I adopted my ball python about a year & a half ago. The only information about him I received is that he is 7 years old & was apparently a 'runt'. When I got him, he was a petrified animal that hid all the time & would randomly strike at people, especially men. He was thin like a corn snake & quite short. Over the last year and a half he has grown just over a foot in length and doubled his width. He is rarely ever frightened and no longer tries to stay hidden.

Unfortunately about 5 weeks ago he started wheezing/puffing. He received 3 weeks worth of antibiotics. The wheezing/puffing is a lot better than it was. His lung x-rays showed that his lung was quite clear. When the vets (I went to 2 different ones) listen to him with their stethoscopes it doesn't sound bad. But there is a large amount of mucus at the back of his throat. My main vet says that when she opens his mouth, his trachea is clear and that the mucus is coming from the throat behind the trachea so she doesn't think it's to do with respiratory infection. She took a swab of the mucus & when the results came in, it said that there were no parasites or bacterium found. He's refused to eat for the last 3 weeks. There's no clicking noises, no bubbles coming out of his nose, I've seen him yawn only once in the last month, he doesn't keep his mouth open, he's never regurgitated, he usually poops 7-8 days after eating, he's peeing normally.

Does anybody know what on earth the mucus at the back of his throat behind the trachea could be?