Water in glottis or windpipe....

[Albert420]

Hi , I hope everyone is well with what is going on in the world right now.

I haven't been on the forum in ages which tells me my snakes are happy and healthy.
Last night i fed and my one royal twisted around while halfway down, but he twisted with his head upside down into his water bowl.

He stopped swallowing and tried to breath through his nostrils for a second and acted confused I would say. Although I would not know its a snake, he got out of the water and just carried on chomping his rat but i did heart excessive breathing after this had happened.

Water either entered his glottis through his nostrils or the glottis itself while his mouth was wide open with a rat in its mouth in the water bowl, this is not hard to imagine.
I am however concerned that water entered his lungs some how? The excessive breathing stopped 20 min after he chomped down the whole rat.

Next time there will be no water bowl. Lesson learned.

Is there any signs to watch out for?
He is perfectly fine now. . . . . .

[Streller]

I am not a qualfied veterinarian and the words and advice of one would give you a far better and more accurate answer. I do know that if water does enter the lungs of any animal, there is going to be increased difficulty in getting oxygen into the body simply because of the decreased capacity in the lungs. In humans this can lead to a condition called pulmonary edema. I do not want to panic you, but there is probably a chance this could cause a respiratory infection, so you should definitely be on the lookout for that. Luckily reptiles are kept heated and the water is probably going to evaporate pretty fast, but there's nothing to say that this initial irritation of the lungs won't cause a pulmonary edema-type problem in the snake where fluids build up.

Keep an eye on your snake, check for behaviour shifts, check for signs of RIs. Remember, the earlier you catch a problem and can consult a veterinarian, the better chance of recovery the snake will have, especially when it comes to an RI.

[Albert420]

I am not a qualfied veterinarian and the words and advice of one would give you a far better and more accurate answer. I do know that if water does enter the lungs of any animal, there is going to be increased difficulty in getting oxygen into the body simply because of the decreased capacity in the lungs. In humans this can lead to a condition called pulmonary edema. I do not want to panic you, but there is probably a chance this could cause a respiratory infection, so you should definitely be on the lookout for that. Luckily reptiles are kept heated and the water is probably going to evaporate pretty fast, but there's nothing to say that this initial irritation of the lungs won't cause a pulmonary edema-type problem in the snake where fluids build up.

Keep an eye on your snake, check for behaviour shifts, check for signs of RIs. Remember, the earlier you catch a problem and can consult a veterinarian, the better chance of recovery the snake will have, especially when it comes to an RI.

I will do thank you.

I upped the temperature with two degrees to lessen the chances of RI, I've heard this can help a lot.

[Streller]

Just don't stress yourself over this too much, you are doing all you can and there are lessons learned! Please make sure you haven't increased his hotspot temp too high though. I would imagine the chances are your guy is going to be just fine.

[Bogertophis]

To the best of my knowledge, a snake's glottis closes automatically when they're in the act of swallowing. Plenty of snakes take on prey in & under water, & while ball
pythons aren't usually one of them (due to environmental differences), I really doubt that you have anything at all to worry about. Wrestling prey will cause a snake to
breath hard...it's not as if your snake is an athlete that regularly works out, lol.

I've been keeping lots of snakes for many years...I've never seen a snake have any sort of problem like you describe, & in fact, my most aggressive feeders include my
large adult FL rat snakes that are often on their branches when I offer them f/t rodents, & they're so enthused trying to "kill it" that sometimes they fall off their branches
& hilariously right into their large water bowls. They may or may not get out to finish eating, & none have ever had a respiratory problem...so I'd say "relax".

[Albert420]

Its been 5 days and all is well with my big boy.
A happy camper indeed and im happy to know that he had some water to swallow his food down.


\Thanks Guys

[Bogertophis]

Glad to hear it.