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Another Coughing Corn

N

Nightwingvyse

New member
Hi. I'm new here to this forum and a little overdue.

I've had my lavender corn, Digit, for about a year and a half now. He/she's almost two years old in total and quite a character.

Over the last couple months I've had concerns though, as Digit has been occasionally making small coughing sounds. Reading that this could be the onset of a repository infection, I've been careful to regulate the temperatures in the Viv. Cold side is at room temp (obviously), warm side between 26 and 28 Celsius depending on how I set the thermostat on the heatmat. I keep the water bowl on the cool side to minimize evaporation and prevent high humidity.

The 'coughs' are short little puffs that I've only ever noticed when I have Digit out of the Viv. More recently, I've noticed that the 'coughs' seem to almost always be when I first pick him/her up. Yesterday, there were five in a row over the space of a couple of minutes, before they stop completely. I had a check in the mouth yesterday and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, as I've heard that symptoms can develop in the mouth..

If there's any relevance, Digit seems to adjust its mandibles every now and again, opening wide for a moment and moving the jaw around, which I've never known my friends corn to do.

I've procrastinated about going to a vet, partly because I don't know the best local place to go. Can anyone shed light on this? Thanks in advance.
 
first of all your snake's little puffs could be sneezes. And this could be caused by dust or other irritants tickling her nose and throat just like the things that make us sneeze.

However, it could also mean a Respiratory Infection.

You stated your temps were room temp on the cool side, and between 26 and 28 on the warm side. That's probably too cold in my opinion.

"Room Temp" does not tell us much. Some people keep their houses/apartments warmer or cooler than others.

For the purpose of housing a corn snake I would suggest a "Cool Side temp" of about 23, and a "Warm Side" of 30 (that's 74F and 86F).

If your snake does have a Respiratory Infection, your vet will administer antibiotics, and tell you to raise your cage temps a few degrees. So you might as well go ahead and get the temps right, and see if that helps. If she keeps sneezing and coughing, take her to the vet.
 
They could be sneezes, honestly it seems like it might just be something some do. My adult male sunny does the same thing. He puffs sometimes, and makes popping noises with his mouth. Needless to say I was really concerned, I asked people on multiple forums, and breeders. The conclusion I came to is if they have bubbles in their mouth or blowing out their nose; also if they stop eating its probably a RI. I switched the bedding to newspaper and he doesn't do it as often. So it may very well be a sneeze, little cough, I don't think anyone really has a straight forward answer. 5 months ago I picked up an amber bloodred and she was doing the same thing, at the show. Could it just be something they do?
 
:welcome:

If it really is a respiratory issue then there are too many causes to even guess what the cure is.
When you see bubbles and fluid in the mouth then whatever is causing the respiratory issue is well advanced.
Popping or clicking while breathing normally would indicate a respiratory issue. Sneezing could be stuck shed in the nasal passages amongst other things.
Better to get to a Vet while it is in a easier treatable condition.

Welcome to the forum :)
 
BLKfly said:
They could be sneezes, honestly it seems like it might just be something some do. My adult male sunny does the same thing. He puffs sometimes, and makes popping noises with his mouth. Needless to say I was really concerned, I asked people on multiple forums, and breeders. The conclusion I came to is if they have bubbles in their mouth or blowing out their nose; also if they stop eating its probably a RI. I switched the bedding to newspaper and he doesn't do it as often. So it may very well be a sneeze, little cough, I don't think anyone really has a straight forward answer. 5 months ago I picked up an amber bloodred and she was doing the same thing, at the show. Could it just be something they do?
Click to expand...

Hi BLKfly! How ya been?

I agree, it COULD be something they do. But why wait till it gets worse or even worse, till it's TOO LATE? :eek1: That said, I wouldn't just wait till there are some other serious symptoms present.

Not saying that Digit is actually ill Nightwingvyse. First thing I would do is check your husbandry skills. Besides the temps and humidity levels, what do you use for substrate? (When my Lilly was gravid and conducting excessive burrowing, she got some coconut bark impacted into her nostrils, causing her to make a clicking sound and puffing her throat up sporadically, both which are symptoms of an RTI, btw). Check everything out in Digit's environment first. Hopefully, it may turn out to be nothing serious. However, if your snake keeps this up after you've eliminated any other causes, it would definitely be worth a trip to a vet!

