Red tail seems to be eating her substrate

The couttsening · 11-01-17, 11:43 AM

Hi guys I keep finding my 1yr boa with a mouth full of her substrate,(snake life) she is fed regularly once a week. I have been removing it from her mouth but it happens often, could she just be yawning under the substrate or is this something to be concerned about?

richardhind · 11-01-17, 04:06 PM

Unless she is taking a drink and the lignocel is sticking to her wet face, i use orchid bark and eco earth as I found the aspen/lignocel didn’t keep my humidity as good as I would of liked

DJC Reptiles · 11-01-17, 04:50 PM

This shouldn't matter too much if it is just a little. However if you constantly find her with a load of substrate in her mouth, (like you said), I would move her on to something bigger like cypress mulch. Forest Floor by Zoo Med works fine for me.

**Andy_G** · 11-01-17, 05:31 PM

Is the prey item dry?

bigsnakegirl785 · 11-02-17, 01:45 PM

She could be digging into the bedding, and gets it in her mouth just from the natural action of pushing her face into the bedding. It shouldn't be anything you need to be concerned about. If lignocel is resistant to molding, I might try spraying it down to keep it a little damp, and that may reduce how often she gets it stuck in her mouth.

As a side note, since she's a year old, I'd push her feedings out to every 2 weeks.

dannybgoode · 11-02-17, 01:48 PM

Lignocel is indeed resistant to moulding - takes misting very well.

Agree with Richard though for a B imperator would swap to an eco earth (Coco coir) / orchid bark mix. Maybe chuck in some topsoil as well.

Looks more natural than lignocel and holds humidity even better.

TRD · 11-02-17, 04:13 PM

What is your humidity at? Snake could just be trying everything in its power to find a good spot (humid enough)... or perhaps the place is too small for it.

You should investigate, because a mouth full of substrate may at one point cause a mouth infection due to splinters getting stuck inside and not healing properly.