Help! BP making clicking noises?

[tracy0416]

I just adopted a 1.5 year old, 2 foot 1/4" male ball python from a guy I know who is honest and good with herps. He adopted him for someone else who had to move to a place that doesn't accept snakes as pets.

I have put him into a 2 foot tank, on aspen, with a large hide (which he can also bask on top of), water dish in the middle and a heat pad under the dish. Edge of the heat pad hits a bit of the hide too. (I didn't attach it to the tank, just placed it under so I can move it when I put him back into his larger tank.

I have not set up any lights yet. It's getting hot here.

Physically, the BP looks fine, no skin weirdness or mouth issues related to R.I., no wheezing, redness, etc. He's strong, vigorously wraps around stuff, active, skin is clear, (although he is due for a shed as his eyes are blue). No mites. I can't give you history but I can say he's docile and interested in what's going on. Lots of tongue flicking.

I don't note any swelling anywhere and his belly looks fine although it has some faint large and long pink-ish areas on the whiter areas of his underside which looks normal to me. Then again, this is my first BP so how the hell do I know what normal is, really. What I mean is it just looks like normal gradient of colours on the abdomen, like there's guts in there amking it look pinkish, y'know?

I've heard that some snakes "click" when in, or due, for a shed.

What do y'all think?

[Freakie_frog]

Could be dry skin around the nose causing the clicking noise. However right after he sheds if it keeps up get that snake to the vet ASAP Could be an RI.

[SarahMB]

The pink tinge is most likely from being in shed as well.

[Sausage]

Sounds like he's shedding. Just keep an eye on him.

I have put him into a 2 foot tank, on aspen, with a large hide (which he can also bask on top of), water dish in the middle and a heat pad under the dish. Edge of the heat pad hits a bit of the hide too. (I didn't attach it to the tank, just placed it under so I can move it when I put him back into his larger tank.

You might want to reassess his setup.

I wrote this in another thread, but I'll just copy and paste it here.
First off: temps
You will need to control your UTH with a dimmer, which can be bought here .
Also you will need a digital thermometer, as the little dial ones are very inaccurate. Walmart sells one called AcuRite Indoor/Outdoor thermometer like this . You should place the actual unit on the cool side of the cage near the bottom and put the little probe on the warm side. You want the cool side to be 80-85 and the warm around 90-95, but no higher. Humidity generally should be around 50%, but can be bumped up to 70% during a shed. Too high of humidity can possibly cause scale-rot, which is hard on the snake and can leave horrific scars.

As for hides, you want two: one on the warm side, one on the cool. They need to be tight and touching the snake on all sides... the little logs aren't very good. I use here . They are more clay-colored and have smaller entrances than pictured, but are very well made.

I think that about covers it.

[frankykeno]

This sticky about the shed cycle might be really helpful to you.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=28794

While it's possible the sounds you are hearing are due to loose shed over the nostrils, the fact is no one online can nor should diagnose what can be one of the symptoms of an RI. With any snake you take in as a rescue, with basically an unknown past, it's always wise to have a vet give it a once over and do a fecal float as well (will rule out any internal parasitic load).

[tracy0416]

Glad to hear the clicking is not a "sure" sign of anything. I'll keep an eye on it, see if it clears after the shed.

Oops! I didn't mention that this was a temporary setup (tomorrow I am cleaning the big tank he came with.) Thank you for the "quick tips" as I need all the advise I can get. I'm pretty new to the world of reptiles. My corn is in the kind of setup you suggested, hot/cold/2 hides/etc. and I will do the same for my new big boy. Is there such a thing as love at first sight? You bet.

I have the digital thermometer and a humidity gauge which I put in there now. I wanted to keep her humdity levels up in the enclosure so I covered most of the top screen with a dampened towel although now that I think of it, the towel will dry out and suck mositure from the air in there. I just read in Reptiles mag to put plastic wrap over 3/4 of the screen to boost humidity. maybe I'll try that? I'll get it to be 60 - 70% to aid the shed.

I'm going digital with the hygrometer too.

Y'know, I'm on cornsankes.com a lot and am amazed at the kindness and willingness to share/help of people in the herp world. For your average folk, it seems to be all about helping and taking good care of the animals. That's a good thing.

As long as we don't go all "dog show" and give away prizes for "best in show" and "most slithery" we should be fine, no? That would be lame...

Thanks all : ) I'll be talking to you more...

[SarahMB]

Is there such a thing as love at first sight? You bet.

Heh, that is exactly what happened with my first BP....Now I have 12 or 13 or something like that.

[frankykeno]

Shhhh we're up to 15 snakes (13 BP's, 1 milk and 1 BCI)...but I don't have any need for a support group!!!!! *denial is a wonderful place to exist isn't it! *

Well I'll go to a support group only if Kara's bringing the food!

[SarahMB]

Haha, you know, I've been looking all over town for those pinwheel fern things, just to try them! And I made a homemade chicken pot pie this week, I was so inspired by the food pics y'all posted!

[frankykeno]

Sarah you need to find out if ostrich ferns grow wild in Texas. The fiddlehead is the first I guess you'd call it sprouting in the spring of this fern (others too I just can't think of any right now other than the ostrich fern). I grew up picking them wild and they are simply delicious! Usually we picked them in early spring before they have a chance to unfurl into the big ferns they become. We'd just quickly cook them, after cleaning them of course, then a bit of butter, squeeze of lemon and a dash of parmesan cheese....pure yummo! Hope you can find somewhere locally to buy or even better yet pick your own fiddleheads. By the way, if you google fiddlehead recipes there's a ton online (I need to try the fiddlehead and veal one I found! *drool*)