First time BP owner in need of some help!!!!

hey,
i am as said a first time BP owner. i have done a lot of reading about the habits of shedding. the strange thing though is that she has finally started to loose some small patches this morning but i noticed last night that she was eating the walnut shredding that we have as a floor liner. now she has from what it seems a mouth full of this stuff and her breathing seems as if she is strained and winded. any help is helpful due to myself and my wife freaking a bit.

What do you mean by "eating the walnut shredding"? If it's getting stuck to her mouth, then you need to change substrate. I don't personally know anything about using walnut for bedding - why do you? If it's sticking because there's extra mucous in her mouth, then that combined with the wheezing is likely due to an RI and you need to get a culture done by a vet so you can treat with the proper antibiotics.

Edit: Oh, and you need to raise your humidity if her shed is only coming off in pieces, instead of as a whole.

Many of us here are probably going to tell you to take her to the vet. Also, I would suggest changing the bedding/substrate if she is eating it and it's getting stuck in her mouth. Most people use newspaper, aspen, and some others. Most can be found at a local pet store, Walmart, and other stores of the like. From what you described as wheezing and things that is usually a sign of an RI (Respiratory Infection) which definitely means taking her to a vet, as she'll need medication to treat it.

Hope everything works out,

RJ

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Originally Posted by TomSinclair

hey,
i am as said a first time BP owner. i have done a lot of reading about the habits of shedding. the strange thing though is that she has finally started to loose some small patches this morning but i noticed last night that she was eating the walnut shredding that we have as a floor liner. now she has from what it seems a mouth full of this stuff and her breathing seems as if she is strained and winded. any help is helpful due to myself and my wife freaking a bit.

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Shredded Walnut is not ideal of ball pythons. Your using a substrate that is designed for lizzards and desert dwelling reptiles. You need to change your substrate to something more conventional (aspen, cyprus, paper, coco-husk, etc.) As for the wheezing you could have an RI, but I don't think your problem stems from accidental ingestion of the substrate. Go to a vet and do some cruising around this site you'll find it pretty informative!

Good Luck!


Edit: I am sorry about some of the content of my earlier post, you were not the same one that posted the other question. I'm just weary of people who's first post in kind of intense. My apologies.