Ball Python Ate Wood Chips

[Tlocke]

My ball python ate a few wood chips while eating his mouse. Is he going to be ok? I am really worried he is going to die!

[Tonald Drump]

It's not healthy for your ball python, that's for sure, but 1 wood chip isn't too lethal, though it could cause impaction. I suggest you take it to a vet to see what can be done, or wait for a reply from one of the veterans here..

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[Starscream]

So long as your husbandry is on point, he should be fine. Their digestive systems break down bones and other organic matter. They ingest dirt all the time from prey items in the wild - a few wood chips aren't going to hurt him.

If you're worried about it, in the future you could lay down a paper plate or a paper towel on top of your substrate before feeding, then feed over that.

[Zincubus]

As mentioned above - from now on place a couple of pieces of card or cardboard over the floor and feed over the card . I put card down earlier in the day and feed in evening


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[Momokahn]

It is never ok for any animal species to ingest a foreign object. On the occasions it does happen, the majority of time it poses no visual or internal harm. On that rare occasion it does, we get a new post on the forum "will my snake be ok".

I have never used "glorified dirt" and never will. The most popular justification I have witnessed for the stuff is "they eat it in the wild". That is true but also in the wild snakes will cross the road and hopefully will be ok or worse case it won't be too lethal (still trying to understand that one). Neither of those two are options for my snakes.

I use reptile carpet. Both pet shop brand and DIY brand Home Depot. Before the comments come on how unhealthy reptile carpet is, please feel free to read my past posts on my due diligence on my snakes hygeine. Is it work? You bet it is but I love it. My snakes at a minmum get interaction with me at a minimum of twice a day. Does that stress my snakes? Well none of my ball pythons will ball up and I usually hold them before I feed them. If that is stress or dangerous to them can live with that

The weekly posts will continue on this forum that directly relate to the continued justification of using different substrates and the same comments will repeat themselves. I have always chosen not to risk stuck splinters in scales, stuck splinters in nostrils, stuck coco shreds in teeth, my snake appears to be choking, impaction, scale rot, RI, or worse case death due to the use of "glorified dirt". I think that covers most previous posts.

Are my cages pretty? Oh heck no but I have never been into this hobby to see if I can win "Home and Gardens Most Beautiful Snake Cage Award".

And please before the flames get thrown, lets just cut to the chase. Substrates made of wood and coconut allows some keepers to not have to work (clean a cage) for 30 days. That 30 days then easily slips to 60 days then 90 days and after that it becomes a new term....bioactive setup. Am I old school? You bet I am. But I knew what this hobby demanded when I got into it.

I continue to scratch my head when someone posts a picture of dial thermometers and they are nearly stripped of all of their dignity, how their snake is being abused and is nearly on deaths door. Yet recently someone posted of losing their snake due to what likely appeared to be impaction and the condolences never stopped flowing in. I may be wrong but I don't remember many posts if any on the risks of using wood and coconut. Matter of fact I believe I read one post saying something to the effect "no way could it have been impaction" even though "dirt" was all over the snakes mouth and vent area. Yep, not enough evidence for me either...smh.

Was this a rant? You decide but I believe you now know my passion for my snakes and my dislike of "Use At Your Own Risk" in a bag.

[Kcl]

And please before the flames get thrown, lets just cut to the chase. Substrates made of wood and coconut allows some keepers to not have to work (clean a cage) for 30 days. That 30 days then easily slips to 60 days then 90 days and after that it becomes a new term....bioactive setup. Am I old school? You bet I am. But I knew what this hobby demanded when I got into it.
.

...Bioactive setups have never been used as terminology for something made of just uncleaned cocofiber or wood. It is specifically a mixture of dirt, sand, sometimes coco-fiber and peat moss that needs to be appropriately balanced for the species needs. It also MUST have an appropriate selection of invertebrates established as a population that eat fungus and any other potentially detrimental invaders. It also requires a drainage layer to maintain the appropriate amount of moisture without allowing the substrate to get soggy or stagnant. Bioactive setups are carefully balanced to replicate the natural environment more closely and can be MORE work than other substrates (watering plants, ensuring invert populations are good) and are certainly far more work to set up.

