Still RI or paranoia

[hungba]

One of my ball pythons had RI symptoms. I was changing the paper and water, and noticed that there was the whole shed and a poop in the water dish, which I suspect he drank from. He was gagging, stuck his head up directly to the sky, and had bubbles from the mouth.

I immediately quarantined him. Within like an hour he had no more gagging or bubbles in the mouth. I made vet appointment.

By the time he was at the vet the next day, there were none of the previous symptoms. Vet said he could not find anything wrong, but just in case he missed anything, prescribed a broad spectrum antibiotics for 2 weeks. This is what the vet said, not me, so dont yell at me if its wrong. He said if he continues to be normal I don't need to go back.

During this time, the snake continued to NOT have any of the previous symptoms. For all intents and purposes, he looks like a healthy snake, strong and crawling about, head in normal position, no wheezing no clicks, very alert, syring muscle tone etc.

However, 1) I tried to feed him and he did not eat and is scared of me. This may be because he is sick or because he is in a new environment and did not like me inspecting his mouth or giving antibiotics, I don't know. I have thus far only tried to feed him once since 2) I noticed that he does not hardly ever flick his tongue. In the rare instances I see a tongue flick it is only the tip of the tongue, even when cruising. I do see him flick his full tongue immediately after I open his mouth to check for bubbles, in which case he flicks it out fully for about 30 seconds the returns to not flicking. The tips look normal and not stuck together. 3) When I check for bubbles in mouth, I first open his mouth and there are no bubbles, looks completely normal. But if I look longer and he struggles, there will be some liquid coming out from the THROAT, and some bubbles. It's like I open his mouth and look inside, and it looks clear, but his mouth is propped open by a q tip sideways. He struggles, and I see saliva coming out, from the THROAT, not the glottis, with some bubbles form.

So, when you check a snake mouth by opening it, if it is sick, should it have bubbles all the time? What if there are no bubbles but after it struggles bubbles start appearing?

[Armiyana]

Someone else can probably chime in on this as well cause my experience isn't as vast as some of the awesome people here....

What kind of bedding do you have him on? I know I caught my biggest snake 'gagging' after shedding because while bumping about she gets some coco fiber in her mouth. She hates the taste.
I don't know if this could have been the same with yours.


For the refusing food...they hate the meds. It will sometimes take a bit after being on oral medications for them to go back on feed. My last snake treated for bacterial infection took almost 3 weeks to go back on feed. A week after meds to stop being headshy. I don't expect them to eat at all while on meds but do still offer something just in case. Right now tho he probably expects the check and icky taste so yeah, he will avoid you.

As far as symptoms...
The bubbling your producing is most likely stress related right now. The more pressure you exert by trying to hold and check the snake over, the more pressure on the stomach. And they will sometimes drink a large amount of water while on meds.
I would avoid as much handling and mouth checking as possible as this can actually cause him to inhale fluid and get pneumonia. Try to only medicate for now and monitor.

The symptoms you want to watch for are:
Extreme lethergy and weakness
Sudden weightloss
Open mouth breathing or headbobbing
A film or milky crust around the nose and mouth almost like stuck skin
Basking in strange places with the front end of the snake raised (usually accompanied by the headbob)
Watery stools

Hopefully someone can chime in with more info, but these are my experiences~

[Bogertophis]

I'll just add that in all creatures (including us & our snakes) stress seems to diminish the immune system...so it's possible your snake has (or had?)
a very slight RI and his body needs to fight it off...which means minimal handling, and don't worry about him eating right now...just let him rest, &
if he's still on an antibiotic, be sure you do the full course, otherwise [stopping the antibiotic] can promote resistant germs in your snake.

If a snake drinks water & then we handle them, a certain amount of water &/or bubbling might appear in their mouth, just because our handling is
putting pressure on their internal organs forcing a little water back up in their throat. Better to observe him closely without holding him.

As already noted, a snake on medication is not going to be happy with us, nor are they likely to want to eat, so just relax & give him time. New
environments do the same thing for snakes...cause stress & food refusal. And honestly, if I was him & accidentally drank from the water bowl with the
poop, I'd have been gagging too...

It's very stressful to force a snake's mouth open...don't do it unless absolutely necessary, & then, don't keep doing it if you ever expect your snake to
eat again. He's probably not flicking his tongue much because he is not hungry...again, from the meds and the handling. He's not happy with you
right now, so just be patient...let him rest & get back to normal. Finish the meds as directed by your vet, and wait a week or so before offering food,
unless you can clearly see that he seems hungry before then.

With any luck, all is well, so relax...