My bp drooled on me....

I was eating with my bp on my shoulder yesterday and she started drooling on me...a lot. I looked on the internet for answers which all led to upper respiratory infection (URI) links. Since then, she hasn't drooled on me when I handle her (and has never done so in the past). There's not gurgling or clicking sound from her nose (except when she soaks and dunks her head under the water) and she's not holding her mouth open to get more air or anything like the other articles mentioned as symptoms. I don't really know if she's actually breathing harder than normal, or if I'm just freaking out but it was really weird and I'm worried about her. Does anyone have any advice?

maybe she wanted some of ur food!:P

lol. Well she just ate the day before that...Idk. Am I just freaking out for no reason?

i honestly dont know. im very new to the whole thing myself, I've only had my little girl for a week and a half. But she seems to be interested in my food when i eat, all stickin her tongue out and stuff. They have a strong sense of smell right? maybe she was overwhelmed by your food? did she do that again? or just that one time?

just the once...but she'd never done it before which is what worried me (i've had Nagi almost a year)

It could have just drank some water and it drained out. However excess mucus discharge is a sign of respiratory distress like RI or some form of particle in the respiratory trac.

Yes, I've had them frighten me by letting a drinking water and letting a mouthful of it out onto the table/the sofa/me. I bet that's what it was...

If you're comfortable holding her head/neck, you can use a q-tip to do a quick oral check of her mouth. Hold it sideways like you're doing the limbo with her nose, push her upper lip upwards with the middle of the q-tip, and then let her gnaw on it while you check for bubbles and extra fluid.

that sounds do-able. thanks! should I be looking for anything other than fluid / bubbles? like a specific color change from pink-ish to ...whatever?

all you have to do is get her mouth open with a qtip like stated earlier, you are not going to look for color change, look for excess mucus or bubbline, which would be a sign of RI, if that is what it happens to be (I hope it isnt), take your BP to the vet immediately for some antibiotics.

1 more question to help us all out, how is your husbandry? what are you temps and humidity levels in the enclosure?

I'm really new to all of this, as in she's my first ever reptile pet...aka - idk what "husbandry" is. She's in a glass terrarium with Zoo-Med Aspen snake bedding. She has a "pool" on the cool side of her tank and I had a heating rock on the opposite side. Recently, found out that's not really a great idea, so I got a heat mat that's under her tank to warm the bedding. She has a log tunnel thing that has bark on the outside (she likes to rub against while shedding) as well a branch that spans the entire length of her cage at a diagonal. I try to keep the tank at least in the low 80s ('F) but i don't really know how hot the new heating pad is making the warm side of her tank since it’s pretty new. The humidity is pretty low...I honestly don't really know how to raise it except that I kind of mist her tank and keep the pool filled (usually makes it bump up to about 40-60%). She does like to swim though, so I let her have fun in the bath a couple times a week.

Does this help? Also, any suggestions for improvements are more than welcome!

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Originally Posted by tiny_tiger60978

lol. Well she just ate the day before that...Idk. Am I just freaking out for no reason?

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Its not a good idea to handle your snake until 3 days after it eats.You could end up with a regurge :puke2:.

Ok, first, read the caresheet. Get/make two identical hides that are very secure and closed in, just barely bigger than your snake can fit. Get a thermostat. (Reptitemp 500R is the cheapest, but will do in a pinch.) The UTH can reach 120* F and sometimes 140-150. It will burn your snake. A vet visit and treatment is more expensive than the thermostat, so get one! Put the thermostat probe on the UTH directly and use the thermometer to set it. Get a digital thermometer with a probe if you don't have one already. No one trusts the round gauges or mercury or stick-on things. There's an AccuRite that's usually at walmart or lowes or home depot etc. Keep the glass under the hot hide in the low 90s. 95 and up is unsafe. For the humidity, cover the screentop with something. A permanent solution is foil tape. The 'swimming' could be her trying to drown mites, so just look for those. They often hide in skin flaps like under her chin and in the vents. Drowned mites will float in the water.


:puke2: <--I can't believe that exists.

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Originally Posted by stevepoppers

:puke2: <--i can't believe that exists.

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srsly.

A few days ago I noticed my female was out of her hide so I decided to handle her, and she had apparently just gotten a drink because it all spilled out of her mouth all over my jeans.


You really do need to address a few things like buying a thermostat. That UTH can and WILL burn your snake unregulated. I plugged mine in before I had a thermostat (it was not being used with an enclosure) and watched it reach 140* .

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Originally Posted by sarahlovesmiike

I plugged mine in before I had a thermostat (it was not being used with an enclosure) and watched it reach 140* .

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Wow! that is really really high. Mine before i picked up the herpstat got to like 115 and that scared the everliving poop out of me lol.

Point being, a thermostat for the UTH(under tank heater) is a MUST if you wish to keep your snake healthy

Here is a link to the caresheet. It will help you tons!!
http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules/...warticle&id=59

You really HAVE to have a thermostat on your heat mat as they can and will spike and burn your snake to death. You can do a search online or on this forum for ideas. I know that spyder robtics has some great ones that I use and Reptile Basics have some great ones that are affordable.

When in a tank the humidity is the hardest thing to keep up. A daily mist with water helps as well as foiling off the top of the cage where the screen is. When their eyes go blue they are going to go in shed...I use to take a wet wash cloth and put it over the warm hide ...it assisted in creating more humidity.

There are a ton more ideas on here...this site is truly amazing for ideas on how to keep your BP properly.