Aspen Bedding Problem - stuck in mouth??

[nimblykimbly]

Has anyone ever had this problem before with aspen bedding?? I fed my BPs last night and today I checked on them. They are all on Aspen bedding. My male Fire's mouth was all :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:-eyed. When I looked closely, he opened his mouth a bit and I could see a big aspen chip in his mouth. I had a hard time, but held his head, opened his mouth with my tweezers and managed to dislodge it. It was all slimy (I'm guessing from sitting in his mouth) and had just the faintest tinge of blood on it. I'll keep an eye on his mouth... but has anyone every had this problem before with Aspen bedding? I'm seriously considering throwing the whole huge block away and changing to paper towels.

Also, while feeding last night, our KillerBee blew the guts out of his rat (I had to heat it twice, unfortunately) and as he was eating it, all of the intestines oozed out and literally got COVERED in aspen bedding. When he got to the end of the rat, and the big clump of Aspen bedding, it kind of freaked him out and he started thrashing. I had to hurry and grab a pair of scissors, grab the guts with the tweezers and snip them off as quickly as I could without scaring him, cutting him, or yanking on the rat while he swerved and bobbed. I was so afraid he would swallow that whole clump of aspen chips.

Am I the only one who has experienced things like this?

[BHReptiles]

This is just one of the many reasons why I A. feed live and B. use newspaper as bedding.

Just keep an eye on his mouth and if you see any swelling, make a call to the vet.

[nimblykimbly]

Thank you! I will certainly keep an eye on his mouth. I felt so bad that he had that in his mouth (I'm assuming probably) all night and today. I had checked him before going to bed to just make sure they were all settled, but he had his head buried, so I didn't notice it then.

I would feed live if it wasn't so hard to upkeep all of the live animals/cost so much to constantly buy. We live in a place where I can't reasonably keep a whole bunch of rats or mice, much less breed them. F/T is just so much more reasonable for us right now. I am thinking that throwing away all of that aspen bedding is still worth not having to worry over them ingesting it or running into problems like these, much less avoidable vet bills.

[BHReptiles]

Thank you! I will certainly keep an eye on his mouth. I felt so bad that he had that in his mouth (I'm assuming probably) all night and today. I had checked him before going to bed to just make sure they were all settled, but he had his head buried, so I didn't notice it then.

I would feed live if it wasn't so hard to upkeep all of the live animals/cost so much to constantly buy. We live in a place where I can't reasonably keep a whole bunch of rats or mice, much less breed them. F/T is just so much more reasonable for us right now. I am thinking that throwing away all of that aspen bedding is still worth not having to worry over them ingesting it or running into problems like these, much less avoidable vet bills.

You can always keep the aspen to use when they are in shed. When mine go into shed, I put them on cypress mulch to hold humidity. but after they shed, they go right back on newspaper. Most people don't feed while in shed so you don't have to worry about them ingesting food if you just don't feed them while in shed. That way, you still get some use out of the bedding but you don't have to worry about them eating it.

[nimblykimbly]

You can always keep the aspen to use when they are in shed. When mine go into shed, I put them on cypress mulch to hold humidity. but after they shed, they go right back on newspaper. Most people don't feed while in shed so you don't have to worry about them ingesting food if you just don't feed them while in shed. That way, you still get some use out of the bedding but you don't have to worry about them eating it.

That is a great idea, I'll do that. Thank you!

[BHReptiles]

That is a great idea, I'll do that. Thank you!

You're welcome!