Is this a problem?

Today I noticed my new little garter's upper jaw seems displaced, or maybe his lower jaw. I can't quite get his mouth open to see inside, but this is the best pic I could get:
http://i39.tinypic.com/2zjdm5v.jpg

:( I'll find him a little worm or two to see if he'll eat alright, or maybe go pick him up some little fish. What does this look like? I really hope it's not anything serious, or something that could've been prevented, or I'll be having another word with that pet shop owner :mad:

Could be substrate stuck in the mouth, or the upper jaw could be swollen, but I really couldn't tell you without a closer photo. You can try to handle him for a little while and he'll eventually sit still then you could snap a photo.

If possible you could open up his mouth with a Q-tip and take a look inside.

Yeah, open the mouth.

Use a Q-Tip's middle rounded part (not the cotton part) and roll it into his mouth to open it. Then you might be able to have a friend or someone else in the house take a picture for you if it's not substrate.

I did give the q-tip a try and he wouldn't have it. I'll leave him be for a while and try again, I had to unroll the q-tip before it was small enough for his mouth, haha.

The thing is, I don't think it's substrate. I've had him for a little over twenty four hours and haven't fed him, and the place I got him from had him on that green carpet. Not saying it isn't substrate, but I'll check in a bit.

If the Q-tip doesn't work again, try pulling down his jaw very lightly. When I don't have Q-tips I will start right at the beginning of the lower jaw and slightly/gently pull down the jaw with my thumb and take a look inside.

It could be your substrate you are using, but if not it could be mouth rot but I'm not seeing anything cheesey-looking in that photo.

Some snakes get really uncomfortable while doing the Q-tip thing, so when they do just give them a couple minute break. You have to get them securely behind the head (you should feel two small, round bones in the back of the head) to be able to get it to work for those who are uncomfortable with this method.

Well, I finally got his mouth open. He's so much smaller than my BPs and king, I'm not too afraid of hurting them when they get their monthly mouth check, but boy was I nervous about hurting him. In any case, I couldn't get a picture, but that side of his mouth seems extremely swollen, and dark purple and red, and it bled a little when the q-tip rolled over it. No cheesy substance to be seen, and no extra spit as far as I could tell, but very swollen. Maybe something is stuck there? I didn't see anything though. There was a little dirt on the q-tip when I was done, but I did see him digging around yesterday, and if his mouth was open some would've gotten in, I suppose. There's wasn't a significant amount by any means, though. The poor little guy just sat there breathing heavily when I was through :( Any ideas?

He could have gotten some substrate caught up in there. Try looking in the light for a much clearer look at the area, and if you have anything you can see it closer with then definitely try that out.

Well, today he went back to the store :( I felt bad bringing him back, but he wouldn't eat anything and was getting more sluggish. Definitely not substrate, it looked like some kind of abscess or injury. Well, hopefully a much more healthy one will be in my future :oops:

Why not to a vet rather than back to the store?... I don't really see the store making much effort to get him into good health :/

My vet, while good with some reptiles, isn't good with very small snakes, which I found out when I had a problem with one of my green snake babies. If I got him a week or two ago it might have been a different story, but after settling him in, watching him, and seeing the inside of his mouth, he seemed to me past any decent help I could've given him. He wasn't acting like a garter should. I don't think he had much time left, and although I would have preferred him to die, or get better, with me, in this case I think it was better to return.