So, my ball likes to burrow right after I change her tank out. I use a mix of cypress mulch and reptibark. She doesn't burrow any other time except for when I clean out her tank and put in new bedding. Now, just before I was going to bed, I went to check on her and she had her mouth half open with a splinter of cypress mulch wedged down the left side of her mouth. I took her out to see if I could dislodge it but she was not having any of my harassment and now I'm afraid she may have swallowed it.

It wouldn't be the first time she's swallowed bedding, I suppose. She used to eat inside her tank before I saw that becoming an issue. I'm just a little concerned about the behavior. It's not the first time I've had to attempt to remove a piece of substrate from somewhere it shouldn't be on her body (nostrils are a prime target for this stuff when she burrows).

Shall I leave it alone and just keep an eye on her or take her to the vet to see if it's still lodged inside her mouth?

I know burrowing is natural but is there anything I can get for her to put in the tank that isn't going to cause so much fuss? She's allergic to coconut (vet confirmed; it's a long story) so we can't use coconut anything but maybe there's something out there that's better for her to burrow in that's not so splintery.