Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been keeping kings and milks for quite some time now and just got a baby ball python. I've noticed that it's breathing is pretty visible and do not know if this is normal. The breathing is not audible, there is no popping/wheezing, and its mouth is not open. It has a strong feeding response and as far as I can tell is behaviorally normal (spends most of its time in its hide, curls into a tight ball when I disturb him, eats...)

My obvious concern is some sort of respiratory problem. The time between each breath ranges from once every second when it feels threatened and is balling up to about once every 5 or so seconds when it doesn't know I'm around. It could just be that I'm so used to handling much skinnier snakes that the breaths seem more noticeable to me than I'm used to. How visible should a baby ball pythons breathing rhythm be?

I just uploaded closeup video of the snake taken seconds after removing it from its tank. The video shows its faster breathing pace that I notice when it has recently been disturbed:
Baby Ball Python breathing (24mb)

i can see mine breathe not a worry there. it's not as noticable as that but i can see them taking breaths..

I have seen youngsters do that when they are aggitated, You where holding it in the video right? My guess (And this is only my guess and opinion) that its stressed out, and pissed off about being messed with, they tend to do this huffy, puffy bluff when they get mad.

If he is new, I would give him a chance to settle into his new enclosure, If you stress them out too much they tend to not feed regularly....
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Executive Reptiles
Amanda Kingsbury & David Kendrick
www.executivereptiles.com

Thanks to you both. Again, my kings and milks do take visible breaths if you look closely but I'd never seen anything that extreme. I figured it had more to do with the species, its age, and it's mental state (stress from the move) but thought it best to not make any assumptions.

Thanks again.
Kiley

Hey Kiley,......They almost all do this. I think they are wide and have big lungs. You will see it happen during constriction too taking breaths in between swallows. Good luck with your new venture!! BPs were great even before the morphs. Lee Van Hyfte