Weird noise and then hissing?

[SecurityStacey]

About a half hour ago Stan came out of his hide and I suddenly heard a sound that kind of sounded like when a cat is hacking up hairballs and I ran over there I heard it a time or two more and then Stan hissed (which I've never seen him do before) and "yawned" and then went on as business as usual.

I checked his tank for anything strange and everything was as usual. I picked him up to take a look at him and he was acting fine. I even checked for the symptoms of RI (even though he wasn't whistling) and there was no mucus or anything and he isn't stargazing.

What do you think was happening?

[blackcrystal22]

Can snakes cough?

[crystal]

i was thinking maybe he inhaled some water?

[SecurityStacey]

i was thinking maybe he inhaled some water?

I guess he could of, though from his angle I'm not sure he could have been at his water bowl.

I don't know... do they cough?

I guess as long as this doesn't strike anyone as something that is an Ah-Ha! moment of something wrong its just Stan being Stan.

[Chuck1289]

I think i heard some where that ball pythons can cough and sneeze ? By the way what is "stargazing"?

[frankykeno]

Unlike us, snakes do not have a diaphragm so they can't cough like we do. This is one of the reasons that an RI is so deadly to them as they can literally drown in their own secretions far easier than we can. To move air in and out of their lung they have to actually use their muscles and the physical movement of their ribs. They have a vestigial second lung that as far as I know basically doesn't do much if anything for them.

I'd be very concerned about that sound/yawning and likely would be watching that snake closely. Depending on your own experience and how confident you are about diagnosing a brewing RI will help you decide if an experienced herp vet should be consulted at this point.

[AaronP]

LIke the post above me says, I'd continue to watch it and keep an eye out for a RI. My boy het. albino has had one ever since I got him (about 2 months ago) and it's been a long battle because he was already in pretty deep when I got him, now I gotta get some antibiotics for him to assist in the battle. It's not too difficult to overcome when it's fresh but really it's best to avoid it all together.

I think i heard some where that ball pythons can cough and sneeze ? By the way what is "stargazing"?

It's something that snakes do every once in a while. They'll lift up part of their body and stare up in a trance like state.

[SecurityStacey]

I'd be very concerned about that sound/yawning and likely would be watching that snake closely. Depending on your own experience and how confident you are about diagnosing a brewing RI will help you decide if an experienced herp vet should be consulted at this point.

What symptoms would I be looking for? I thought signs would be a whistiling sound and mucus. I picked him up and looked at his mouth and there wasn't any mucus/ no bubbles and there was no whistling sound.

[sheep-]

my female does it alot, but she also puts her head in the water bowl blows out bubbles then pulls her head out and gasps for air, so i figured thats why she makes that cough hissing noise.

[littleindiangirl]

About a half hour ago Stan came out of his hide and I suddenly heard a sound that kind of sounded like when a cat is hacking up hairballs and I ran over there I heard it a time or two more and then Stan hissed (which I've never seen him do before) and "yawned" and then went on as business as usual.

I checked his tank for anything strange and everything was as usual. I picked him up to take a look at him and he was acting fine. I even checked for the symptoms of RI (even though he wasn't whistling) and there was no mucus or anything and he isn't stargazing.

What do you think was happening?

The first time we heard our snakes fart reminded me of something hacking up a fur ball. Turns out it was explosive farting with a little juice after a big poo. (can we say splash marks?)

The next time I heard it, it sounded like a horse blowing and chuffing (? no idea what thats called, right after they neigh).

Both times it was loud enough to wake me up in the middle of the night.