Ball Python ate A LOT of substrate

[MowgliPups]

Hello ,,, I am new to ball pythons and I've had my baby for a few months now, things have been going well until now

As soon as I put the rat (F/T, heated in warm water) into his cage he striked at the ground? He didn't even take the time to locate the rat or anything, just went for it and ended up with a mouthful of substrate. After having a good laugh, I got nervous.
I decided to try to offer the rat, in hopes that while striking or biting the rat, the substrate would fall out of his mouth, but I don't think this was the case. I couldn't really see what was happening because a branch was in the way but he ended up lifting up his head, uninterested in the rat, and swallowed maybe ? half a mouthful of substrate?? I'm honestly not sure how much he consumed.
I re-heated the rat and offered it to him again, he took it, laid on the rat for a minute, and then ate it (literally don't know why he just laid there, I am worried the amount of substrate he just ate was bothering him).
He decided it was a brilliant idea to drag the rat across the cage, covering it in substrate. I got really anxious and started gently and slowly spraying the mouse with water with a spay bottle to remove the substrate, trying not to stress him (the spray bottle was on the single stream setting thing, so it was precise sprays lol). He ended up getting the rat down and then sat there yawning and rubbing his face on things because he had a bit more substrate in his mouth -.-

I know, in the wild they eat dirt and stuff all the time, however the amount he consumed worries me....
Hes just a little tiny boy right now, eating rat pups for size reference

I do not want to put him in a different cage to feed him because I don't want him connecting my hand with food. I heard of putting cardboard down when you feed? I am going to attempt that next time.

Here is the link to the substrate I use:
https://assets.petco.com/petco/image...28477-center-1

What do I do if he does get impacted? How do I tell?
Is striking at random things, without taking the time to locate the prey normal?
And what other things could I try to avoid this in the future?



This has never happened before because he has always eaten on his branch or in his water dish (which was equally as concerning at first, but then I realized that he was fine)
I love him so much, I just really don't want to do something wrong or make a fatal mistake with him :( Sorry if I ramble, I am just really nervous rn

[Craiga 01453]

I've been using Eco Earth for YEARS with all my snakes (except the two little guys) and never had an impaction.

I honestly wouldn't sweat it unless there was an unusually large piece that was swallowed, which I highly doubt.

[Bogertophis]

I would put down some flat cardboard or other similar material as a "plate" next time, to help keep your snake from eating too much substrate. Never use any type of cloth, btw- their teeth catch on it & down it goes with their meal, requiring surgery to remove it because they cannot digest nor pass it. Same goes for any substantial pieces of wood- snakes don't have the enzymes to digest it, so if they were to consume some that is too large to pass- if it gets "stuck"- you'll know because they'll be unable to defecate, you might even see some bloody discharge, & their cloacal area will look "puffy" (aka "sausage butt", as it's known around here). Like constipated humans, a snake's appetite will also go down if they cannot pass stool, & it becomes essential to their survival to fix the situation. Anyway, I don't think the substrate you're using is likely to cause an impaction, so relax...but it's still best that he doesn't consume a lot of it.

His "striking at random things" suggests to me that he may be overly-hungry- are you sure you're feeding him enough (ie. the right size prey & at the right intervals)? Beyond that, you have to remember he's young & still learning...we were all pretty goofy when we were younger too, lol. Hyper & impulsive. Pretty normal in a baby snake, & far better than one with no appetite.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines

[Zincubus]

I would put down some flat cardboard or other similar material as a "plate" next time, to help keep your snake from eating too much substrate. Never use any type of cloth, btw- their teeth catch on it & down it goes with their meal, requiring surgery to remove it because they cannot digest nor pass it. Same goes for any substantial pieces of wood- snakes don't have the enzymes to digest it, so if they were to consume some that is too large to pass- if it gets "stuck"- you'll know because they'll be unable to defecate, you might even see some bloody discharge, & their cloacal area will look "puffy" (aka "sausage butt", as it's known around here). Like constipated humans, a snake's appetite will also go down if they cannot pass stool, & it becomes essential to their survival to fix the situation. Anyway, I don't think the substrate you're using is likely to cause an impaction, so relax...but it's still best that he doesn't consume a lot of it.

