Yawning?

[Crazy4Herps]

Snakes will yawn recently after they've eaten, to "relocate" their jaw. (Which is an incorrect way of putting it, as their jaws aren't "located" in the first place.) Perfectly normal.

Another explaination is that they have an RI and have difficulties breathing through their nose. Other signs of an RI include mucous in the mouth, or around the mouth, nose, and eyes, wheezing, and whistling. RIs are easy to treat if caught early, but can become advanced quickly if not treated. If you think your snake has an RI, seek vet care. There are some simple antibiotics that are readily available. Personally, I don't feel entirely comfortable giving my snakes meds, so I had my BP's RI treated via injections every 2 weeks.

"Stargazing" may be confused with yawning, but I don't believe that is the case with your snake. Stargazing is the term for when a snake tilts its head back and opens its mouth. Stargazing (which is often confused with open-mouth breathing; these two are not the same) is a sign of IBD, inclusive body disease, which occurs in boids and is untreatable and highly contageous (not for people; IBD is feared among those with large collections and is the main reason why newly acquired snakes are quarantined for a few months). It doesn't sound like your snake is stargazing, so I wouldn't worry if I were you.

The following is my personal hypothesis, based on what I know about cats and snakes and what I have observed. Snakes, like many animals such as cats, have an organ on the top of their mouths called the Jacobsons organ, which works the same way our nose does but is much more sensitive. This is why they "smell" with their tongues. They touch things (or air, if they are smelling the air) with their tongues, then retract their tongues and put them to the roof of their mouth; thus, the Jacobson's organ "smells" what particles have been picked up by the snake's tongue. On to cats. When cats hunt, they open their mouths slightly to get a better smell of their surroundings. I think this may be what you are noticing with your snake (mine has done the same thing). I think he is exploring his new home and is opening his mouth to take in scents directly to the Jacobson's organ, rather than picking up scents with his tongue.

Just my two cents. Unless you see mucous or something, I wouldn't be concerned.

[Scotteeo]

Yeah, nothing is bubbling or looks infected. What you said makes the most sense because his surroundings have COMPLETELY changed from aspen to jungle, different hides and all that jazz. I will keep an eye on him though. I noticed no reddness in his mouth either when he did that. Btw, what are other signs of star gazing? Just curious so I can be on the look out.

[Crazy4Herps]

I'm no expert, I haven't even read that much about it, but the main tell-tale symptoms of IBD are star-gazing and an inability for the snake to right itself. Sadly, there is no current treatment for IBD, and snakes with it should be humanely euthanized. It can cause a lot of pain. Unfortunately, it is also very hard to diagnose, I believe the only way to know for sure is to have a blood test or a biopsy.

Here's a great article by Anapsid.
http://www.anapsid.org/ibd.html



EDIT: IBD is actually for inclusion body disease, my mistake, I put inclusive body disease in my last post.

[mrshawt]

Bp's yawn to relieve building pressure in their body. If they didn't, they'd explode. Seen it happen. True story.

[Scotteeo]

Building pressure? What causes it? Stress from moving into a new viv? That would make SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more sense to me.

[rabernet]

Bp's yawn to relieve building pressure in their body. If they didn't, they'd explode. Seen it happen. True story.

What? I've never heard of such a thing ever before!

[Shin86]

mine does it occaisonally too.....i never heard it being anything serious,unless its really frequent.

[Quickone4u]

Mine has only done it a couple of times so, hopefully no problems. I did have a great night last night though. I attemted to feed my bp for the first time and she ate right away! yaaaaayyy! haha

[Crazy4Herps]

Woohoo! It's always so great when they eat!

[Scotteeo]

I'm going to be posting pics of him in just a minute!!! I'm uploading them on photobucket as we speak. I'm going to name it "First Pics of Kratos!" Check it out when you see it!