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Respiratory Problem

C

Cgal921

New member
Hi! I have a ghost corn snake named No Feet, and he/she is about 14 years old. He’s been having signs of respiratory problems, such as loud bursts of air, yawning, holding his head up, and when it gets bad he makes a “squeak” sound and doesn’t eat. I also notice he rubs his head a lot whenever he moves, but it doesn’t look like he has any stuck shed—he’s done this for years. He has no signs of discharge. He went to the vet once a few years ago and received two shots for a respiratory infection. It didn’t work as the problem didn’t fully go away. A year later he received another set of two shots and it also did not work. I took him to the vet again and they aren’t sure of the problem. Does anybody have recommendations before xrays and blood tests are performed?
He is about 6 feet long, currently lives in about a 70 gallon enclosure with the cool side at about 75°, the middle about 80°, and the hot side 85°-90°. I try and keep his humidity from 40-60, but sometimes it drops below 40. The vet recommended paper bedding to reduce dust, so that’s what I have now. His diet consists of small frozen rats/adult mice, with a powder supplement sometimes added.

As a separate question, I’m not quite sure if this is a problem or not. But sometimes he’ll have these random full body “spasms” or “twitches.” The vet said it may or may not be related to sexual behavior, but they are not sure either. Does anybody have any ideas with this too? It happens almost every time after he eats, and sometimes just randomly throughout the month.
http://youtu.be/CmDCS4EBlbM

http://youtu.be/oRsqxLBbzfQ
 
For the good news, the twitching is definitely in reaction to "it's another snake!"

For the respiratory issues, your first go to should be a culture and PCR. If this is bacterial, the antibiotics you've used may not have been effective against that particular organism. I've also never dealt with a bacterial URI that was only two injections of antibiotics. Usually it's like... 7 to 10 injections 2 or 3 days apart. If it's a virus, antibiotics are completely useless anyways.

That said, I have had 2 snakes show persistent URI signs without actually having a URI. Both had injuries to their mouths, and in turn their sinuses. One had been bit by a rat in the face before entering my care, the other had a bad case of mouth rot before entering my care.
 
Makes sense—thank you!

I was just about to feed him and he accidentally got some bedding stuck on his mouth. While he was getting it out (he’s fine now) I took a video of the inside of his mouth. Is it normal for them to have some mucus in their mouth, or does this seem like it’s excessive? http://youtu.be/op6DS2-FM_Q
 
Makes sense—thank you!

I was just about to feed him and he accidentally got some bedding stuck on his mouth. While he was getting it out (he’s fine now) I took a video of the inside of his mouth. Is it normal for them to have some mucus in their mouth, or does this seem like it’s excessive? http://youtu.be/op6DS2-FM_Q
 
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