Its the second time iv walked in on my Dumeril boa sitting there with his mouth wide open. First time i walked in, i seen it and sat and watched and lasted maybe 1 min from when i walked in. Second time, same thing. Inside his mouth looked fine, from what i can see, no excessive saliva or bubbles. Whenever i take him out, i always check his nose/head/mouth area, looking for possible mites/RI etc. I also listen to the breathing, listening for wheezing, popping squeaking type noise. To this day iv never had an issue with anything iv described, other than the mouth open. Hes about 4.5-5 feet, last time i weighed him was cpl months ago, he was 16XXgrams. I always clean and poo and pee i see or can find, change substrate(aspen) every 3 weeks or once a month, fresh water every 3 days or so. I think i take good care of him, this mouth thing just has me thinking. Any help is very much appreciated!
It sounds like you're taking great care of your Dumerils Boa. Snakes yawning or keeping their mouths open for a few minutes is completely normal as long there aren't other symptoms along with it. If I spend an extended period of time in my snake room, it's likely that I'll see one of my boas with their mouth open. Take it easy.
Ok so back to this boa thing. Iv noticed whenever the lights are off, he starts going up the side of his tank, his head and about 4-6 inches after the head, and he will just stay there. I started thinking stargazing, but like I said, it only happens when the lights are out, never in the daytime. Iv taken him out, looked him over, body seems nice and strong. He's been eating regular and pooing and peeing. I just don't understand why he's doing this up the wall thing at night. If I open his tank while hes doing this, he usually comes down, not like he's stuck there or anything. I just want to know what otter ppl think about this. I'll try get a pic of him next time I notice him doing this. Thanks everyone!!!
1.0 Dumeril Boa (Mr. D)
1.0 Red Tail Boa (no name yet)
0.1 Ball Python (Pandora)
Iv had him for just over 1 year. Have never had a problem with him. There really is no problem now, I just read up on IBD and got me thinking. Him going up the wall in evenings raised a few questions for me that's all.
1.0 Dumeril Boa (Mr. D)
1.0 Red Tail Boa (no name yet)
0.1 Ball Python (Pandora)
Iv noticed whenever the lights are off, he starts going up the side of his tank, his head and about 4-6 inches after the head, and he will just stay there.
My two boas (two Colombians) do this same thing. I was worried at first too (I thought of IBD as well) but I've have both for several months and they have been perfectly healthy and growing like weeds. I wouldn't worry about it. If he starts rolling, flipping without righting himself, acting odd, not eating, etc then I would look into it more.
PS: Thinking about it, my little hypo girl did the same thing last night (head up against the glass, or in my case her tub). If you like I can try to get a pic of her or my male next time I see them do it but IMO it's no big deal.
Last edited by Daybreaker; 10-04-2011 at 07:10 PM.