Royal Yawn

[Fordie]

Hia folks im a newbie to this site. Lookin good!
Have a problem with a recently acquired baby royal. It keeps yawning, say at least a couple times every handling sesion.
It was not in great shape when i picked it up, previous owner had it in a tiny viv with no water, low humidity, old shed still left on in places, skinny, eye caps left on, bad substrate, a heat lamp that was bare for the snake to get to and burn/smash and cut itself on, etc etc.
Have sorted the majority of things so far including very carefully removing the eye caps, i know not recommended but have done this many times with all sorts of snakes.
The yawning i am pretty sure is a respiratory issue, can anyone let me know of any tested methods to ease this through until i can get to my vet for the appropriate check-up?
Thank you

[Morelia Matt]

if it is wheezing aswell then you could be right about the RI, make sure he is nice and warm (day and night) other than that, there isnt much anyone on here can do, just wait and see what the vet sais..... thinking about it, you said it was skinny, it might just be getting used to larger prey now that it is being fed properly, most snakes have a good yawn every now and then anyway. good luck

[rantasam]

He may just be re-seating his jaw if it's always after he has eaten, if not maybe he's just sleepy.

[serpentkid100]

he may jus have a bad connetion in his jaw, shouldn worry though if he don apear to be in pain

[Razaiel]

If it is a respiratory infection (can you hear the wheezing and slightly bubbly noises too or see any discharge?) it is recommended temps are upped a bit to fight it off until you see the vet. Normal temps for royals are 82-84 cool side and 92-94 warm side. Most people recommend upping warm side temp to 95 degrees during RI.

Good that you are seeing vet anyway I think it would be best to get the snake checked out especially as it was kept in such bad condition before you rescued.

Best of luck with your new snake.

[skimpy]

Originally Posted by Fordie

Hia folks im a newbie to this site. Lookin good!
Have a problem with a recently acquired baby royal. It keeps yawning, say at least a couple times every handling sesion.
It was not in great shape when i picked it up, previous owner had it in a tiny viv with no water, low humidity, old shed still left on in places, skinny, eye caps left on, bad substrate, a heat lamp that was bare for the snake to get to and burn/smash and cut itself on, etc etc.
Have sorted the majority of things so far including very carefully removing the eye caps, i know not recommended but have done this many times with all sorts of snakes.
The yawning i am pretty sure is a respiratory issue, can anyone let me know of any tested methods to ease this through until i can get to my vet for the appropriate check-up?
Thank you

Hello and

So you are quite experienced with snakes? Have you had a royal before? I was amazed at how much thye yawn when i got my one! They do yawn a lot, in comparison to a corn, who i have only seen 'yawn' after a feed, to relocate his jaw.

You have come to the right place...there are a lot of very experienced enthusiasts here who will give you some good advice.

[welshgaz]

Mine yawns all the time... Its don't to reset the jaw after eating and just for fun i think...

[skimpy]

Originally Posted by welshgaz

Mine yawns all the time... Its don't to reset the jaw after eating and just for fun i think...

for fun? I think they do it coz it looks cool, and to hear you say

"look the snake is yawning" to others in the room, so she can shut her mouth before they turn, thus making you look like a fool! and if they had hands, im sure they would do this

[welshgaz]

Originally Posted by skimpy

for fun? I think they do it coz it looks cool, and to hear you say

"look the snake is yawning" to others in the room, so she can shut her mouth before they turn, thus making you look like a fool! and if they had hands, im sure they would do this

Well I do that to mine because I caught him on camera doing it!

[skimpy]

Originally Posted by welshgaz

Well I do that to mine because I caught him on camera doing it!

Lucky you. Mind you, i did catch my corn shedding on film last month. thought i was pretty lucky.

Must get the elusive yawn soon, since i got a wee camcorder w ith "Carl Ziess" (sp) lens for my Christmas