Should I be concerned?

[OsirisRa32]

Ok...

So my big 3k gram dinker female has been periscoping and staring off into the corner/roof area of her enclosure quite a bit the past two days....Wondering if I should be concerned at all?

No husbandry practices have been changed...no temps or humidity are off...she is in a pvc enclosure 36x24x12.

I know that "star gazing" is usually discussed as a sign of IBD/etc etc type issues....can some star gazing simply be due to BPs sometimes just acting funny/weird/goofy?

its is a few days past when my snakes normally get fed...

[xFenrir]

Both my previous BP and my current boa both occasionally "stargazed" and never have had any neurological health issues. I think it's just that maybe they were looking at something that caught their attention, or were just spacing out.

If "stargazing" is the only thing your BP is doing, I definitely wouldn't jump to IBD as being the cause.

[bcr229]

Is her nose up in an area that normally gets fresh air from the outside? Maybe she just pooped... or she's hungry...

[OsirisRa32]

Both my previous BP and my current boa both occasionally "stargazed" and never have had any neurological health issues. I think it's just that maybe they were looking at something that caught their attention, or were just spacing out.

If "stargazing" is the only thing your BP is doing, I definitely wouldn't jump to IBD as being the cause.

Sorry I should have clarified a bit....was not jumping to IBD...just using that as an example due to the fact that star gazing and IBD fears seem to be spoken about together and frequently...

[xFenrir]

Sorry I should have clarified a bit....was not jumping to IBD...just using that as an example due to the fact that star gazing and IBD fears seem to be spoken about together and frequently...

Sorry if I came off ruder than I meant to, I was going for reassuring. Yeah IBD gets thrown around a lot and is a big scare-button, and while it does happen in my 4 years of being on this site I don't think I've seen one person report an actual case of IBD in their collection. Yes, stargazing is a symptom of IBD, but they should also exhibit other signs of neurological damage such as corkscrewing/not being able to stay right side up, wobbling, missing strikes, paralysis, disorientation, inability to constrict, regurgitation and dysecdysis (inability to shed properly) due to impaired motor skills. It's also noted that pythons tend to show signs of mouth rot as well. There are a few YouTube videos that show snakes infected with IBD (I would've linked but since the videos might be distressing to some people I would rather people search at their own discretion).

[OsirisRa32]

Sorry if I came off ruder than I meant to, I was going for reassuring. Yeah IBD gets thrown around a lot and is a big scare-button, and while it does happen in my 4 years of being on this site I don't think I've seen one person report an actual case of IBD in their collection. Yes, stargazing is a symptom of IBD, but they should also exhibit other signs of neurological damage such as corkscrewing/not being able to stay right side up, wobbling, missing strikes, paralysis, disorientation, inability to constrict, regurgitation and dysecdysis (inability to shed properly) due to impaired motor skills. It's also noted that pythons tend to show signs of mouth rot as well. There are a few YouTube videos that show snakes infected with IBD (I would've linked but since the videos might be distressing to some people I would rather people search at their own discretion).

LOL....yeah she isnt showing ANY other IBD type signs or any other issues related to any other BP/python disease that I have any awareness or knowledge of...

[Pythonfriend]

please correct me, this what i assume:

- head lifted up, but the head stays horizontal = periscoping, normal behavior, rather rare rather cute.
- head tilted upwards, nose going up = more unusual, healthy BPs only do it to smell the ceiling or when climbing.

does that resemble the truth? the way you describe it, it may be a BP periscoping/sniffing out of boredom/curiosity.

im no expert, but i see you jumping from one symptom to a diagnosis, while many things could cause the symptom. relax

[OsirisRa32]

please correct me, this what i assume:

- head lifted up, but the head stays horizontal = periscoping, normal behavior, rather rare rather cute.
- head tilted upwards, nose going up = more unusual, healthy BPs only do it to smell the ceiling or when climbing.

does that resemble the truth? the way you describe it, it may be a BP periscoping/sniffing out of boredom/curiosity.

im no expert, but i see you jumping from one symptom to a diagnosis, while many things could cause the symptom. relax

You guys are misunderstanding my point of the post....I am trying to ascertain what other purposes/reasons there are for the behavior I am observing...I am not jumping to a diagnosis of any sort...as I do not believe my snake to be sick (based on entire lack of any other symptom or indicating behavior). The observed behavior is definitely NOT periscoping at least based on observed periscoping from my 17 other snakes.
My apologies if my OP was misleading or poorly worded.

[dr del]

Mine do it occasionally as I feed from above.

When she has her head raised is her mouth open slightly? If not I would assume curiosity or hunger.

[OsirisRa32]

Nope no open mouthing on her....its just new behavior and it had me slightly perplexed and concerned at first...