First off before I begin, I will be taking this BP to the Vet on Monday and I have quarantined it. :yessir:

I just noticed tonight that my female Het Pied is somewhat weak...no firm tail grab, not at all head-shy (she's usually is), and one of her labial scales (beneath her nose) is dull and not shiny like the others. I opened her mouth and saw no bubbling or goo. I then literally stuck her nostril in my ear and heard a slight wheeze with each breath. Could this be an URI? What could cause it?

I should also mention that she's been off food for 3 months, and both her and my male Het Pied are terrible eaters. They are both '08s, yet only weigh around the 500 gram mark (Pied genetics?). She's at 560g and has only lost 40g over that 3 month period, and there hasn't been any sharp weight drop.

If this turns out to be an URI, is this going to cost me more than she's worth? I'm not trying to sound heartless, but I'm a realist. I'm just trying to get a handle on what to expect and be prepared if difficult decisions may need to be made. :(

The whistling could be an incomplete shed issue? Is she using her tongue normally? I have found that is the first signs that an RI is advancing -- they stop or greatly decrease tongue flicking.

Is she going into a shed? Sometimes going into a shed can mimic/present as the onset of an RI.

You may want to put her over some heat and keep and eye on her. I have found that if you get their BODY temp up to 88-90 degrees for 7--10 days in a HUMID tub -- it will knock down pretty much anything that is in there as far as RI's -- even BAD ones. Make sure she has plenty of water and almost wet paper towels as a substrate for humidity. I use a CLOSED rack for any RI animals.

An RI trip to the vet SHOULD run about $100 including medication.

I am sure others will offer advice. Good luck. :yes:

Not sure if it's an RI or not, could be the very beginning of one but a "slight wheeze" may not mean anything, if you listen closely enough to any snake closely enough they make a slight sound whenever they breath in through the tube in their mouth. I'd get it checked out if you're really worried about her though, or just do like Bill said. If it is an RI it's early enough that a little extra heat and humidity should clear it right up.

Thanks for the advice! I will get her temps and humidity up.

She is tongue-flicking normally, she just seems very lethargic compared to how she normally is (nervous at being handled at first). At first I didn't think the wheezing sound was an RI since I've seen many videos of BPs with RI's and the sound is very distinct and loud enough to be picked up by the camera's mic. Like I said, I have to literally stick her nose in my ear to hear it.

As for the labial scale dullness, I had another BP with the same thing last year, but it went away after the next shed and the snake is healthy.

What spooked me was the weakness she displayed. At first I thought maybe I just startlingly woke her, but after several minutes of handling she still seemed week. Does an RI victim loose weight quickly? She's been pretty steady for the last 2 months at 580g (give or take 10g).

Would you suggest getting her to a Vet ASAP, or wait a week with higher temps and humidity, and diligent monitoring? Put it this way, if this were your Het Pied female, what would you do?

Thanks again for the help! :yes:

I may be the wrong one to ask. :nono:

The last 2 animals that I took to my WELL RENOWN vet and put on medication -- DIED. These were important animals to my breeding projects -- one was VERY EXPENSIVE. :mad:

Since those mishaps I have treated any RI's with just heat and humidity. All recovered and NONE have relapsed. So you know what I would do if I were you. :yes: Most will tell you top take it to a vet -- and they would not incorrect according to common thought.

I am a "scoreboard guy". Until I lose a couple RI cases -- I will stick with my heat-humidity therapy. I am batting 1.000!!!

I'm keeping her quarantined in a smaller 15qt tub with plenty of heat (89-91) and humidity and she's favoring the heat tape end. I also limited the air-holes to 12 and covered the tub with a dark towel to keep the humidity and heat in and keep her from stressing out. I'm keeping a close eye on her and will see if this helps. She seemed a bit stressed for the first evening in this new tub and she tagged me when I opened it to check on her. She's usually easy to handle. :(

My concern is with the moist paper-towel substrate. Can she get any sort of scale rot from being moist like this all day and night? :dunno:

No. Paper towel is clean and she won't be there long enough to get scale rot. Good luck. You can put a few layers of dry on top of wet if you are concerned. Just do not let the tub go dry.

If you have a temp gun -- read her BODY heat temp. 89-91 is best -- that is body temp -- not tub temp. Good luck and let us know how it is going. :yes:

In my experience, snakes with URI generally don't lose body weight quickly, if at all, during treatment. An untreated URI will usually turn to pneumonia and prove fatal before much weight loss occurs. And if treated, they are usually gone within 2 weeks to a month. I try with extra heat and humidity before I put snakes on antibiotics. I've had luck with both methods, but if I see signs for more than a week with the hot humid tub method and/or snake appears to be getting worse I immediately put it on Amikacin. I despise Baytril. I had a yearling jungle/diamond carpet with URI that had seizures and died within hours of being put on Baytril, and to this day I still blame the drug, as she was not showing any signs of sepsis before the injection and went down so fast afterwards. My only other snake that was treated with Baytril also died, but I believe she was just too weak at that point for anything to have helped- she was pregnant and didn't show any signs of abnormality until she collapsed limp and was rushed to an emergency vet visit. I just don't like Baytril if it can be avoided, but Amikacin almost always clears up the URIs for me if the hot humid tub doesn't.
I also have never seen signs of grip loss and weakness due to a RI that wasn't to the point of sepsis and near-fatality. Most snakes with URI will be slightly less active than normal, but not completely lethargic and weak. I would be concerned with the weakness and go to a herp vet if you have one that you trust, but that's just me. I tend to err on the side of caution with my snakes. I do not have a huge collection, so for me I can afford vet visits if I am not absolutely sure I can treat something on my own and know what is wrong.

I thought I would update you on this female's current situation.

I've had her in quarantine for about a week and a half with temps raised and humidity high. During this time she went through a shed. Over the last 4 or 5 days she's been gaining much more strength and is even back to her highly sensitive head shyness! Every day she seems to be getting back to her normal self and now grabs with her tail again. I've tried to listen for any wheezing, but she won't let me hold her head to my ear like before, LOL. I'm going to probably keep her warm and humid for at least another week or two and try to feed her this week and see what happens.

Thanks for all the advice on how to handle this girl's illness! :yes:

Good to here!!! :cheers:Another week warn is wise. :yes:

That's great Kerig, glad to hear it! Keep us updated for sure.

Congrats, I bet this takes a load of worry off your shoulders. I've got an RI case right now, first one I've had in years, and she's my little pincushion. I tried the just heat and humidity for a bit before I decided nothing was changing and dragged her into the vet. Fortaz every three days, Baytril every other, and I feel more horrible when I have to stick her than I ever did whacking a rat. She does show some improvement in her positioning and awareness, but we have a long road I feel. If your gut tells you to go at any point, sack her up and go. -hugs-

UPDATE:
Yesterday I took this Het Pied girl out of quarantine and moved her back to her old tub. She seems much, much better and is looking her old self again...although she's a mite more irritable than before. :dunno:

During her QT time I tried feeding her a couple of F/T small rats and even left them in with her for many hours, but other then moving the meal from one end of the tub to the other, she didn't eat them. What a waste. :(

Well today I decided to try feeding her a live small rat...and she ate it!!! :yes:
So whatever was ailing her she now seems to be over it!

Thank you to Bill, Adam and the others here that suggested that I raise the temps and humidity first before taking her to the vet...that seemed to be the best medicine for her! :yessir: