# Sick python



## Antsnest (Aug 21, 2017)

Hi guys I have a really sick children's python I'm going to take it to the vet tomorrow. It's been fine for a few months eating every feed, I opened up the cage today to find It has a lot of mucus in its mouth its head looks really out of shape. Its mouth is almost stuck together I had to almost cut the dry mucus away to let it open its mouth. Any ideas on what is going on? Or what I can do to help?


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## kittycat17 (Aug 21, 2017)

Sounds like a very severe respitory infection, needs vet treatment asap.
In the meantime bump up the heat a little bit


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## Pauls_Pythons (Aug 21, 2017)

Revisit your husbandry. Regardless of vets treatment if you don't address the root cause of the problem it will likely happen again next winter.
Is the enclosure kept in an area thats exposed to draughts, is the animal stressed for some reason, are temps in line with those recommended for good health etc etc


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## Antsnest (Aug 22, 2017)

Do you know if they can be contagious?


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## saximus (Aug 22, 2017)

Antsnest said:


> Do you know if they can be contagious?


Extremely. If you have other snakes, don't touch them or anything in their enclosures after handling it.
You haven't answered Paul's questions. What are the husbandry conditions like? What is the temperature of the basking spot? Whatever it is, increase it to at least mid to high 30s. If it's in that bad a shape, you're likely going to be up for a semi expensive round of antibiotic injections.


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## Antsnest (Aug 22, 2017)

He lives in a vision rack with my others have a hot spot of 35 cool spot of about 26. The rack is in its own room that only has a little bit of natural light during the day hardly any noise window is shut with the curtain down. Newspaper substrate hide and water bowl. He eats fine every meal good temperament but as of maybe 2 days ago he had just had so much mucus his mouth is literally stuck closed. I'm taking him in a few hours to get looked at. Fingers crossed


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## pinefamily (Aug 22, 2017)

You need to find alternative accommodation for the "sick" python until you know for sure it is ok, otherwise you'll end up with a whole collection of sick snakes.
How are you measuring the temps?


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## Antsnest (Aug 22, 2017)

pinefamily said:


> You need to find alternative accommodation for the "sick" python until you know for sure it is ok, otherwise you'll end up with a whole collection of sick snakes.
> How are you measuring the temps?



I've checked them all with 3 different thermometers. Temp gun, digit thermometer and a mercury one


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## Yellowtail (Aug 22, 2017)

What room is the rack in? Have you checked the temps of your snakes at say 6am, vision racks are designed to be used in rooms with a reasonably high ambient temp and often need to be insulated or covered for cold winter nights to keep heat in if kept in a garage or unheated room.
You need to quarantine the snake and start antibiotics immediately, also closely check the health of other snakes in the same rack.


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## Antsnest (Aug 22, 2017)

The rack is in the house in its own seperate room. The rack heats the entire room to a reasonable temperature never dropping down to a temp where the thermostat isn't able to turn off when it hits its peak temp. 
So do you think the only way it could of happened is through temperature? I will set him up in his own space away from everyone else. 
Has anyone else had this happen to one of there pythons?


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## Antsnest (Aug 22, 2017)

Just got back from the vet. The python had trouble shedding its head but managed to shed everywhere else. It had all its skin stuck to its lips which started to cause mouth rot. They said it was lucky we caught it pretty early and we are starting him on antibiotics. I'm also getting another vets opinion in a few hours just to make sure it's not somthing else


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## Yellowtail (Aug 22, 2017)

A bad shed can be a symptom of a health problem not the cause but it is not uncommon for young snakes to start a shed from the side of their head or cheek rather than the nose and this leaves the head unshed, you need to check for this when they shed and remove it if necessary as it can cause problems and covers their eyes. (photo of a GTP with this problem)
Do you have something rough and solid in the tub to assist shedding?


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## pinefamily (Aug 22, 2017)

Antaresias are notorious for being problem shedders. We've only ever had trouble with our spotted pythons with shedding.


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## Antsnest (Aug 22, 2017)

Yeah that's almost exactly what it looked like yellowtail except it was below the eyes so I didn't even notice. I have put a few logs in with all my other snakes for shedding I'll have to do the same with this one. I'll keep a much closer eye on them. 

Got back from the second vet who pretty much said it was either a bacteria infection or a virus like the sunshine virus. Extremely vague but gave some antibiotics and pain killers. 

I'll isolate this little one and hopefully she gets better soon. thoughts on when I should feed her again? She is due for a feed been a week


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## saximus (Aug 22, 2017)

I wouldn't bother feeding until she is healthy again


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## Grunter023 (Aug 22, 2017)

Yellowtail said:


> What room is the rack in? Have you checked the temps of your snakes at say 6am, vision racks are designed to be used in rooms with a reasonably high ambient temp and often need to be insulated or covered for cold winter nights to keep heat in if kept in a garage or unheated room.
> You need to quarantine the snake and start antibiotics immediately, also closely check the health of other snakes in the same rack.


Regarding ambient room temps over winter. My room does not get below 14-15 degrees at the absolute minimum with my snakes heat off in their enclosure. Is this too cold do you guys think or fine to prevent respiratory infections and the like? 

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## dragonlover1 (Aug 22, 2017)

Grunter023 said:


> Regarding ambient room temps over winter. My room does not get below 14-15 degrees at the absolute minimum with my snakes heat off in their enclosure. Is this too cold do you guys think or fine to prevent respiratory infections and the like?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


Hey Trent, we had a similar discussion about beardies and decided that anything below 12 was time to worry,thinking the same about snakes ?
Cheers Rick


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## dragonlover1 (Aug 22, 2017)

Antsnest said:


> Yeah that's almost exactly what it looked like yellowtail except it was below the eyes so I didn't even notice. I have put a few logs in with all my other snakes for shedding I'll have to do the same with this one. I'll keep a much closer eye on them.
> 
> Got back from the second vet who pretty much said it was either a bacteria infection or a virus like the sunshine virus. Extremely vague but gave some antibiotics and pain killers.
> 
> I'll isolate this little one and hopefully she gets better soon. thoughts on when I should feed her again? She is due for a feed been a week


there's a BIG difference between an infection and the sunshine virus,hopefully you don't have the latter


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## Grunter023 (Aug 22, 2017)

dragonlover1 said:


> Hey Trent, we had a similar discussion about beardies and decided that anything below 12 was time to worry,thinking the same about snakes ?
> Cheers Rick


Yes I am thinking my minimum of 14-15 degrees is fine. I set my reverse cycle heaters to the minimum of 16 degrees and to be honest I have gone out there at 6am most freezing minus degree cold mornings and the minimum is about 14.8 degrees from memory. But usually sits well above that. 

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