A potential missing tooth... anything serious?
I was trying to feed one of my larger Bp a rat today, I do a usual switch between live and ft every couple weeks, this week it was live, she was ready to go but the rat gave her a bit of jump around and she bit onto herself and tried to constrict, I made sure she tie herself into a knot trying to constrict herself but I believe she tore a tooth out in the process before she finally let go of herself, I didn't realize something was wrong until she tried to strike at the rat a second time and pretty much spit blood in its face.
at the point I removed the rat and tried to get some water in her mouth cause I could see her looking like she was swallowing repeatedly, and whenever she opened her mouth it was completely red. I had gave her a bit of time and ran some water over her mouth before gently opening it using a Q-tip, most of the blood she had swallowed and I couldn't tell from where she had bled from as everything seemed to look normal again.
Is there any risk of infections in their mouth from missing teeth? I was thinking of trying to feed her again in a week maybe less if she goes back into feeding response when I feed the others.
Re: A potential missing tooth... anything serious?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kyote19
I was trying to feed one of my larger Bp a rat today, I do a usual switch between live and ft every couple weeks, this week it was live, she was ready to go but the rat gave her a bit of jump around and she bit onto herself and tried to constrict, I made sure she tie herself into a knot trying to constrict herself but I believe she tore a tooth out in the process before she finally let go of herself, I didn't realize something was wrong until she tried to strike at the rat a second time and pretty much spit blood in its face.
at the point I removed the rat and tried to get some water in her mouth cause I could see her looking like she was swallowing repeatedly, and whenever she opened her mouth it was completely red. I had gave her a bit of time and ran some water over her mouth before gently opening it using a Q-tip, most of the blood she had swallowed and I couldn't tell from where she had bled from as everything seemed to look normal again.
Is there any risk of infections in their mouth from missing teeth? I was thinking of trying to feed her again in a week maybe less if she goes back into feeding response when I feed the others.
Snakes routinely lose teeth in the course of feeding. Nature has equipped them to handle this small injury because of the manner in which they feed--they have to catch and kill live animals which are understandably uncooperative. I'll betcha your snake is a whole lot less alarmed by what happened than you are. I'd just offer her prey on her regular schedule and if she continues to feed, all is well.
I've ended up picking tiny little baby teeth out of my hands several times--babies can be kinda nippy. I've seen them bite themselves a time or too also. None of the little squirts has ever suffered for biting itself or losing a couple of teeth.
