Scary feeding moment

[scotty99]

I have moved my BP up a rodent size last night, and as he has just shed at weekend he was really hungry. When he struck, half of his bottom jaw/mouth was twisted horribly, and he looked in shock and let go of the rodent(f/t).

I am a newbe keeper and i know their jaws are flexible etc, but this looked bad.Straight away i thought this is a vet job first thing in the morning, so i proceeded to take the rodent out. When i did, he attacked it again, so i watched as he ate it, and thank god his mouth returned to normal! As i've not had a lot of experience i was panicking there for a while, and BP was in shock for a while. Anyway all seems ok now.He looks lush after his shed and enjoyed his meal in the end Has this happened to anyone else?

regards Scott

[JoshJP7]

I have a few that feed on live and they will unhinge their jaws before striking their food. It can look painful to see how their mouths get all cockeyed but its just how they do... Glad to hear he ate for ya!

[frankykeno]

Scott, what in the snake's manner caused you to think he was "in shock".

[scotty99]

Well, I dont know if snakes can be shocked(but that was the best way to describe his reaction), He normally tags the food and coils,eats, this time he tagged it coiled it, but immediately let go and his jaw was twisted and he just kept moving it up and down looking a bit dazed. I think he hit the prey so hard it knocked his mouth out of allignment (im guessing) and i dont think he knew what to do.

like i say im new to this, it freaked me out!

[frankykeno]

I wasn't meaning that you shouldn't have been surprised or asked what was up, I'm just trying to get a clearer picture of what the snake was actually doing which you've now provided.

Likely it's just a young snake still practising it's hunting techniques. Since it was able to sort itself out and finish things up then I'm sure it's fine. If for some odd reason it did have issue with it's jaws that affect it's ability to hunt properly then you'd want to have it looked at by a herp vet.

[Somed00d]

he just kept moving it up and down looking a bit dazed.

If you watch after they eat they do the same thing. When he struck the rat his jaw must have popped out of alignment and he had to put it back into place. Nothing to worry about.

[scotty99]

Thanks frankykeno, Hope my 2nd post didnt sound like i was on the defensive, as i wasnt. I probably didnt explain what happened very well at the beginning.

Great point about him still being young and practicing his hunting. Never really thought of it like that before. Hopefully he will take it a bit easier on next feed!

Thanks Josh and somedood for the reassurance

Its never dull owning reptiles ive found!!!!!!

Scott