Ball python struggling to swallow

He's been at this small mouse for hours, and he's only managed to get it down to his throat. It's the normal size he usually takes but I think he's swallowed it wrong. It's too far gone for me too attempt to retrieve. He's been still for a couple hours now (still alive, I'm checking) but the mouse is still there. The shop owner we got him from doesn't open until another 4 1/2 hours. I don't know what to do.

He is also in shed.

Can you post a photo? https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-Post-Pictures

I've kept a great many snakes for literally decades & have never seen a snake that's unable to swallow a meal (unless it's too big), or one that has it stuck in the throat. Not sure what to tell you.

And if you need to find a vet nearest you, this can help: https://members.arav.org/search/custom.asp?id=3661

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Originally Posted by SnakeMother22

He is also in shed.

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Being in shed doesn't make swallowing any more difficult. Though I highly recommend that you don't feed snakes when you know they're in shed- maybe he's trying to figure out how to upchuck it? And snakes don't regurgitate easily- in fact, they can aspirate into their lungs when they do that, which can be very bad for them, so it's best to avoid the situation.

When a snake is in shed, their body uses up extra water in their body in order to shed. Digestion also requires good hydration, & doing both at the same time sometimes makes the snake have a very bad shed (ie. shed in a zillion pieces or get stuck in the shed & need our help). So it's best to avoid putting them in that position- in the wild, they do not eat when in shed, & there's no "room service" as there is in captivity, so they're not tempted to eat. They instinctively lie low when in shed because of poor eyesight.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...710_105551.jpg
The mouse has gone down a bit and he has been a but more active but his mouth seems to be swollen.

The Images keep showing up black, sorry.

I will update soon, so far he's looking a bit blue and we're trying to get in contact with someone more professional.
There is more saliva and he keeps opening his mouth every so often.

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Originally Posted by SnakeMother22

I will update soon, so far he's looking a bit blue and we're trying to get in contact with someone more professional.
There is more saliva and he keeps opening his mouth every so often.

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I'm so sorry to hear this. Keeping you both in my thoughts. Hang in there.

We've been told by a previous zoo employee who has now opened his own practice that until the mouse moves further down, he won't be able to close his mouth. He says not to worry, snake is just eating it more slowly but if he's still like that in the morning and the mouse hasn't moved down at all, then to give him a call.
Snake will likely be OK he's just taking his time eating. He has been active and doesn't seem to be panicking or stressed at all.
Have just misted the terrarium I bit :)
Thank you both <3

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Originally Posted by SnakeMother22

Snake will likely be OK he's just taking his time eating.

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He's taking his time alright! 13+ hours! Good job keeping your head. I think I would have panicked and done something rash by now.

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Originally Posted by SnakeMother22

... He has been active and doesn't seem to be panicking or stressed at all.
Have just misted the terrarium I bit :) ...

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Well that's a good sign...& a good idea to mist. I thought by now that I've seen everything when it comes to snakes, but they still manage to mess with us at times.

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Good job keeping your head.

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Why thank you, i did almost lose it at one point though :)
We're taking him up now as while he hasn't gotten worse since last night, he hasn't gotten better.
He still doesn't seem to be at all panicked, so that's a good thing atleast.
Thanks again

Good luck. Please keep us updated.

Any update??? Did you take him to the pet store where you got him? Or to a vet?

We took him to a vet yesterday, there was a bad smell at the time. They tried to remove the mouse while he was awake but he wasn't having it so they placed him under anaesthesia and were able to quickly remove the mouse. The vet and the rest of us are still confused as to why the mouse got stuck as it was a regular sized mouse he had taken before (I have my suspicions that it had something to do with the store we got him in).
We took him home and about half an hour later he became unresponsive, my dad thought it was him just chilled out as he was still likely feeling the effects of the anaesthesia and my friend tried to comfort me saying that some animals after waking up from anaesthetic, fall into a deep sleep for a while (she works in the local vets) since then, he has still been unresponsive.
I'm staying with my aunt for a while and my dad is going to Bury him tomorrow.
Thank yous for your help and support <3

Oh no! I didn't see that coming...I'm so sorry for how this turned out. None of this is normal- it makes me wonder if there was a congenital abnormality in his throat that caused a problem- things like that are rare & sad, but they can happen. A necropsy might or might not have given an answer, but even the vet didn't look any further & had no reason to think he wouldn't be fine after the mouse was removed. :tears: This shouldn't have turned out like this...I'm very sorry for your sudden, unexpected loss...that's the worst kind.

