My new Enchi PH pied hasn't flicked tongue once

[RustlewoodReptiles]

I recently won an Enchi PH Piebald
male in an auction and he just got
here the other day, I'm blown away
by how much I love him but notice
that he hasn't once flicked his tongue
out. I have him at another end of the
house away from where my female
regular ball python is kept, I'm a herp
noob and my first thought is he's just
shocked from being shipped all from
Florida, but I've read explicitly that
not flicking of the tongue is the sure
fire sign of active respiratory infection.

I've also read that the way to check is
to squeeze on their head to see if puss
or bubbles come out of his nose, and
with caution that any snake won't like
it ahaha, my boy is shy and I don't feel
like squeezing all up on him as my intro!

Basically before I have both of my snakes
taken in for their first introductory checkups,
are there any other viable reasons a snake
could not be flicking it's tongue out at all??

RustlewoodReptiles

[KMG]

You dont need to squeeze his head. You should be able to hear labored breathing, see mucus or stringy saliva, and see him keep his head point up if he has an RI.

I say check him out and hold him close to your ear. You should be able to hear if he is sick.

Why are you getting vet checks? Snakes are not like dogs that need shots. If your snakes are not wild caught and came from reputable people I would say its a waste of money.

[RustlewoodReptiles]

Thank you very much
for your reply KMG!!!
He shows no signs of
RI whatsoever except
the absence of flicking.

I'm going to handle him
right now and hold close
to my ear, he doesn't
seem to be holding up
his head at all. And by
vet I meant some kind
of vet office with a herp
specialist and hear word
of a very good reptile vet
out in Steamboat Island
which is close to myself.

My regular female ball
was wheezing when I got
her, but when dialed into
a proper temp & humidity
she stopped doing it. Pet
store jipped me with her
in a way because she was
sold to me as a Spotnose,
she has the spots on her
nose but no head pattern
and busy greyish sides etc.
I was not as versed in ball
morphs at the time and I
bought her on an excited
whim which I would regret
if she wasn't an amazingly
tame snake that I really love.
I was also told she was a
het. Scaleless because she
had preshed from last shed
still on her head, I knew it
was absolutely bull but
I should have taken it as
a warning sign not to buy
from that petstore... I just
hope I didn't get ripped off
in the same way by getting
sold a purposely ill animal!!

As much as I can regret &
regret & wish I waited for
the reptile show coming up
in October here, but I gave
in and COULD NOT WAIT I
wanted a ball too bad.. but
I do have a Mojave Spinner
coming in the mail from TX
via a reputable breeder and
I'm very excited for him to
show up!!! I'm sure he will
be my first issue free, stress
free ball python. I feel like
I've been getting ripped off
left and right recently, but
need to learn to not want
to jump on deals by a whim!!

We live and learn, and am in
a small way glad I learned 1st
hand that pet stores will lie to
you and have bad husbandry
and some deals way be too
good to be true...feels good
to be wiser about this to avoid
whatever questionable deals
I may encounter in the future..

RustlewoodReptiles

[KMG]

People can suck sometimes. My gtp was sold to me with a RI. The guy wouldnt even talk to me and instead made his wife text me and just play dumb. Over $300 later my boy was better and now he lives as he should. Good luck.

[RustlewoodReptiles]

Oh wow...lol..well as far as my female
regular goes, if it turns out she's a 'he',
then I will be pretty upset with the store
because I'm kind of so/so about her not
being a Spotnose, but I'm thinking that
the petstore owner's provider lied to them;
but then again the owner told me she was
Het. Scaleless which even I uneducated of
morphs knew was BS at the time told..
She may be a regular, but she's a very
amazing snake and a striking regular IMO.
But if it's a male then that ruins my plans.

Like I'm confident she's a female but then
again I was told she was a Scaleless Head
Spotnose combo...I just don't want to make
my snakes dislike me from expressing their
pings or whatever, I'd rather them dislike
someone else for doing that and other stuff!

Here is my update now... I took him out in
the sun handling him, which he seems to be
liking a lot more now in the short time I've
been working with him, and I still could not
hear any labored breathing or mushy wheeze
of any sort. Suddenly, he starts slowly flicking!
And by slow, it just barely pokes out at first,
and very very shortly like his tongue is extra
short or the action is just really laboring to him.
Eventually, he starts doing it a bit more though
with a little more strength and sometimes out
farther than before. So what I'm wondering now
is if there are any issues or deformities that might
be the cause of this, or if this is still having to do
with RI or similar illness. I'm very glad he forked
out a bit even though his tongue seems either
really small or just super laboring for him to do
for some reason I don't know of yet at this time.

RustlewoodReptiles

[200xth]

and sometimes out
farther than before. So what I'm wondering now
is if there are any issues or deformities that might
be the cause of this, or if this is still having to do
with RI or similar illness.

He probably thinks if he flicks his tongue in and out too much you're gonna notice the movement and eat him.

[RustlewoodReptiles]

That's a good guess..
there's just something
that's labored about
the ability to flicker in
itself that's worrying
me..and the eventual
consistency of it like
he's trying to but there's
a problem with doing it.

I talked to the place
I won him from and
they said they have
over 1000 snakes so
were not able to inspect
him as closely as I have,
and that none of their
animals have RI and
it's not of any concern.
They then asked if I've
fed him yet and I replied
No along with asking what
day of the week he usually
fed and I haven't a response
yet.. but I do feel better
pertaining to his collection.

Basically if there is an issue
I wouldn't have a problem
spending 300 dollars on my
male because I feel like he's
worth more than that and I
got him for a STEAL imo (85
shipped), I mean just an Enchi
is usually much more but PH
Piebald? I love both genes &
Enchi experts have told me EW
at his excessive spots and '0/10'
things like that, but I love him
so much and the bronze leaks
under the spots too which I like.

Besides regardless of my male's
appearance, I'll be able to select
Enchi's to my hearts content and
if he proves out Piebald I'm lividly
excited for everything about life.

RustlewoodReptiles

[RustlewoodReptiles]

In short, it may be Inclusion Body
Disease according to my vet and
he's being mailed to a professional
for testing to be done. My life has
been terrible for the past three days
now. I don't know what to do now.

RustlewoodReptiles

[OhhWatALoser]

making a new line every 5 words makes it very difficult to read.

But I wouldn't ship the snake anywhere and would talk to someone educated in reptile diseases, Skiploader (his account name on here) is one that instantly comes to mind. If you google "tongue flicking snake disease" you can see IBD is in a few of the results, if you google a lot of symptoms snake have, IBD pops up. it has a ton of symptoms, so many people misdiagnosis it. I wish I knew more in reptile illnesses but the rest of the conversation you need to have is with someone more educated than me.

[Emilio]

I hope I can help a bit, I've produced a good amount of ball pythons throughout the years I had a couple an Ivory and Cinny one year that would not flip their tongue much like your saying. I believe the Ivory developed with a short tongue this happens, that same Ivory is in my Buddy's collection and is now 4 years old and a crazy Breeder. Now the Cinny was just a nervous Ball wouldn't flick her tongue while I was around that snake is also thriving in another collection.

I believe you might be jumping the gun a bit on it being sick especially with the vet automatically bringing IBD into the conversation. Feed the enchi and go from there.