Hey guys, My Boa constrictor Sid is two years old now, he is 6ft and quite a big boy I handle him regularly and I noticed today that his breatching sounded a little off, every so often he is making like a wheezy sound when he breathes out, I'm really concerned he hasn't been acting unusual and has been active and eating well, I checked inside of his mouth and it is absolutely fine, He has no mucus or fluid and his last shed was 16th July so I dont think he is due one anytime soon, He is booked in at the vets next Tuesday (I'd of had him earlier but the vets on holiday) can anyone help me out? please? He is in a 4ft viv with the warm end 90F in the day and 70F at night. He never usually goes by the cooler end but its about 75-80F I checked for retained shed in his nostrils but couldn't see anything. He isn't constantly doing it but every couple of minutes he just makes a bizzare wheezy, heavy breath sound, I can feel his breath on me and it doens't seem like he is struggling I'm very confused, He also did it worse when I held his head and opened his mouth to look inside? but it wasn't a hiss. I have heard him do it in the past but never thought much of it if I'm honest since there were no serious signs of RI but I'm just very puzzled. Also he is on newspaper at the moment since I'm due to grab some, he is usually on orchid bark with around 40-50% humidity. Thanks.
I would just go to the vet apointment. I dont know much about boas, but I did some research and it could be due to incorrect temperatures or humidty. I think the vet will be the best to diagnose what is wrong with him. Is he getting enough air flow into his tank?
The breathing you describe could be a low humidity issue that may have set in with the substrate change or other minor disturbances - dried secretions narrow the air passages, resulting in periodic forced exhalations. I don't know where you live; but it is not an uncommon occurrence as colder weather sets in, and home heating systems start working more (which may explain why you've heard it in the past). There are numerous steps you can take to improve this; but how effective they will be depends on where the problem area is. If there are casts in the nares, increasing humidity will not reduce those sounds until after they are cleared (they usually come off/out with the next shed, but they can be removed manually). Go ahead and keep the vet appointment and keep a close eye on him for any changes in behavior. Double check the temperatures and humidity and make sure the husbandry is spot on...even if it is the start of a respiratory infection simple husbandry changes can reverse the effects.
What Jeffreh said he knows probably about 100% more then I do on the topic haha. Keep us posted though.
