Small mound of bubbles on enclosure floor?

[Cee Jay]

Hi all,

I woke up today and noticed a pile-type thing of what appeared to be mucousy bubbles on the cage of my variegata's enclosure this morning. Probably like a 1.5" x 1.5". I did my best to get her out and open her mouth with a wooden chop stick (sideways, not the point), to check for discharge or an RI, but the one time she actually let me get her mouth open a bit I didn't see what I expected to see, which is tons of bubbles and wheezing. I don't see any discharge from the sides of her mouth, but she is about to shed I think as she got milky for a couple days and then it went away. She hasn't eaten in more than a month, but is offered food. The guys at my local shop said to keep offering food and that some snakes go extended periods of time without eating. Humidity is 65%, hot spot in the winter is 91-92* and the coolest spot is around 78. Middle of cage is probably mid 80s. She does seem to have lost a little weight, I know that's not great, but not sickly - just sort of more noticeable near the neck by her head from what I assumed to have not eaten for a while. When I take her out she is super active, flighty and her normal self, though I only take her out every couple weeks.

I am just confused because this pile of bubbly stuff was in one small pile and nowhere else. I figured if she had that much of it in her mouth or was able to produce that much there is no way it wouldn't be covering her mouth at this point. She had her long tongue flicks going and I saw nothing coating her tongue. I do hear like air gurgling in her stomach when she is being flighty/held, but she is a hisser and I assume that is just air moving around in her stomach. Could it have been a passing of something? Would love to hear some opinions and I apologize I don't have a photo, I kinda freaked out, cleaned it up and got her out for inspection.

CJ

[Bogertophis]

I'd keep an eye on her for sure...snakes have only 2 ends that open & this had to come out of one or the other. Let's hope it's not an RI building up, but either way this is not typical- what might have happened
is that she took a drink of water, then for some reason spit some out (like maybe going over a branch, moving around caused it to come back out?) and what you're seeing is saliva mixed with air & water? No way
we can say for sure though. Have you checked her cloaca?

[Cee Jay]

She's not the biggest drinker, though there is always water available. I've only seen her drink from a bowl once in memory. I've had this snake only since August, got her as an adult. God knows what she does at night tho. I checked around that area when I had her out and didn't notice any discharge or swelling, but I am unfamiliar with anything that involves opening up that area for inspection. She's back up on her high perch near the RHP, which is her normal spot. I took out the paper towel and substrate again with the stuff on it and it was much thicker than I remember at first, almost gooey clear gel with some bubbles. I wonder since she hasn't eaten in a while maybe it's a digestion thing? There have been a couple times when she has just passed small urine pieces, but no fecal matter. I imagine there is no food in her at this point as she passed one stool the last time she ate. :/ She was what I took as her normal annoyed and hissy self this morning. She was on the bottom of the enclosure this morning before the lights came on, but she may have been going up to the heat. At some point, though, "that" happened on the bottom of the enclosure. I just offered her a meal just so it's available. I imagine she won't eat it, but I just want one to be there just in case.

[Bogertophis]

...didn't notice any discharge or swelling, but I am unfamiliar with anything that involves opening up that area for inspection...

Do not try to open her cloaca...just saying this glob of slimy bubbles had to come from one end or the other. Hope you can get her eating...that's really important.

[Cee Jay]

She wasn't interested in food. This is the first time she has shed since I got her. I always thought that once their eyes got blue and their skin got hazy they would shed right away, but I read a few places that said that can go away and they may shed up to a week later. Since she is in "shed" I guess it would be even less likely she would have an appetite. I realize that stuff came from one end or the other, but I wish I could find out which end. I am going to monitor for a couple days, hope she sheds and kind of take it from there. Any other inputs would be appreciated. Thanks again.

[Bogertophis]

She wasn't interested in food. This is the first time she has shed since I got her. I always thought that once their eyes got blue and their skin got hazy they would shed right away, but I read a few places that said that can go away and they may shed up to a week later. Since she is in "shed" I guess it would be even less likely she would have an appetite. I realize that stuff came from one end or the other, but I wish I could find out which end. I am going to monitor for a couple days, hope she sheds and kind of take it from there. Any other inputs would be appreciated. Thanks again.

Yes, a full shed cycle can easily take a week+++. Make sure the humidity stays optimal. Because she hasn't been eating, she may have a slower & more difficult shed. (shedding is the result of growth, & snakes need
food to grow & thrive) Would probably help to give her a humid hide (with damp moss or similarly moist material) Once a snake goes cloudy ("blue") they're only halfway there...they go back to "clear" (looking mostly
normal) BEFORE they shed. That's because their body secretes a little fluid between the old & new skin, to facilitate it's removal. Your snake might take 2 weeks to get all this done. It's normal for a snake not to have
an appetite when shedding. This is partly due to their reduced vision (battling prey when you can't see is risky, so instincts tell them not to), but also because both digestion AND shedding requires extra water from the
snake's body to accomplish, & they somehow instinctively sense it's better to wait for a meal. (some snakes will eat anyway in blue, and most are fine, while others have a bad, ie. stuck, shed that comes off in a million
pieces or only with our help; this is due to the "dehydration" caused by the shed cycle- not enough hydration to do both simultaneously)

[Cee Jay]

I just put one of those XL corner water dishes in there for her to see if she wants to soak. I use it for my Jungle and when it's in there he stays in it and loves the thing. It's funny to see a 6.5ft snake balled up in the thing as i can only put about 1/4 water in it with the displacement. The issue I have with moss is that for some reason it always ends up getting gross for me in a short period of time. The humidity is 65-70% right now and stays around 65 almost all the time. I get that number from Star Pythons, who I really trust with husbandry. This mucus thing has me tweaking but I will see what happens in the morning.