Yet another question about BP feeding...

[saelokason]

Hello. I tried to feed my new BP this evening -- this would be a first feed in my possession, but the snake had eaten twice prior to purchase. I was pleased, because she struck at and coiled around the mouse, and that's when the problem happened. She got a piece of substrate stuck in her mouth, pulled off the mouse and started to try and get the piece out of her mouth. I pulled her out of the terrarium and dislodged the piece of substrate from her mouth, since it was rather large and I didn't want her to hurt herself on it. I thought I got all of it, but I realized I didn't when she struck at the mouse again and once again ended up stopping because of the piece of substrate. She's on coco. I think the next time I try and feed her, I'm going to put a paper plate down to prevent this substrate issue. My concern is that she was eager enough to eat that she struck at the same F/T mouse twice, but was unable to eat. Should I wait a week to try and feed her again, or should I try on Monday?

Her terrarium is at 91 F for her belly heat, and about 82 for an ambient temperature. I put up some foam core to help retain heat since she's in a glass terrarium and my room can get a bit drafty. I put up a slimmer piece on the front of her terrarium to partially block the view so that she feels more secure, since the terrarium is probably too large for her right now -- she's 14" and it is a 20L. She has two hides, one on either side of the terrarium, her water in the middle, and some terrarium plants along the back so that she can get from one side of the terrarium to the other without leaving cover. I draped one of the plants over the water so that she can access that, too, without really exposing herself.

The humidity fluctuates between 30 and 60... covering the lid with some cardboard (cut out for air and light) has helped this.

I'm posing the question about feeding because I want this snake to thrive and I'm really worried that her feeding habits got botched with these two failed attempts.

[saelokason]

I just did a more thorough check, and the debris is now out of her mouth. I'm sure I've stressed her out with getting the junk out of her mouth.

[Wizard]

Don't be so concerned ingesting some substrate. In the wild, pythons ingest all kinds of foreign material.
Plus, most suitable reptile substrate will pass without any issues. Ironically, the only time I have seen a snake have a problem are when the prey get caught up in a paper towel liner.

[saelokason]

Thank you for responding! I'm not so concerned about her swallowing down small pieces -- the thing she had lodged in her mouth was stuck to her teeth and was making her yawn a lot and pull off the food. Should I try feeding her again soon, or in a week?

[Wizard]

Thank you for responding! I'm not so concerned about her swallowing down small pieces -- the thing she had lodged in her mouth was stuck to her teeth and was making her yawn a lot and pull off the food. Should I try feeding her again soon, or in a week?

As long as she wasn't too stressed you probably can feed her tomorrow. But there wouldn't be a problem by waiting a day or two and try again. Good luck, keep us informed.

[saelokason]

Thank you for responding! I'm going to give it another shot tomorrow (Monday). I papered over the front of her tank today so she felt more closed in and could de-stress some more. She was hiding with her little snout poking out earlier so I think that's a good sign.

[200xth]

Thank you for responding! I'm not so concerned about her swallowing down small pieces -- the thing she had lodged in her mouth was stuck to her teeth and was making her yawn a lot and pull off the food. Should I try feeding her again soon, or in a week?

Next time, I would just let her get it out of her mouth herself. They know how to get debris out of their mouth.

[saelokason]

Thank you for responding! Next time, I'll probably wait longer to see if she can truly dislodge it before I head in to "rescue" her. I worked on dislodging it for her because it seemed to really be stuck on her teeth and her movements concerned me. Worried pet owner that I am.

She successfully fed tonight. Thank you both for responding to my question.

[Wizard]

She successfully fed tonight.