My Garter Snake is making a strange noise.

[guidofatherof5]

Nice video. Good looking T.marcianus.

[Light of Dae]

For reducing dust in aspen I made up a 'sifter' with window screen, Just put a small amount on the screen at a time and shake, tap then place good stuff in tank or clean bag and WHA LA you go dust free aspen. It is time consuming but you seem like the type to take time to do things right.

Just an idea that popped into my head, you could speed up the process a lot by using a vacuum with a screen...

[ConcinusMan]

@ConcinnusMan Here's a video I made a couple days ago on giving him baytril. Giving oral medicine to a Garter Snake - YouTube
And as for the spraying, I definetly will do that. I'll add in the aspen next time I clean out his cage, I just wanted to reduce dust. And about the pneumonia, if my snake does have it, will he need any assistance such as an antibiotic?

Baytril is an antibiotic. effective against a wide range of common bacteria including most reptile RI's. You're doing it pretty much the same way I did, and actually the dosage is also the same. My snake was a 3.7 foot old concinnus female and she weighed about 190 grams. 4 units (.04 ml) was her dosage. It's been a year since her ordeal and she's doing fine these days. She's just old, got gravid, add a little stress and viola, you got a RI on your hands. A few younger snakes were in with her and didn't get sick. It's kinda like a senior citizen being more vulnerable to bacterial pneumonia after they just got over a cold. Everyone else who is younger and has a stronger immune system in the house wont get sick. You probably nothing you did wrong. Just one of those things that happens .

Don't forget to keep that suspension very cold at all times (41-45 degrees F) and throw out the remainder after a few weeks, when treatment period has ended. Potency drops dramatically after that and giving weak or expired antibiotics only breeds resistant bacteria for the future generations. In other words, weak or old doses does more harm in the long run, than giving none at all.

If your snake is in the mood to eat you can also attach a needle to that syringe and inject the dose into a nice solid chunk of tilapia, or inject it into the skull cavity of a pinky mouse. However, you'll have to add a bit of water since the suspension will normally clog the needle at full strength.

The only difference between upper RI and pneumonia is where the infection is located. it typically starts in the upper R tract and/or nasal cavity and works it's way down into the lung over time. It's particularly dangerous to snakes because they only have one functional lung.

Warmth 24/7 (no nightly cooling) helps support the action of baytril by supporting the snake's own immune system. baytril doesn't actually kill the bacteria. It simply prevents it from reproducing so that the snake's immune system can get the upper hand. Exactly the opposite of what happened to cause the snake to get a RI from common bacteria in the first place. Snake's immune system slacked off for a bit, and the bacteria numbers got out of hand. That can happen to older snakes, snakes fighting off a basically harmless virus or parasites, stress due to pregnancy, social stress etc. The most common cause is the lack of a wide temperature gradient. Too warm or too cool can both cause RI. A wide gradient allows the snake to better thermoregulate it's own temperature.

As far as the humidity goes, it's a fine line between too humid and too dry. Increased humidity (and good hydration) helps keep the fluid / mucous moist and loose so it can be expelled easier. With that in mind, more severe symptoms such as wheezing and those that you described can actually be a good thing. it indicates that the mucous is loose and the snake is going to be "coughing" it up a lot. Humidity of 50-70 percent should be plenty. You just don't want it 40 or below or the mucous will dry up and be hard to expel. As far as temps go, it's the ambient air temperature that's important. Breathing in cold air only helps the bacteria flourish.

I don't know what brand of aspen you're using but really, any I've ever used wasn't really all that dusty. If the humidity is adequate (at least 50 percent) that aspen dust won't stay airborn long enough to be a problem. I understand the logic, but really, aspen dust is very unlikely to contribute to, or cause the illness.

One more thing, and this is rather important and often overlooked or not mentioned by vets. Oral baytril greatly reduces beneficial gut flora. It reduces the numbers of the good bacteria in the snake's digestive system. This can lead to bloating after eating a large meal, indigestion, vomiting, or simply not getting enough nutrients from their food due to lack of efficient digestion.

Always follow up with a good bird/reptile specific pro-biotic. Wait at least 7 days after the last dose of baytril and give your snake this at every feeding for about a month. It's also good to give a yearly dose to your reptiles "just for good measure" and I also give it to newborns to establish healthy gut flora. it really does make a big difference. Here's the product I use. There's enough in this syringe to treat a huge collection of snakes but this is the only way I know to buy it. It's way more than you need for one snake, but it keeps practically forever: Amazon.com: Bird Bene-Bac® Bird & Reptile Probiotic Gel, 15g Syringe: Pet Supplies

Just have patience with the symptoms. It may just well appear to be worse (coughing up the crud) when it's really getting better.

[Brittany26]

He's been doing good as far as I can see. He hasn't made a noise (that I know of) since Monday night. I think the reason he only made the noise as night was because of temperature drop, and now since it's warmer out, it has helped a lot. He just ate a Pinky today. I'm still not convinced that he is 100% better though, he still makes that clicking noise.

[EasternGirl]

I'm not sure what you mean by a clicking noise...but my garters all make a clicking noise when they are nervous. If I pick them up and they start breathing hard because they are nervous, I can hear a small clicking sound coming from their mouths. If you are noticing this when he is breathing heavily...and it seems to happen when you approach him, or hold him...it may be the same thing. I worried about it too at first, but it is just a nervous thing garters do. If you hear wheezing..then that is something different. I have never had a problem with dust with aspen really. In fact, my garter that has the chronic respiratory problems was having a lot of problems with the dust from carefresh, and when I switched to aspen, she did much better with her breathing.

[guidofatherof5]

The clicking noise is probably the glottis opening and closing.

[ConcinusMan]

Now imagine trying to breathe through a straw (glottis) that is congested by oatmeal (mucous). Imagine that, and you'll know why your snake is doing what it's doing. It will take time to clear it all out. Probably much longer than the actual infection lasts.

[Brittany26]

bump
I have a few questions (sorry if this is a little late)
Since after my snakes 2 week medication was over with (~ a month ago), I bought him a temperature and humidity reader, added aspen bedding, and have been spraying his cage/leaves several times a day. He still continues to click, some days more vigorously than others. Once a day I have been putting Steavy inside a small carrier cage along with a hot/damp wash clothe inside for about 10-15 minutes, and after those 15 minutes his clicking stops momentarily. The temperatures during the day are usually in the low 90's and the cool side around 85 degrees. Steavy continues to make the noise (varying) roughly twice a night, sometimes more. After seeing the disappointing results of 2 weeks of oral baytril, it seemed as if it helped little to non (I'm sure it did to some degree) As only being 14, it's hard to say I will be able to take my snake back to the vet, considering my parents. He still eats like a champ and continues to thrive and be active when I take him out. Also, when he makes the squirting noise, I see what looks like water (most likely mucus), just a drop or so come out and he drinks it back down. Oh and by the way, the humidity reads only 30-50 max during the day time, regardless if I spray it or not, though it may go up to 60 for a short time If I spray near the thermometer. But during the night the humidity goes up to a soild 70. I am just wondering If there is anything else I can do to make Steavy's life a little bit easier. If it comes to me using my own money and convincing my parents to take him back to the vet, I will. But with the results of last time, what would they do? It did virtually nothing to Steavy, clicking continued, sound never went away. I don't want to "waste" another 50 dollars to find it went to no use. Thank you for taking your time to read this, and thank you for your kind advice it was/is very helpful.

[guidofatherof5]

The only clicking noise I've ever heard from my garters is the glottis opening and closing.
It never had anything to do with an illness.

[kibakiba]

It's just his glottis. He's always going to click. Most of them do.