His "striking at random things" suggests to me that he may be overly-hungry- are you sure you're feeding him enough (ie. the right size prey & at the right intervals)? Beyond that, you have to remember he's young & still learning...we were all pretty goofy when we were younger too, lol. Hyper & impulsive. Pretty normal in a baby snake, & far better than one with no appetite.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines

^ THIS^


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[MowgliPups]

I would put down some flat cardboard or other similar material as a "plate" next time, to help keep your snake from eating too much substrate. Never use any type of cloth, btw- their teeth catch on it & down it goes with their meal, requiring surgery to remove it because they cannot digest nor pass it. Same goes for any substantial pieces of wood- snakes don't have the enzymes to digest it, so if they were to consume some that is too large to pass- if it gets "stuck"- you'll know because they'll be unable to defecate, you might even see some bloody discharge, & their cloacal area will look "puffy" (aka "sausage butt", as it's known around here). Like constipated humans, a snake's appetite will also go down if they cannot pass stool, & it becomes essential to their survival to fix the situation. Anyway, I don't think the substrate you're using is likely to cause an impaction, so relax...but it's still best that he doesn't consume a lot of it.

His "striking at random things" suggests to me that he may be overly-hungry- are you sure you're feeding him enough (ie. the right size prey & at the right intervals)? Beyond that, you have to remember he's young & still learning...we were all pretty goofy when we were younger too, lol. Hyper & impulsive. Pretty normal in a baby snake, & far better than one with no appetite.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines

I feed him once a week, every Wednesday. The thickness of his body is the thickness of the rat pup (I was nervous watching him eat these are first because of how large they look compared to his head lol)
If he does get impacted, what should I do?
I think he isn't overly hungry, probably just being young and silly haha


I have been carefully checking up on him, taking a little peek to make sure he is well, and he looks fine as of right now :D
and I will definitely be using that cardboard trick next feeding!

[OoohShiny]

He'll probably be fine, just keep a good eye on him and I bet he passes it. My Tonks is a little bitty girl and a few weeks ago she got a HUGE mouthful of Eco Earth. I got as much of it out as I could (that was fun ) but she still swallowed a lot of it, then ate her lunch like normal. I never noticed anything unusual after that.

I don't take my snakes out of their enclosures to eat, but I do something to make sure they get as little substrate as possible. For my ball pythons, I turn their hides upside-down and feed them in the "bowl" it makes. My bullsnake has a little cat water dish that I put his mouse in, as apparently dangling it for him is TERRIFYING. So they're all eating on a non-substrate surface, and I've never been bitten during feeding time. And I wouldn't worry about your little guy mistaking your hand for prey, unless you're putting a hand near him that smells like prey, which yeah, don't do that.

[Bogertophis]

... I turn their hides upside-down and feed them in the "bowl" it makes...

I do that too, sometimes. Especially for my longnose snake, that eats about 6 fuzzies & it takes a while- this keeps them out of his substrate, otherwise he tends to push them off the cardboard that I leave them on. It's a good technique, as long as it doesn't stress out your snake; I think it might put too many B.P.s off eating, since they tend to be shy, & feel bolder striking & taking prey from their 'doorway', so suddenly taking that away could easily make for a failed feeding. Otherwise, it's a good tactic. You can always use either an extra hide or a shallow bowl to feed in, just leaving their actual hide in place.

[MowgliPups]

Update

He is doing fine as of today, I took him out to inspect him a bit yesterday, and held him today. He’s being is usual curious self

next time I feed him I am going to put a plastic plate under his meal so that he doesn’t do this again lol

[Bogertophis]

Update

He is doing fine as of today, I took him out to inspect him a bit yesterday, and held him today. He’s being is usual curious self

next time I feed him I am going to put a plastic plate under his meal so that he doesn’t do this again lol

Yup.

[EL-Ziggy]

He should be fine. These are pretty hardy and resilient animals. I have 11 snakes and use reptichip bedding. I’ve seen them ingest a bit of it but never had any issues.