[Momokahn]

...Bioactive setups have never been used as terminology for something made of just uncleaned cocofiber or wood. It is specifically a mixture of dirt, sand, sometimes coco-fiber and peat moss that needs to be appropriately balanced for the species needs. It also MUST have an appropriate selection of invertebrates established as a population that eat fungus and any other potentially detrimental invaders. It also requires a drainage layer to maintain the appropriate amount of moisture without allowing the substrate to get soggy or stagnant. Bioactive setups are carefully balanced to replicate the natural environment more closely and can be MORE work than other substrates (watering plants, ensuring invert populations are good) and are certainly far more work to set up.

I'm using the term as "uncleaned"....it is what it is. Maybe I have just coined a new term for you if you can't see what it is. And yes I have read several accounts across Google University where a lot of people love their "compost piles". Heck one young man (BioDude) appears to be running a succesful business on what was coined back in the 1800's as snake oil. Market it, hype it, and put it in a bottle (today it is plastic bags) and people will buy it.

I will agree with you setting one up would be a tremendous amount of work. But once set up and that is debatable if it can even be done properly indoors (but lets say it can)we are back to my original point. "Look at my snake sitting on his compost pile. I haven't messed with it or cleaned it in years."

All the while the compost pile is not in it's perfect state since humans have a really tough time replicating nature, who is suffering? The snake.

If you run this type of setup and are on top of it 24/7, I commend you and appreciate the efforts you expend to provide the best for your snake. But I will error on the side of most people who get into this hobby. And that is they want minimal effort to say they have a snake and show off their snake to their friends......"oh never mind the stick sticking out of his nose, it's just substrate and it happens all the time in the wild". "It's usually not too lethal".

[Kcl]

I'm using the term as "uncleaned"....it is what it is. Maybe I have just coined a new term for you if you can't see what it is. And yes I have read several accounts across Google University where a lot of people love their "compost piles". Heck one young man (BioDude) appears to be running a succesful business on what was coined back in the 1800's as snake oil. Market it, hype it, and put it in a bottle (today it is plastic bags) and people will buy it.

I will agree with you setting one up would be a tremendous amount of work. But once set up and that is debatable if it can even be done properly indoors (but lets say it can)we are back to my original point. "Look at my snake sitting on his compost pile. I haven't messed with it or cleaned it in years."

All the while the compost pile is not in it's perfect state since humans have a really tough time replicating nature, who is suffering? The snake.

If you run this type of setup and are on top of it 24/7, I commend you and appreciate the efforts you expend to provide the best for your snake. But I will error on the side of most people who get into this hobby. And that is they want minimal effort to say they have a snake and show off their snake to their friends......"oh never mind the stick sticking out of his nose, it's just substrate and it happens all the time in the wild". "It's usually not too lethal".

I do run this type of setup for my ball python and will likely set it up for the garters. He seems very happy with it, more than he was with both paper towels and cocofiber, and is still very healthy. I certainly do mess with it and check on it plenty and spot clean and make sure the insects are properly cleaning the rest. But regardless, that actually wasn't my point at all. Whether bioactive is good or bad is a different debate.

My point was that representing uncleaned cocofiber or wood chip as being what people support when they support bioactive setups benefits no one, including the snakes, as it gives the false impression that there is a group of people out there supporting using just whatever substrate and not cleaning it. Representing that as something that there is an argument for at all does everyone a disservice.

On an unrelated note to the bioactive issue, I would point out that snakes do also ingest everything that is undigested in their prey's stomach as well as all the partially digested stuff in the intestines. They do therefore naturally eat a pretty small percentage of plant matter, seeds, nuts, insects, etc.

It does bother me when my garter snakes get cocofiber in their mouth, even though it doesn't seem to bother them and they prove constantly that it is not obstructing their gut. It honestly wouldn't bother me much if they got dirt in their mouths though because a large part of their (for the species I have and many others) natural diet is worms. Worms have dirt in their gut and lots of it.

[elleon]

As with anything concerning the keep of ball pythons, I believe there are multiple ways of doing substrate, and no one "right" way. How a person chooses to keep their snakes depends on their specific setup. I myself use coconut fiber bedding for my bp, as it seems very soft and natural, but does dry out rather quickly with my CHE. Saying bedding is bad because you don't like it is like saying racks or tanks are bad. It depends on what works for your situation. Just as long as you are meeting all of your snake's needs, that's all that matters.

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[SDA]

Just think of it as fiber. They eat far worse in the wild and survive. Mine choked down a whole coconut worth of coco fiber last week and is fine.

I use coconut fiber (reptile prime) and before that cypress mulch and have for almost 8 years now and my snake isn't dead yet. Things like newspaper are fine but you may run into humidity issues.