Quote Originally Posted by KMG View Post
It is very possible that the noise is from the shed.

I would not worry to much unless you see stringy saliva in its mouth or atleast some other sign.

If it were me I would live the substrate alone unless its not great for holding moisture, I like cypress mulch.

I would add damp moss to each hide. I have done this for years in my glass tank holding my ball. During a shed I keep it moist and during other times I allow it to dry out before making it moist again. This will create higher humidity in the hides and since this is where the snake will usually be it benefits from it greatly.
Thank you, KMG! Is there a safe way to check for other symptoms? I've read about using the stick part of a q-tip to open the mouth, but I don't know how safe/stressful that would be. I'll go ahead and add the moss to each hide like you suggested and keep an eye out for other symptoms for a couple of days.

Not to derail my own thread, but since you mentioned cypress mulch, would you mind sharing where you get yours? I'm currently using aspen, but it's either too shredded and dusty or too chunky and I'd like to switch.