WOMA URGENT help!!!

[firefly_]

Hey guys...

I have a female woma python that has been 100% healthy. I last fed her on Tuesday, and didn't handle her until a couple days ago. She was doing fine when I got her out to check her over, and replace her water. She's on aspen shavings with a very small water bowl about one inch in diameter. Her heat is at 86 degree's..30 C Its 4am here and I was in my reptile room doing my last check on everyone for the night and noticed she was rubbing her head on the walls and on the bedding.

Right behind her head as the yellow goes away she was like expanding it as if she was taking heavy breaths...it was getting wide and then normal a few times. I picked her up to check her out and a couple drops of water fell from her mouth...i don't think she had just drank water, but I'm not sure... I held her a bit and she kept expanding her mouth part for a bit. I checked her mouth, no bubbles, or infected looking areas... Her eyes are a little silvery than normal, but she should be getting ready to shed... I have been holding her about 5 min's and she's not doing it anymore...

I held her up to my hear and could hear nothing. She has had no sudden change in temps or humidity...

What do you think it is??? There is no vet open till monday... (tomorrow is Sunday in the states.

Help!!!

 

[bouncn]

maybe she was just drinking and you're too worried? keep an eye on her but they're nocturnal so i guess theres loads of behavioural stuff they do that we dont know about

 

[Otis_Driftwood]

maybe she was just drinking and you're too worried? keep an eye on her but they're nocturnal so i guess theres loads of behavioural stuff they do that we dont know about

Yeah, but what would cause her to be opening her mouth? Is that a usual thing after drinking a bit of water?

 

[firefly_]

Do they move that part of their head (right behind where the jaws end) when they're swallowing left over water in their mouths? When I walked in she was just stretched out under the heat lamp... and then started rubbing her face around in the bedding, and when I picked her up, water actually dripped out of her mouth, and she opened up her mouth once.... But didn't make a coughing or sneezing noise.... I've seen snakes drink before, but never like that....

 

[bouncn]

dunno but my pythons are always opening their mouths at random times, usually i find if they're distressed they'll thrash their head a bit, and are not easy to handle when they're upset either

 

[firefly_]

I'm holding her, and she seems perfectly normal now....

I've had a snake pass before over a RI...I DO NOT want that to happen again....if its the start of something that needs to be cared for, I want to get her to someone that can... She seems completely normal now though...

 

[bouncn]

maybe a reaction to getting some of the bedding caught in her mouth?

 

[firefly_]

Yeah.... I guess that could have happened....The water was clean and fresh.... I dunno...maybe I am freaking out over nothing...she's my Pride & Joy...don't want anything happing to her...

 

[bouncn]

no chance of contamination to the water? ie do u wash it with detergent?

 

[firefly_]

Do Woma's generally rub their heads on the substrate? I notice she does that a lot...Almost entirely flipping her head over...she eats her meals upside down too...like the top of her head is against the tub.... its weird.....she's always rubbing around in the substrate...its like she just likes the feel of it against her...

Is it normal? Not a one of my other 8 pythons do that...

 

[firefly_]

Do I wash what with detergent??

I rinse it out with hot water and then fill it up with water that has "repti safe" drops in it...it kills all the chemicals in the water.

 

[bouncn]

they're burrowers maybe she wants to dig a hole?

 

[nuthn2do]

Would it be due for a feed? Maybe it just had a drink and you triggered a feeding response when you interrupted. One of my stimsons is a real bugger for "making room" if she's just had a drink and you disturb her

 

[firefly_]

:? Never seen her try to do that...

Another question.... I NEVER feed her live, she eats FT weekly...She seems to be developing a scar like spot on the top of her head.....Looks like the scales are "roughed up" a little bit...

Bad shed maybe?

 

[firefly_]

It would cause them to like spit the water back out and try to almost regurge the water? Thats what it seemed like she was doing...

 

[NickSawyer]

i havnt owned womas but i believe the reason many breeders recommend aspen bedding is because it not only looks good but it provides a substrate for bhp's and womas to 'dig' in. This may be what yours is doing although im not to sure about the water.

 

[firefly_]

Now she is curled back up in a circle under her hide....
Her eyes are a little glossy..almost metallic looking...
She looses a little energy when she's getting ready for a shed...

All normal things?? Am I just being too worried??

 

[bouncn]

just monitr till monday. if you're still worried then go to the vet...

 

[firefly_]

Yeah...she loves to rummage along in the substrate...its always pushed up in a bunch in one of the corners where she rubs it all to one side...

I guess I'm just freaking out because of the water she spit out at me. I picked her up as she was rubbing, felt a little water on her under her mouth and went to take my finger tip to pull down the side of her mouth to look at her gums and out came the drops of water...

 

[firefly_]

just monitr till monday. if you're still worried then go to the vet...

The real only thing it could be would be a mouth infection or a RI right? So if it was the beginning of something it could wait till monday?

I'm not going to come in, in the morning to find her ... right??