Just sayin'. :my2cents_01:
 
Hey axis1 I'm good, can't get my scaleless Anery stripe (Anubis) to eat yet buuut other than that ok... Yourself?
If you decide to go to a vet, just make sure you find a reliable one that actually cares about your snake. A lot of these places just want your money, so they will say its an RI even if it isn't. Definitely try changing the substrate and adjusting the temps first. My sunny buddy has been puffing or as my girl calls it proofing lol for years now and he is perfectly healthy. Hope you find out what's going on, digit is a cool name btw.
 
First of all, what sort of substrate do you have? If it is something dusty, try switching to paper towels for a little and see if that helps. The coughing may be sneezing from irritants. I also agree to raise the temps. If this continues though, I really think a vet visit is in order. Better for snake to get treated for a mild RI now then a serious infection in a month. I can't really recommend a vet since I am not in the UK, but just research for a vet with specialists in herps. Feel free to call a few and ask about their education, degrees and practices with snakes before you pick one. Good luck!
 
Hi all, thanks for all your input. Sorry for not Coming back to this earlier, I'd kept meaning to post.

Some of you have asked about the temperatures in the viv. The ambient temperature in my living room is usually about 18-20C. I have adjusted the thermostat on the heat mat to about 28C, which I don't usually set it all the way up to because the snake seems to keep away from it at higher temperatures, usually perching on one of the removable elevated shelves I installed to the back wall, so I tend to put it down a few degrees to make sure it's not too hot for it. Maybe the reason it seems hotter is because I've taped it down to a ceramic tile to prevent the snake from burrowing underneath it and burning itself, which I've known friends snakes to do.

Digit seems to still keep away from it now, but I've persevered with keeping the mat at the high 20's, and whether it's connected or not, I haven't noticed any more of the cough-sneeze-puff-whatevers. It has just shed a couple of days ago so I don't know if that's related at all (nice and clean shed as always, though a little more broken up than usual).

As for the substrate I use, I started off with some generic wood chippings that came standard when I bought everything with the snake. I quickly changed that to coconut husk and have used that ever since. I also at point point ended up with a kind of substrate that resembled the kind of pieces of bark you'd find in a kid's play area, which I didn't like so I mixed it steadily into the coconut stuff until it was gone.
One thing I'll add is that I briefly stored the substrate in the shed outside for a while. Although it was completely sealed, it ended up with some condensation inside the bags from the moisture so I now keep it all inside again.

As for food, Digit has never, and I mean NEVER, turned down a meal. Never even hesitated. He'll strike at mice even when just about to go into shed, so appetite's never been a problem. He's even gone for my finger in a frenzy after feeding him once, letting go when he realized it wasn't edible. And yes I do feed him enough, so I don't know why he treats every meal like it's his first in months.

So all I'll say is that I haven't really noticed any more of it since making the post, so maybe it is I fact a temperature thing, or possibly just intermittent crap in the nostrils.
 
Nightwingvyse said:
. . . So all I'll say is that I haven't really noticed any more of it since making the post, so maybe it is I fact a temperature thing, or possibly just intermittent crap in the nostrils.
Click to expand...

Hi Nightwingvyse! How ya been?

Glad to hear you seemingly dodged a bullet (or should I say Digit has?). Either way, I guess that's the best outcome you could have hoped for. I wouldn't wait that long should Digit ever display symptoms of an RTI in the future. However, as Rossi & Rossi (1996) discuss in What's Wrong With My Snake, a respiratory problem may not even be an actual respiratory problem but an environmental problem (p. 113) which should be assessed and ruled out upon the first sign or symptom which may indicate the presence of any type of issue which may be affecting a snake's ability to breathe. My own gravid female (Lilly), when seeking a place to lay her eggs, was burrowing excessively, despite the placement of a laybox, and the presence of residual powder from the coconut husk substrate actually became impacted in her nostrils causing her to make a CLICKING sound and also simultaneously PUFFING her throat out like Linda Blair in the Exorcist (some scary stuff, but I didn't THINK she was possessed!). In any case, the sounds & the puffing went away after she finally shed, which was WAY AFTER laying a large clutch of eggs.

Rossi's point of checking the environment, in retrospect, was a very good one. However, once that is done if the snake is STILL clicking and you haven't discovered a potential cause, it might be better NOT to wait until an infection develops to the point where antibiotics MIGHT or MIGHT NOT work.

Just sayin'. :my2cents_01:
 
Glad to hear digit is ok, just keep an eye on when he sheds. Because he may still do the puffing or crackling again. If he does, at least you can confirm the reason for it.
 
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