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Allergies or funny breathing?

B

brandi83

New member
Hello everyone!

I'm new to the site but so glad to have found it. I have two male (i think) corn snakes; Reef is about 6 years old and Slinky is about 20 years old. My question is about some odd behavior I've recently noticed from Reef.

He's always been a good eater and quite precocious when handling him...nothing ever dangerous. However, I tried to feed him a couple of days ago and he nearly ran away from the mouse. I tried introducing later and he did the same thing. Not only that, but now he's rather docile when handling him and I'm hearing some strange breathing sounds from him. It sounds like a little sneeze, but when examining him, it looks like he's blowing air out of his mouth because the side of his mouth flare out when he makes the sound. It's not consistent either. I've never heard this before from him so I'm not sure what it is. Allergies? A cold or something? Or a phase?

I've not made any changes to his tank and there are no signs of mites or anything else.

Any thoughts?????
 
It could possibly be the start of a URI (upper respiratory infection). I would get him to a vet before it gets any worse. I've seen snakes that started out that way and got to the point where it had mucous in its eyes and nose. Getting it started on a broad spectrum antibiotic as soon as the symptoms start is best. Hope this helps.
 
Tinkerbeller87 said:
It could possibly be the start of a URI (upper respiratory infection). I would get him to a vet before it gets any worse. I've seen snakes that started out that way and got to the point where it had mucous in its eyes and nose. Getting it started on a broad spectrum antibiotic as soon as the symptoms start is best. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Correction, Mouth and nose. Not eyes. sorry.
 
That does sound like an upper respiratory infection (URI). These can be a minor annoyance but they can quickly become serious for snakes as they only have one fully functional lung. Don't panic though; it's treatable, especially if you've caught it early.

This being Memorial Day weekend, you may not be able to get to a vet right away. Here are some things to do in the meantime to help Reef get better, or at the very least to help keep him from getting worse. Make sure that his viv is as dry as you can get it. No humid hides, no extra moisture, and a very small water dish with a small mouth. Baby food jars work well in this situation. Wash his water dish and give him fresh water daily. Raise the temperature in his viv to the upper 80s, near but not over 90 F. This helps him to fight the infection.

URIs are contagious, just like a cold for humans. It's likely that Slinky is already exposed since they live in the same household, but try to minimize his exposure from this point. It's best if they're in separate rooms. Wash your hands and arms thoroughly after dealing with Reef; better yet, make tending to him the last thing you do before you shower or bathe.

Leave Reef alone except for his daily water changes. Best of luck, and let us know how things go. If you have any other questions, please ask.
 
hi there! sorry i haven't updated anyone on this thread lately, but here's that latest on Reef.

i'm not sure if i've mentioned that we found out that Reef is a girl. during the time she was doing this funny breathing, she was also quite overactive, recklessly pushing herself around the terrarium to the point that i was afraid she was going to hurt herself. well, it turns out she was looking for a place to lay and, having done that and recovered and then had her first meal....she seems all right now.

so....we're thinking that the breathing might just have been labored due to her state of being. we thought she was a male but now knowing that she's a female and the period of time she was in, i think the breathing was part of that.

thanks for everyone's help and concern. i really appreciate it because i had no idea what was going on!!!
 
Did Reef lay slugs (infertile eggs) or does she live in the same viv with Slinky & lay fertile eggs?
 
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