Bedding in mouth

[Ashleigh91]

I think Lazy has a piece of aspen stuck in his mouth - I can see a little bit of it around his mouth (not sure if there's an actual term for the puckered area that his tongue darts out of..) and I'm wondering if that can increase the mucus in his mouth, and if there's a way that I can help him get it out or if I should just leave it.

Thanks for any advice you guys can give me

[Mike41793]

Carefully open his mouth with a q-tip and remove it

[Ashleigh91]

Okay so like .. hold by the back of his head with one hand and gently pry his mouth open with the q-tip? sorry, just not positive how to go about doing it.

Edit: I think I got a tiny bit of it .. I'm hoping this doesn't stress him out too much.. and dear god to they ever squirm around when you start messing with their mouths ...

[Mike41793]

Yea he'll hate you and squirm lol but you dont wanna have a death grip on him. Firmly but gently, just pry his mouth open with it a little bit and get the aspen. It may be easier to have you do that part then have someone else pick out the piece of aspen with a pair of tweezers.

[Ashleigh91]

He ended up having like 4 little pieces of it in there .. I just ran the q-tip from the back hinge of his jaw down to the front and I got them all ... He wasn't very impressed with me, but it's done now.. I'm just going to leave him alone completely now until tomorrow night and hope he's chilled out enough to eat

Thanks for the advice.

And would having that bedding in his mouth make the mucus level increase? I keep reading that increased mucus is a sign of RI, but what is the normal amount for there to be? - I'm turning into a paranoid snake mom -.-

Edit: on a completely unrelated note, I think he has a stuck eyecap.. I know to just leave it alone - but I think he was still partially shedding when he was shipped to me - there were 2 little pieces of shed in the container, plus the stuck shed on his tail.. but I've thought for a little while that his eyes were cloudy and he was going into shed, but what with being in such close proximity with his face, I see that one eye looks SUPER cloudy, but the other is completely bright and clear.. So i'm thinking maybe a stuck eyecap. Hopefully it comes off next shed

[Mike41793]

Id be careful swabbing the mouth like that because you dont wanna get the aspen out but get some cotton from the swab stuck in there lol. The extra mucous is probably from the aspen but just keep an eye on it.

Edit: also just leave the eyecaps alone like you said. Theyll come of in the next shed and she'll be ok

[DooLittle]

Has he had lots of mucous? I would watch out for an RI. What are your temps and humidity like? For the eye caps, as long as you have humidity right for the next shed, they should come off. Humidity should be 70 when in a shed cycle.

[Ashleigh91]

I don't think it's a ton of mucus, but I don't really have anything to compare it with. But even when I was pushing against his mouth and his bottom jaw with the q-tip no mucus dripped/squeezed out of his mouth or anything.

His temps are 79-81 in the cool hide, 88-90 in the hot side. He has a UTH on a thermostat for the hot side, and I have a heat lamp on it to keep cool side and ambient up to 80. His humidity is at 60% now. I had it a little higher for a few days last week (around 70) because I thought he was going into shed.. Now I think it's just the stuck eye cap so it's back down.

Before I got the aspen out I'd noticed the past few days he'd been cruising around the tank and rubbing the sides/front of his mouth against the glass a lot - almost like he was trying to get rid of the aspen? Since I got it out though he's stayed in the hide. I'll definitely keep an eye on him, he's supposed to eat tomorrow and he hasn't missed a meal yet, so I hope that's a good indication that he's not sick.

[DooLittle]

Hopefully it was just the stuck aspen. Did you notice when he was rubbing his face if there were "smears" anyhwere on the glass? Like if he smeared mucous?

[Ashleigh91]

I've never seen any mucus smears on the glass no. I will keep a close eye on him though.. I haven't heard any wheezing, so other than watching for mucus oozing out of his mouth is there anything else I should watch for?

Also, if he gets sick he'll most likely go off-feed, correct?