Is My BP Sick? Mucus-Like Liquid from Mouth

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Originally Posted by fire-eyes

Hello,

Tonight while handling my 1y10m old female ball python, I found a streak of clear mucus-like liquid on my arm. I then saw a little bit of it hanging on her chin. She then opened her mouth as if to “yawn” as she normally does, and I could see there was more in her mouth.

I checked to see if there were any kind of critters on her anywhere. I also held her snout up to my ear for a long time to see if I could detect wheezing or difficulty breathing. Everything appears normal, other than this mucus-like liquid.

What is going on here?

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No wheezing. No other signs of respiratory infection (there are signs - right guys?).

Clear liquid coming from the mouth after handling the snake.

Sounds like she lost a bit of her drink on ya. Back down from Defcon 4, she's gonna be all right.

Sorry! I figured mucus meant mucus. Like snot.

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Originally Posted by stevepoppers

Sorry! I figured mucus meant mucus. Like snot.

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I did too, I simply didn't have experience. It never occurred to me that water could come out. Panic reaction, and like Skip said, back down from defcon 4 (for me). I'll be able to sleep tonight (but will still monitor).

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Originally Posted by stevepoppers

Sorry! I figured mucus meant mucus. Like snot.

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Pretty much. But if it's a respiratory infection you will hear wheezing, gurgling noises when they breathe. You will also probably see mucus dried around the enclosure where they rub their face trying to clear it...

Sounds to me like a RI...

Sorry didnt read the whole thread before I posted. Hope everything turns out alright for her.

Everyone,

Thanks for the fast and many replies. It's about 24 hours later now, and there are no signs of RI. There never was any wheezing, signs of difficulty breathing, crust anywhere on her head, or signs of mucus having been wiped off on the side of her cage. It was simply that she had drank some water immediately before I got her out.

So this was an overreaction by me primarily due to inexperience. The good news is I learned a lot and I know what to look for now. I hope others can learn from this too!

Holy cow I had one of my snakes do the same thing to me! I got him out of his cage and I felt something wet. I thought, "oh great, he's peed on me again." But I looked around and nothing. Nothing wet on my shirt, even. So I listened to his breathing and (I was freaking out) I SWORE I heard something (I didn't, LOL!) and I looked in his mouth and there was some liquid in there, too! I panicked, took him to the vet a couple days later. Turned out to be nothing! I did find a really good vet, though and I'm glad I took him bc Mr. Vet did a very thorough exam and checked him for parasites and everything! He got a clean bill of health!