Should I be concerned?

[Snake Dave]

Hey everyone

I change my adult RP's (BP) water every two days, sometimes three if I get sidetracked. Yesterday was one of those days, weighed down with work, work and more work. I know that's not an excuse, but an extra day wouldn't hurt. Some people leave the same water in there for a week!

So anyway, I had to sort out her tank as well (thermostat probe etc.) So I decided to take her out. I handled her for a minute, then put her in her box.

So I took out the water bowl, and she'd obviously drank from it, but it also had pieces of gooey phlegm/saliva in it. Should I be worried, is this the sign of an RI? Or is it simply a normal indicator that she's stuck her mouth in there and drank lol.

Also, something that made me laugh. I put her back in after I'd sorted out her tank. So when she went in, she just moved her head a bit, then moved over the the water bowl, got excited and flicked her tongue loads, then tried to eat it lmao. She soon realised after opening her mouth that it was in fact a bowl and not a rodent.

Any help would be appreciated

All the best

David

[JLC]

Well....I've never seen even a hint of phlegm or anything "gooey" around her waterbowl or anywhere else in the enclosure.

[jkobylka]

There is a certain amount of saliva that you will find in a waterbowl just from normal "healthy snake usage" A snake with RI will certainly leave a much larger amount. I wouldn't worry about it absent from any other symptom. Just keep a close eye on her.

btw, gj on changing the water often, a lot of ppl overlook that, but the cleaning keeps the bacteria load in the water down.

Justin

[Snake Dave]

Thanks Justin, no it's not an excessive amount, nor is she displaying any other RI symptoms, her temps are fine, I'm probably just overreacting.

But thanks, yeah I change it for all my reptiles every two days usually.