Thank you for sharing your experience though, so we can all be better aware of things that can go wrong. If & when you feel more like talking about this, I'd call the vet & let them know this happened, just to see what they think. (Did the vet do an x-ray before or after removing the mouse?)

As I look back over your earlier posts, especially #7- https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...=1#post2787051 -that makes me think this was somehow blocking his airway too, & maybe the prolonged difficulty breathing made him overly-susceptible to the effects of anesthesia. At that point his heart may have given out, due to the combined stress at the vet, & the anesthesia. Just my speculation...like I said, I'd run this by the vet when you feel up to it, so they can learn too.

I'm sorry for your loss.:(

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

None of this is normal- it makes me wonder if there was a congenital abnormality in his throat that caused a problem- things like that are rare & sad, but they can happen.

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That would explain it, and it wouldn't surprise me given the store I got him from had habits of sending out injured or sick animals. (On the reviews a woman bought a bird only to find it was malnourished and had an underlying disease causing it to later die soon after it was brought home. While my friend got two rats from the the same branch which were both infested with mites, one of which also has a respiratory disease.)

To my knowledge there was no x rays done before or after.
The blueness of his throat I later found was bruising. The vets were one of the first to find out he had passed and offered their condolences saying we did the best we could.


Jörmun is being buried with his favourite hide and a necklace I bought that somewhat resembled him.

Thank yous so much

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Originally Posted by SnakeMother22

That would explain it, and it wouldn't surprise me given the store I got him from had habits of sending out injured or sick animals. (On the reviews a woman bought a bird only to find it was malnourished and had an underlying disease causing it to later die soon after it was brought home. While my friend got two rats from the the same branch which were both infested with mites, one of which also has a respiratory disease.)

To my knowledge there was no x rays done before or after.
The blueness of his throat I later found was bruising. The vets were one of the first to find out he had passed and offered their condolences saying we did the best we could.


Jörmun is being buried with his favourite hide and a necklace I bought that somewhat resembled him.

Thank yous so much

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Pet stores are under a lot of pressure to keep prices reasonable, even though they have a "high overhead" (maintaining a "brick & mortar" store is expensive), so many do tend to buy in bulk from not always the best sources. That's why the best breeders sell their animals after they have a good feeding record, & why it's always less risk to buy "well-started" animals.

Even so, some things don't show up right away, & defects do happen when so many snakes are bred (& inbred) for fancy outward characteristics. I can remember hearing about a snake that had no cloacal opening- so it would eat, but ultimately couldn't expel waste, which was fatal. Some snakes are also prone to prolapses, strictures, or other various internal deviations that no one can see- some breeders & sellers, eager to just make money, may unfortunately just sell their animals anyway, letting the "chips fall where they may", continuing to breed animals whose bloodlines have a high mortality rate. They might not even know, if all they ever do is quickly wholesale their clutches to large distributers. :(

Anyway, Rest in Peace, Jormun. :please:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Pet stores are under a lot of pressure to keep prices reasonable, even though they have a "high overhead" (maintaining a "brick & mortar" store is expensive), so many do tend to buy in bulk from not always the best sources. That's why the best breeders sell their animals after they have a good feeding record,

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Breeders will also sort out the animals of lesser quality to go to wholesale, so any animal in a pet shop is much more likely to have been the leftovers after the best ones are sold directly to the end owner by the breeder. There's also some cherry picking of animals after they are wholesaled, by the distributor's employees, and by the shop's employees, so what hits the sales floor has been picked over perhaps a couple times.

This isn't the only pool that pet shop animals come from, of course -- they could be bred in house, or come from a breeder who simply wholesales everything -- but if there is any sorting done in the supply chain the highest quality ones do not go for wholesale.

Buying from the breeder is virtually always going to lead to best results, and buying the least expensive animal is often not the best bet unless the buyer knows exactly why the price is so low and this reason is not a worry (for example, overproduction of a low-value morph).

I was hoping this story would end differently and you just had a 'slow eater'.

I had the same nightmare issue with an entire clutch a few years ago.

Upon necropsy I noticed a congenital hourglass tissue formation in the esophagus that should not have been there.
Food would get stuck half-way in, and forcibly extracting the prey item resulted in heavy damage...ultimately leading to death.
In hindsight if I had known the exact issue I could have fed extremely small prey items, but, upon necropsy...too late...

I dread encountering this condition again and have completely outcrossed the original breeding lines to prevent this from happening a second time.