Ball python dead or not

I fed my male ball python a few hours ago, I feed him outside his tank. I gave him one medium size mouse which is fairly small in comparison to what he might be able to take down. (Hes around 40 inches). 30 minutes into eating the mouse he stopped completely, I thought he was just taking a break then he began to make strange rolling motions inside the feeding tank, this continued for about 10 minutes and he stopped and didn't move. Again I thought he was taking a break or trying to throw up the mouse because he had done that before so I waited awhile. By this time we were about 1.5 hours into feeding so I thought something might be wrong, I began to try and take the mouse out of his mouth and he didn't move or fight me. I managed to get his mouth open and the mouse out and now hes is sitting motionless wight very little tightness in his body, just a little in his tail. He is letting out puffs of air every 30 seconds or so but otherwise he seems dead. Im not sure if he is dead or not. Any help would be appreciated. He is around 6 years old.

Pick him up from his center. If he moves your safe. They will usually try to hold their head up.

His head remains lifeless but his tail moves slightly.

That is sad. I wonder what happened?

:( My brother gave him to me 3 years ago and he hasn't had any problems. Can they breathe if they're dead? He seems to be filling up with air and then puffing it out every 30 seconds or so. His back half seems to be getting stronger, head still lifeless. He hasn't closed his mouth from where it was when I got the mouse out. (About 1/4 inch open)

I'm sorry your little guy is in trouble. If he's breathing he's not dead. Keep him warm and get him to a vet asap.

I agree your snake is in trouble. That's not normal behavior. If at all possible I'd get him to a reptile vet asap. If not then keep him warm and hope for the best.

I hope he's ok :(

I would get him to the vet ASAP. The one thing you can try is to soak him in room temp water for a few minutes(of coarse hold his head above the water). If you notice him starting to try to move after a few minutes then there is a chance he will pull through.

Update? Vet?

He is alive. He seems to be back to normal but im going to get him to the vet anyways.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Braum23

He is alive. He seems to be back to normal but im going to get him to the vet anyways.

---

I am so glad to read this update. It was scary for me not knowing...I couldn't imagine your fear. So glad you are still gonna get him to the vet!

Glad to hear. Sounds as if your snake somehow got it's airway blocked and couldn't dislodge the mouse for some weird reason. I say this because not too far back I had a green tree python go through the same motions you describe, and it didn't end well. Turned out it had got some substrate down the glottis and couldn't get any air, and it was too far down for me to do anything. No way to get it to a vet in time. Sounds like yours may have had a similar issue, and if you hadn't removed the mouse when you did you probably would have lost him. A vet trip would probably still be a good idea.

Glad he is okay. A 6 year old bp should have no problems getting a mouse down so something is seriously wrong.Just a thought but If he has a bad respiratory infection it could have been to much to try and breathe and eat at the same time.

Oh no how frightening!!!! I'm glad that he survived! You must have been a wreck....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Braum23

im going to get him to the vet anyways.

---

That's a good man (woman?) right there. Good on ya pal!

Good job! I'm glad he's okay.

How did the vet visit go?

Update please


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk