A couple of questions...

[EasternGirl]

I have a couple of questions concerning things I am observing in my snakes, Cee Cee primarily...and want to know if other members have noticed these things in their snakes too. First...do your snakes ever make a clicking sound when they are nervous? Cee Cee and Seeley have always done this...a little clicking sound comes from their throat when they are nervous...but I recently read something about an RI being described as the "pops and clicks"...and wanted to make sure this was normal and not associated with Cee Cee's respiratory infection.

Second, Cee Cee does this thing in which she rubs the sides of her mouth all over rough things in her enclosure after she eats...as if her mouth itches or something...has anyone else observed their snakes doing this?

[guidofatherof5]

Both sound normal.


The clicking noise is probably just the glottis opening and closing in the front of the mouth.

Most of my snake rub their faces on something. Just wiping their mouth like we do with a napkin.

Just my opinion.

[EasternGirl]

Have you ever heard your snakes make the clicking noise? They only do it when they are nervous. That is actually cute about the wiping their face thing...didn't think of that...she was being polite after she ate! :)

[guidofatherof5]

I don't know about being nervous but I've heard some of my snakes make a clicking noise before.

[acovert]

I think I've heard Cuddles make a really quiet clicking noise occasionally - usually when I've first taken him out of his enclosure. I've never noticed him wiping his face after eating, but he used to go into hiding immediately after eating and now that he eats in the feeding tank I don't usually see him until a while after he's eaten.

[mikem]

i haven't experienced the clicking yet, but have witnessed the wiping in lots of snakes. sometimes they do it to remove a piece of substrate that may have been attached to their food. sometimes i'm not sure why they do it!

[kibakiba]

Mama and Snakey are loud clickers... The rest of them are pretty quiet but they all click.

[EasternGirl]

Well..it's good to know other people are observing these things. Thanks!

[chris-uk]

I've seen clicking and wiping. Seems normal behaviour to me. Clicking can be when they are relaxed as well as nervous, although more often when they breath heavily.

[EasternGirl]

Okay good...Cee Cee was just clicking pretty loudly today when I was feeding her...I was just worried that her RI might be getting worse...maybe she was just excited about the worms.

[ConcinusMan]

Both sound normal.


The clicking noise is probably just the glottis opening and closing in the front of the mouth.

Most of my snake rub their faces on something. Just wiping their mouth like we do with a napkin.

Just my opinion.

What Steve said ^^^. Increased respiration either from exercise or excitement can cause you to hear the glottis, usually on exhale.

[EasternGirl]

Okay...good to know...thanks everyone.

[ConcinusMan]

Most of my snake rub their faces on something. Just wiping their mouth like we do with a napkin.


I have no doubt that if they had hands, they would use a napkin:D

[EasternGirl]

Okay...this is weird...Cee Cee is getting ready to shed..again! This is the third time since November...she shed a couple of weeks ago...she is shedding more than Hermes and he is 7 mos old. Something is going on...the vet said she could be gravid...but I haven't noticed much of a weight increase. In fact...it seemed she had lost weight. Now there is a good chance I was weighing her wrong. I will try weighing her again later today.

[ConcinusMan]

It helps if you weigh them ONLY after a two week fast so you don't get an increase resulting from gut contents. But unusual (for the individual) frequent shedding can be an indication that she's gravid. But after being gravid for 3-4 weeks you should see significant and consistent upward increase in weight. It's unmistakeable.

[EasternGirl]

It's a tricky situation Richard...the vet could not absolutely confirm she is gravid without an x-ray...and I did not have $100 to pay for that right now. If she is gravid...I certainly don't want to let her go without eating for 2 weeks. I think I was weighing her incorrectly because my scale was not taring the container weight off like it is supposed to. I can't figure out why a full grown female of her size would be shedding so frequently though...would there be any other reason? I mean...at almost 3 feet, she should be full grown right? Perhaps I am feeding her too much.

[ConcinusMan]

Who needs a vet? As soon as big bertha mated, she began a steep increase in weight. Gained around 100 grams in 45 days and shed twice in 8 weeks. That's a pretty good indication since she normally would shed about every 6 months and gain only 10 grams in that past year.

You need an accurate baseline weight to compare. In other words, you need to know how much your snake weighs normally when not gravid and after not eating for a couple of weeks. If she suddenly starts gaining fast, and a lot, you know she's gravid.