I recently purchased a 3.5' Red Tail Boa from Bob Clark. She's a darling and eats voraciously. I feed her 2 small rats weekly. She's done really well for me. As summer came, I switched from her normal substrate to newspaper to keep the humidity down (it's 60-70 normally). I reduced the heated side of the cage from 90's to 80's and the ambient temperature remains 85, give or take a degree depending on time of day.
Now down to my concern. I have been extremely busy the past couple of weeks with college and when I had a few hours, I took her out of her cage. It had been 3 days since her last meal (she remained on the cool side of the cage for that duration of time). When she was out, she explored like normal...unbuttoning my shirt and removing my ponytail holder...etc. Anyway, she wraps around my neck, makes a sudden stop, emits a long squeak and all of the sudden, a MASS gush of clear fluid from her mouth (I watched...) The amount could have easily been over a 1 1/2 cups. And by God, it stunk SO BAD! I decided to put her back in her cage to observe while I called the vet. She had what looked like a lump in her throat. My first fear was regurgitation, but she made no attempts and the lump soon left. When I got ahold of the vet, she suggested that perhaps my Boa was "clearing her throat" (so to speak) of excess liquid (possibly stomach acid) and to simply observe her and recall if she further deteriorated or a relapse occurred. I have had snakes all of my life and the closest thing to this I have experienced was a respiratory infection which included open-mouthed breathing and foamy saliva (both of which Ariadnae does not exhibit). Anyone out there been through a previous experience of the like? Any ideas?
Thanks so much,
Sam
