The wheezing is back...

[EasternGirl]

Cee Cee was acting kind of odd last night, hiding a lot. I went to check on her this morning and she didn't want to come out of her cave, she was acting spooked. When I finally coaxed her out, I noticed she was swallowing repeatedly and now she is wheezing really bad again. I'm not sure what is going on...she was doing fine since she finished her antibiotics...she got better on them. She has been absolutely fine until she started acting a bit odd yesterday. She didn't want to come out of her cave all day. The wheezing is pretty loud...but she did move around a bit and take a drink. I took her out and I didn't hear crackling in her chest like before with the RI. I'm pretty concerned though. Thoughts please?

[BUSHSNAKE]

if she has bubbles in her throat the RI came back...so open here mouth and check

[EasternGirl]

Okay...I will do that in a little while. I keep picking her up to listen to her...I don't want to stress her too much more right now. I talked to Chris for a while this morning and we came up with a theory that maybe the substrate I recently put in her enclosure is too dusty for her...it's like carefresh, but it does seem dustier...and she has been burrowing a lot. I just switched it out and put aspen in her tank. I increased the heat and humidity...she sounds better right now...still clicking, but I don't hear the wheezing like before. I'll check her again in a bit and see if I can get her to open her mouth without biting the crap out of me...

[BUSHSNAKE]

i used carefresh for a long time and stopped useing it cuz its so freeking dusty but it never caused RI...take your licence or debit card or something..slip it between her lips and have a look for bubbles if her throat looks normal then....

[EasternGirl]

I will. Well, I'm not saying it would cause an RI...but the vet did say that her respiratory problems are chronic and could come and go...I'm just thinking if it was really dusty and she already has breathing issues, it may have made it worse.

[chris-uk]

Glad to hear that she's breathing a bit better now Marnie. Fingers-crossed that the substrate change will help. Imagine... an asthmatic snake.

[kibakiba]

What I do when I get dusty substrate is put a mask over my face and put it in a tub and shake it until most of the dust is on the floor.

[EasternGirl]

Well she seems a bit better in the aspen...and it's a heck of a lot cheaper. I'm going to try to feed her in a little while..see if I can get a look in her mouth and see if she is hungry.

[chris-uk]

Let us know if she eats. Isn't it a pretty good rule of thumb that a feeding snake isn't desperately ill?

[EasternGirl]

That is what I'm thinking...if she eats she must be feeling somewhat okay...and she also probably would not be eating if she were having a terrible time breathing.