Alright, I had my two babies in a mix of peat moss and aspen (always have with my sand boas, they seem to prefer the dirt-stuff), but now they're in temporary holdings with only aspen. So I guess about two weeks ago one of them got dirt stuck in his mouth. I managed to pick what I thought was most of it out and he ate after that and was tongue-flicking and whatnot, so I thought it was over. Yesterday I take him out to feed him and he's got dirt again, but this time his lower jaw is kind of pulled in and he's in the middle of moulting and hasn't got the skin off of his nose yet, and can't breathe without opening his mouth! So I get a toothpick and carefully get the skin off and start picking the dirt out again, and jeez he's got a lot packed in there.

After lots of uncomfortable mouth-opening and picking I get most of it out, that you can see on the outside anyway, and I wait for him to start flicking but he won't, and he hasn't still. As of this morning, he's not really moving at all, and he's on top of the bedding in the temporary box I have him in. I took him out, held him a bit, he won't do anything. He moved a little, and his eyes did too, but he's pretty much lifeless.

I searched and found that maybe I could get some mineral oil and put it on a q-tip and try to get the rest of the dirt out? I really just want to take him to a vet, as at this point I don't know what's wrong with him, but he's so tiny I don't know if it would help. He and his sibling are 9 months old now, less than 10 inches long and only a bit thicker than a pencil. I had another sand boa that died, and if this one manages to, I think that's the end of them for me - I really love these little guys but evidently I am not adept at keeping them. Collective sigh.