Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had many snakes before but I have never used aspen chips as a substrate until now. I placed a f/k mouse in my Ball Python's cage and he hit it very quickly (first feeding I have given). As he began swallowing it I noticed that the mouse had a woodchip stuck on his side. "Slytherin" is only about 18" long and I don't know what I should do. I was going to pull it off but I know that that would have probably caused him to reject the food, which looking in retrospect would've probably been worth it. Help me please! My girlfriend has kind of taken "ownership" of him and I would hate it if something bad happened to him.

that is why you dont feed in their cage on substrate. i feed in seperate inclosures with no form of substrate. if it was a small piece it might just pass through and show up in the feces. if it was a big piece then their might be some cause for concern.do you no for sure that it went down or could it have gotten caught in his mouth. open up the mouth and take a look. i have always used aspen fo the last 10 yrs and have never had any trouble. good luck

He should be OK, but just to make sure, try and check inside his mouth to make sure the woodchip isn't lodged in there somewhere. Was it very big, or just a small woodchip? If you are going to continue to use the aspen as a bedding then you'll have to start taking your BP out and putting him into a seperate container for feeding to be safe. Otherwise get newspaper or something like that if you want to continue to feed him inside his tank.

Thanks for the info. I tried to take him out of his enclosure at first but he wasn't interested in the mouse. I put him back in his own cage and he struck it in under a minute. From now on I'll try other options. Thanks again for the info

I have a question. Don't get me wrong... I would be concerned also if my BP ate a wood chip, but wouldn't you think that snakes in the wild ingest wood chips,grass,leaves and such when they eat? I mean... no one lays down a paper towel for them to eat on. I'm not encouraging anyone to feed on wood chips or other such substrate, I'm just curious.

and probably do an enema as well.

Kidding. You don't do anything. Your snake will be fine.
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...it'll most likely pass in the stool. Follow the earlier advice and feed on paper; you'll eliminate further problems.
Scott J. Michaels DVM