my bp spazzed out

My ball python crawled out of his hide and just sat in the middle of his enclosure for about 15 minutes. I heard some rustling around so I looked at the cage and saw him freaking out, he was squirming around and pushing the substrate all over the place, and he coughed very loud with a 'gurgling' sound. I thought maybe he was going to puke...but he hasn't yet. He ate on Thursday. I just noticed he pooed.

Does anyone know what the heck just happened...

check temps sounds like either a digestion issue or possible an RI developing to me

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Originally Posted by mechnut450

check temps sounds like either a digestion issue or possible an RI developing to me

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Temps are fine, at least they have never gone below 80(warm side hide is 92, ambient usually around 85). If anything they are a little too warm during the day.

I have been feeding him every 4-5 days because the pet store near me does not sell the right size mouse. He is 23" long.

wow...weird...lol...goodluck...

Could have been him trying to clear his nasal cavities from the all the mucus that could be in there, caused from RI. I'm not sure if he really has it, but I'd say to keep a close eye. Check for these symptoms, and if you notice he has ANY of these symptoms take him to a vet right away because you could have caught this problem early so it's easier to treat:

Popping/clicking noises when the snake breathes through the nose, mucus coming out of nose when snake rubs nose against an object or against the wall/glass of the enclosure, bubbles within the mouth and throat, open mouth breathing, wheezing, and forked ends of tongue stuck together (from mucus).

Hopefully your snake has non of these symptoms:please:

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Originally Posted by BallPythonLOVER

Could have been him trying to clear his nasal cavities from the all the mucus that could be in there, caused from RI. I'm not sure if he really has it, but I'd say to keep a close eye. Check for these symptoms, and if you notice he has ANY of these symptoms take him to a vet right away because you could have caught this problem early so it's easier to treat:

Popping/clicking noises when the snake breathes through the nose, mucus coming out of nose when snake rubs nose against an object or against the wall/glass of the enclosure, bubbles within the mouth and throat, open mouth breathing, wheezing, and forked ends of tongue stuck together (from mucus).

Hopefully your snake has non of these symptoms:please:

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Is there a way to open a snake's mouth as to see if there is anything abnormal about it?

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Originally Posted by unrezt

Is there a way to open a snake's mouth as to see if there is anything abnormal about it?

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Yeah, have a vet do it. I'd rather pay to have someone who knows how to open a snake's mouth than try it myself and risk hurting the snake.

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Originally Posted by unrezt

Is there a way to open a snake's mouth as to see if there is anything abnormal about it?

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Grab both sides of the back of the snake's head and you should notice that the mouth opens up a little bit. After that, get a Q-tip and put the middle of the Q-tip at the front of the mouth and go in. After you are in the snake's mouth with the Q-tip, pull the Q-tip downwards to open up the mouth. Make sure the cotton on both ends of the Q-tip does not touch the snakes mouth or teeth because the cotton can get caught in the mouth and the teeth.

Here's a YouTube video that shows how to do it: YouTube - How to check for a Resperetory Infection.

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Originally Posted by unrezt

Is there a way to open a snake's mouth as to see if there is anything abnormal about it?

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Hold snake firmly with index finger & thumb on either side of jaw, use a Q-Tip to work mouth open.

This is like impossible, I can't get him to hold still enough to get a good grip. He is being so stubbern and doing everything he can to get out of my grasp.