Swallowed Substrate

[CRAZY]

I was feeding my Ball-python (I'm not sure which section to put this in) and I was watching him. and at the last second as the last half-an-inch went down a small wood chip got stuck to the mouses behind. I usually have a short pole from a swiffer handy to poke out substrate but it was already in his mouth, so there was no hope and he swallowed it. It isn't coconut fiber it is just bark chips. Should I be worried? What kind of bark/wood is toxic to BP's, I forget. How do I tell if it is that kind of bark. I'm worried, I don't have alot of money right now so I might not be able to pay for a surgery/vet bills. If it isn't poisonus, will it block him up? Or will the bark dissolve in his stomach? I've been meaning to get indoor/outdoor capeting for a little while. Please reply if you can. Thanks.
P.S. There might be some 'r' s missing from this message some where because my keyboards 'r' isn't working that well.

[trumetal96]

Your BP should be fine. And it shouldnt be poisionous/toxic, the pet store wouldnt sell it, I dont think. I use repti-bark, and my bp has swallowed the bark several times from striking wrong. Since snakes have very strong stomach acid, the snake should be fine, he may have trouble digesting it depending on the size, but since you said it was small he should be fine. Actually, my bp has swalled multiple wood chips, and digested them fine. Dont worry, also, I would NOT recomend repti-carpet, I heard its a pain to keep clean and when they poop/pee it smells terribly.

If you want to switch substrates I would recommend aspen, which is softer than reptibark and more safer, or if you are worried you can always switch to newspaper/paper towels although it doesnt look so pleasant. hope I helped

[Wh00h0069]

I agree with the above poster. If the snake can disolve bone, then I am sure it can disolve a wood chip. If you are worried about this happening again, you can lay some newspaper down before you feed him. This would lessen the chance of this happening again.

Hope this helps.

[Ivyna J Spyder]

Your BP should be fine. And it shouldnt be poisionous/toxic, the pet store wouldnt sell it, I dont think.

Haha, how cute. For the record, pet stores carry plenty of things which are bad for, if not dangerous for pets.


Snakes can't digest wood. MOST things can't digest wood last I checked. Wood and bone are very different substances. Digesting wood takes very special stuff (usually specialized bacteria) which snakes lack. Bones are comparitively easy to deal with.

Chances are unless it's a really large, sharp and/or jagged piece though, he'll probably pass it just fine.

[SugarFox03]

You can also feed the snake outside of the enclosure, in a large rubbermaid lined with newspaper (or nothing) and let him feed in there where there's no chance of him ingesting any more wood chips.

[CRAZY]

Thanks guys, I geuss I was worrying too much. I wasn't thinking particularly repti-carpet or whatever. May neighbor works with a home renovation company, so he said he could get me a couple scraps of indoor/outdoor carpeting, and when soiled I can just through it in the wash. But I might just use un-printed newspaper, I'll have to see how things go.