Bp substrate

[JonathanvanDyck]

My python ate a piece of his substrate a few days ago (coco husk) he seems fine but is it a problem?

[Daybreaker]

He should be fine, I've had some eat aspen before and no impactions came from it

[JonathanvanDyck]

ok awesome thanks I was worried

[kitedemon]

No it is digestible. Impaction is rare and usually results only from paper towels.

[JonathanvanDyck]

Awesome thanks!!

[MarkS]

Impaction is NOT all that rare and can be caused by many different substrates. I've lost baby cornsnakes from swallowing sand and vermiculite and I've lost baby ball pythons from swallowing chunks of cypress mulch. Impaction is caused by swallowing a non-digestible item that is too large to pass though the digestive tract. The smaller the snake, the bigger the potential problem. The more substrate swallowed the bigger the potential problme. Coco husk is made of very small particles that will likely pass just fine provided that it's not a large amount clumped together. Also if your snake is an adult it's not likely that much will hurt it by being swallowed since it's digestive tract is much larger and capable of passing larger pieces.

Wood products like wood chips or paper are all made of cellulose which is NOT digestable. I don't know about coco husk, but I believe it breaks down fairly easily.

[kitedemon]

My rare comment is based on case studies of my vet. In 16 years under 10 cases of impact action in ball pythons. 7 from paper towels (mostly fatal) the remaining three one inconclusive X-rays were uncertain. That leaves two one ( mine actually) on Cyprus mulch the other on bark. She sees at least 5 a day 5 days a week that is a lot of snakes. 10 in 20000 (give or take). My personal record is easy about 1:2100 that is far from common. Most breeders have never seen a single case. Why you have had massive numbers I can't say. It is far beyond my experience if you amount were common many would have the same issues here. The reality is few have at all.
Have yours been confirmed? Could it be something else?

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