Bubbles when hissing?

I can't find anything about this. I have a 5 year old male ball python. I got him when he was older. He's very nervous and he always does the closed mouth hissing when I go to take him out. Today he was especially loud and I looked at the side of his mouth and saw bubbles. I had just heavily sprayed him, but I want to know if this is normal or a concern. Thanks

I don't know about bubbles when hissing, but typically bubbles at all is a sign of a respiratory infection if I'm not mistaken


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Originally Posted by CrazycatOP

I had just heavily sprayed him

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What exactly do you mean you heavily sprayed him? Like hosed him down or dosed him with a spray bottle of water? Was this done in his enclosure? I would think the act of spraying a ball python, especially in their enclosure, would greatly aggravate and stress your snake. I can't think of a single source that condones spraying down a ball python for any reason outside of treating mites.

Why, if I may, do you feel the need to heavily spray your snake? This may help to further understand the bubbling. Is your enclosure low humidity? If so how do you measure it and what are the readings?

Have you noticed excessive yawning, head tilted in an upright position, mucous when the mouth is open, or bubbles when not being sprayed down?

Yeah, why are you heavily spraying him? WTF are you doing?

I never spray my snakes. I mist the enclosure if it gets really dry, but I never spray them directly, that would be threatening to them.

I would appreciate avoiding things like "wtf are you doing". I am coming here for help, this is stressful, I don't need rude comments. I don't know why people have to be so rude and judgmental. I spray the enclosure about every other day to keep the humidity up. Otherwise it is about 50%. I have never noticed anything else odd about him besides today. Breathing sounds fine, mouth looks perfectly normal. There were just a few bubbles when he hissed at me.

Well, you shouldn't heavily spray him, that maybe a contributing factor to the problem.

He also eats amazingly well too. Idk of that means anything. And I use a spray bottle btw

My recommendation is to closely monitor him for a few weeks. If he does not show any further symptoms of a RI then it was just water bubbles while he was thoroughly crabby from getting wet ;)

But my question is what are the bubbles most likely from?

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That's what I'm REALLY hoping.

Would it hurt if I did light treatments just in case?

You only spray a snake by A: accidentally and B: mites. Never directly spray your snake. It only makes them stressed. Spray the enclosure only and you might get A. That's it.

I would simply monitor him for now, and try to avoid heavily spraying him directly as that may have indeed been the issue and it might be part of the reason he is being aggressions. Keep in mind they are shy animals and thus being "heavily sprayed" as you say, will frighten them and likely make them defensive. If you are that nervous about the whole situation, you might thoroughly disinfect the tank, and if you are using substrate like coconut fiber or any other natural substrate, switch him over to paper towels, but I wouldn't recommend administering medication unless an RI is confirmed.


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He is in a rack. Does he need to be put somewhere separate from the other snakes?

That's why for right now you should just monitor him. If you notice any more bubbling outside of spraying him directly with water or any abnormal wheezing when breathing or any other signs of a RI then your can make a vet appointment to have him examined. I don't recommend self diagnosing any illnesses unless you have training to do so.

And if I should separate him, which after researching is looking like I should do, does this mean to put him in a completely different room?

If you're suspecting a RI then I would at the very least isolate your snake from any rack system until you can make a vet appointment. I am unsure of the necessity to completely isolate it in another room however but I highly doubt the necessity to remove it from the entire room but if you can still provide proper husbandry during isolation, it won't hurt. That would be an excellent question to ask the vet

Thanks. He isn't showing any other symptoms so I'm really hoping this is just a fluke thing. But it's better to be cautious than to risk my other snakes.

And SunnieSky (hope the name is right) are you saying to not spray ANY snake or just ball pythons?

There is no reason for you to spray a snake unless it's for mites. Spray their enclosure, sure, but don't spray them directly for no reason.


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I am going to politely disagree to that as my boa loves being sprayed. I can be spraying the other side of his enclosure and he'll slither into the spray of water. But I will avoid directly spraying my ball pythons

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Originally Posted by CrazycatOP

I am going to politely disagree to that as my boa loves being sprayed. I can be spraying the other side of his enclosure and he'll slither into the spray of water. But I will avoid directly spraying my ball pythons

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My Kingsnake seems to enjoy being misted sometimes too. I use a pump mister rather than a spray bottle (best $5 I ever spent by the way) and when I'm misting his enclosure he often comes out to see what I'm up to and will often just slither through the stream of water. I don't intentionally spray or mist any of my snakes, including my King, but if he crawls into the stream I don't stop him. My BP HATES when I mist near him, so I take him out when I mist his enclosure.

Anyway... to answer your original question about the bubbles: I would chalk this up to being sprayed, however, I would monitor the snake very closely and make sure that's all it was. Also, look for signs like elevated head, more bubbles, mucous build up, mucous smeared on the glass and/or water bowl and hides/decorations. My guess is all is fine, but I would just watch carefully and wouldn't hesitate to make a vet appointment if any other symptoms appear.