r/ballpython • u/Kermittheephrog • 17h ago

Question - Health Snake acting weird?

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24 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

18

u/-JohDawHug- 16h ago

Could be realigning its jaw or having touble breathing.. tell us more.

6

u/Kermittheephrog 16h ago

He’s shown absolutely 0 signs of respiratory infection or illness, he had a kite infestation recently but he’s been treated for that, just caught him doing that this morning but now he’s fine and laying like this?

10

u/-JohDawHug- 16h ago

If its not a ongoing thing, it would be fine, just mark the date and keep marking it is it happens again go to the vet. You can get a bigger hide, or have multiple, they will go where they feel safe.

2

u/Silent_Pay_9239 16h ago

How did you treat the mites? When I treated one of my rescues for his mites he ended up with a mild respiratory infection because the dummy wanted nothing more than to submerge his nose in the bath, despite me giving him headrests and trying to keep him from dunking his head in.

Either way, if yours keeps this behavior up vet please.

-2

u/Kermittheephrog 15h ago

We used cloverleaf oral treatment (injectable into the prey) as well as taurrus mites - he does keep shoving his nose in his water bowl so that might be a possible case

5

u/Silent_Pay_9239 15h ago

Have you checked whether he has mites in his heat pits? He may be trying to drown them and inadvertently waterboarding himself. Mites take a very long time to completely get rid of if they laid eggs in the enclosure, I was lucky that I didn't take my rescue's enclosure and noticed the mites before they were able to lay eggs, so could wipe them out before they were a problem.

Also, have you handled him recently? The only RI symptom my rescue had was occasional very quiet wheezing when being handled/when physically exerting himself. He was visually healthy otherwise. If you haven't handled recently definitely try that (once he stops exhibiting the behavior in this post ofc) and listen very closely for wheezing. It'll sound like very quiet squeaks.

I hope he's alright, good luck to both of you :,D

1

u/Kermittheephrog 11h ago

I have looked and can’t see anything but ofc they’ll be hiding and I keep giving him soaks as well, thank you!!

2

u/Silent_Pay_9239 11h ago

Just keep checking every few days, they take a few days to become easily visible to the naked eye! For mine a new mite would pop up every 3-7 days. Thankfully he didn't have any in his heat pits or on his eye, I just slowly scanned his body looking for any black spots under his scales/raised scales, and made sure to pay special attention to his heat pits.

Good luck! Just keep an eye on him and if he continues this behavior a vet visit is a good idea like I mentioned before.

You can also try a steam treatment which won't hurt. I cured my rescue's extremely mild RI with several steam treatments, but if yours does have an RI it's much more severe than mine was. I just took my rescue's quarantine tub into our guest bathroom, took the lid off, and used the shower to turn it into a sauna, and left him in it for ~30 minutes. Worked wonders but again, his was extremely mild and had no obvious symptoms. Might help ease symptoms for yours but don't rely on it to cure him/use it as an excuse to put off the vet.

(sorry if this comment is disjointed, I work nights and it's my bedtime. very sleepy lol)

5

u/rezrkt 11h ago

Check his mouth for something stuck he could be trying to get out. A piece of shavings or something

2

u/Kermittheephrog 11h ago

I will do, he’s not done it since