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HELP: Burm Is Coughing Thick Saliva

E

Edgar_L

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Hello People,

My friend's burms which live together in the same tank and are 6 1/2 ft. each are both coughing thick saliva randomly! It worries us, so I was just wondering if any of you with experienced these situations have any idea what's wrong with them or what's causing this? Please Help Me Out To Help Him Out! I would appreciate it alot! Or is this normal?

Thanks,
Edgar
 
Generally its caused from low temps.

RI is respiratory infection. But it being as bad as it sounds, a temp raise won't help. Bring them into a herp vet.
 
burms are extremely, extremely prone to ri's. if not addressed/treated asap, it can very easily develop into something very serious
 
...

raise the temp to 82. and buy tea tree oil put them in a conatiner with some cotton balls dipped in the oil for periods no more than an hour, you can put the cotton balls in the cage but there must be no way for air to get out of the cage or just do each snake separate in a tote. the idea is for them to breathe in the tea tree oil like we would vicks, also find a vet that has experience with reptiles
 
That is some awesome advice Ed wow I've never thought of that, maybe next time i should try that! The snakes got much better the vet gave them some shots and some shots for us to put on it every 3 days, and for now they haven't showed any symptoms of RI which is awesome! Thanks for the help everybody!
 
Raise the temps to 82?
I'm not going to shoot down the rest of the suggestion (though I will point out that melaleuca oil is toxic at "high doses"; and, of course, dosing accuracy is difficult to achieve by soaking some cotton balls), BUT 82 degrees is generally considered a low end cool side temperature for burms. With respiratory infection (for burms), the common home treatment is to raise the temperatures throughout the cage to the higher end of the spectrum...ie maintaining "warm side" temps throughout the enclosure. If one is raising the temps to 82, the source of the problem is probably identified (insufficient temperature)...but simply correcting that problem isn't enough when the animals has progressed to the stage of producing thick mucous. Raising the temp to 92 is probably a more appropriate recommendation (as a short term approach).


Ed - do you have any information on the effectiveness of melaleuca oil on Pseudomonas and Proteus? I am aware of its use for Staphylococcus aureus (but, given the differences, I wouldn't assume "cross coverage").
*yes, I know that taxonomy has been revised...but I've used Pseudomonas and Proteus for too many years, and can never remember the new names
I don't think the OP would object to the information being provided, and some others may be interested.


To the OP - I'm glad the snakes are doing better....make sure you give the full course of shots :thumbsup:
 
ok

I should have been more specific and said to raise the temps on the cooler side of the tank so that there is no cooler side in the enclosure. I didnt take into consideration the size of the op enclosure either... I am no vet but out of experience I recomended the use of the t.tree oil. It has worked for snakes showing signs of ri. it also depends on the stage of infection, if my burms had slime they would be at the vet, but a little wheez or lite and by lite I mean LITE mucus I wouldnt disregard my method of treatment. Thanx for policing my suggestion though
 
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