Occassional Respitory "Popping"

[oOSpOOkYOo]

I used to own garder snakes when I was little and I remember them popping when the breathed sometimes. You could feel it a bit too. Well 10 years later I have my first RTB and I noticed the same thing. I figured just boogers or something. I got my 421D from the boaphile the other day and I laid down carpet like in the old cage and he just didn't seem happy. So I took Jeff's advice and put in Aspen. Take a look at the pic to see how much he likes it! But I noticed the popping increasing-- I think. I don't know if i'm beening paranoid or what because when throwing in the aspen it kicked up a bit of dust, but quickly settled and the package says "Dust Free" & "Perfect For Reptiles". The Aspen has been in there for about 48 hours now. Any input? ???

I spy with my little eye... something beadie eyed!:

[oOSpOOkYOo]

The whole cage setup:

[Red]

boa's are heavy bodied snakes... but your snake looks like a baby... and if that is so it should not breath hard... My 6' male has not a popping or wezzing but a almost explosion of air that comes out when he is breathing... what you said sounds like it may be respatory problem.. I think the home remedy to this is raise the temp's in the cage to around 90-91 hot side and 84-85 on the cool side.. Let the humidity drop to as low as it can go for like a week and this sould dry up any of the cold in the lung's... If the popping is not gone by then you may want to go to a vet but I don't know... I have herd of snakes that just have that... it is kinda weird but do you have the boa constricktor's manual.. it has a section from jeff and it has a good section in the back on common rtb problems....
I hope I could help...
Eric aka...Red

[Doug]

HI,
 When you change your aspen always spray the bark with a few sprays of water to settle the dust,before returning the snake to the cage.
   I ve heard that if you raise the temp a couple degrees it helps the snake fight off the RI. No part of the cage even the cool should drop below 82 deg, I thought I saw a 78 on the left gauge thats to cool  , Just being a couple degrees to cool in a young snakes cage can cause that RI. Most of my cages feel a tad warm when I enter them..
If your having problems with heat I know of a really nice additional radient heat pad at big apple I Have it all my cages in addtion to uth's all tied into one thermostat.
http://www.bigappleherp.com/images/big/1126.jpghttp://www.bigappleherp.com/
I modified the over head heat mat by attaching it to a piece of wall insulation with duck tape the wall insulation is real easy to cut. i then place the mat warm side down on top of the screen and cover the cool side of the cage cage with an additonal piece of wall insulation cut to fit , this keeps everything in the cage nice and warm and very humid it feels like sunlight when on, but not hot. Those over head heat mats use very little electricity and never feel that hot..
http://photo.redtailboa.org/albums/my-pets/Heat_humidty_savers.thumb.jpghttp://photo.redtailboa.org/albums/my-pets/heat_saver_s_in_place.thumb.jpg
the uth and the heat mat are tied into a single thermostat.. this makes it reall easy to control the heat.I also throw a tan towel over the whole thing so its looks little better than the last pic... this is the only way I could keep a brazilian rainbow in a forty critter and have enough humidty 80%

http://photo.redtailboa.org/albums/my-pets/Guyana_Palace.sized.jpg
If you look real close at the large cage you can see the heat mats attached to the top of the cage I also have two of the larger cobra mats under the flooringnall four mats are plugged into one power strip thats plugged in one thermostat this save money on thermostats.

 
note if your boa has RI, He will proably need injections about every four days for a couple weeks  s35.gif
I have become rather good at giving snake shots it's not that tuff.they just squirm a bit.... See a good herp vet.. Not all vets should see repitles I usally research fellow herpers or that,,,
http://www.herpvetconnection.com/
 I have only one really good herp vet in the VA Beach area..Most vets don't care for exotics much less snakes.
   That RI can smolder for months if you don't nip it in the bud.
     doug
most excellent care sheets and stuff I think I saw a bophile short cut there too
http://www.redtailboas.com/

hey while your checking them heat mats out visit my herd
at herps"R"US s19.gif s19.gif s19.gif
http://photo.redtailboa.org/my-pets

[redtailboas]

Very nice setup.

If I were to hold my boas heads directly to my ear, I would hear a normal low breathing sound that often includes a pop or click.

The trouble is when you can hear these sounds just when checking on the boas inside their enclosures.

I am not aware of any problems with using the aspen. I use it with all the babies, although I still keep the adults on newspaper.

[oOSpOOkYOo]

Thanks Red, Doug, & Clay. I guess I should have mentioned I only really hear it here and there when I hold his head up into my ear. It's kind of odd how he lets me put his head in my ear.

As for the setup- I don't know. I personally am not very satisfied with the layout, but Oscar seems to be. Having trouble keeping in heat. I put some blankets over it and they work perfect for now. But bought some polystyrene with a r-6 value so that should work great!. -sTEVE

[OrlandoJoe]

The whole cage setup:

I just wanted to say that the enclosure you have setup there, is one of the most visually appealing I have ever seen. Beautiful cage.

I have used the Aspen for over a year now, with my Applegate Gopher, and yes you should spray it down a little. There actually is quite a bit of dust in the bag from the get-go.

joe