at this time. It sounds like she's on her own, but if not separate her from other snakes and try not to disturb her too much while she's recovering.

If the condition doesn't improve take your amel ;) to the vet, or if possible someone who knows a lot about corns and has dealt with these problems before. Hopefully they can help treat her without the cost :). Good luck, keep us posted.

[CornCrazy]

Don't you think we should find out what the temps are before telling him to raise them? I am very hesitant to give that advice without knowing what the husbandry situation is.

[MegF.]

Another possibility is that the snake might be ready to shed. I find that my amel especially makes odd crackling or popping sounds just before shed. I've even raised the temps in my viv to 90 for a while when I thought it was an R.I. Now I know that's what he does.

[Tracee]

Yes, of course you're absolutely right - I was careful to put 'If it is respiratory..' before offering advice. Let's hope it is just preparing to shed and isn't sick at all then, thanks for the input Meg (bet that scared you the first few times!).

[MegF.]

It did make me gulp for a bit! I had never heard him make those sounds before, and sometimes it sounded like a sneeze. I was checking his nose...listening.....poor guy. Probably wondering what the hell was wrong with me! He did seem to enjoy the basking area though.......