jaw got stuck :(

tonight was a cruddy night. Pandora started off being her usual self, striking at the rat and missing. as usual. but. when she FINALLY swallowed it, the left side of her jaw was stuck. when she yawned, the lower side of her jaw was still all bent and weird looking. i felt so bad, and i thought she was going to die or something (im paranoid like that:)). eventually, about 15 minutes later, it popped back into place.

does this sort of thing happen a lot? i know Cody has talked about it happening to Pelota before. i feel really bad... has it ever happned to anyone else?

p.s. apollo isnt eating again. he ate 2 weeks ago, after 3 weeks of trying to get him to eat, and he's being stubborn again. the mouse has been in there with him for about an hour now.

Yes, I have talked about this happening to Pelota. Since feeding her larger mice, it's happening more often. But it doesn't seem to cause any pain to the snake. I think it's just from the jaw being dislocated and such. After a few realignment yawns, it should be fine.

As for Apollo, try warming up the mouse under a heat lamp or something, so he'll track it, then maybe try cutting the mouse so theres blood present. Then do the mousey dance. That might entice him to eat it. I dunno. :)

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Originally Posted by Cody

As for Apollo, try warming up the mouse under a heat lamp or something, so he'll track it, then maybe try cutting the mouse so there's blood present. Then do the mousey dance. That might entice him to eat it. I dunno. :)

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i've tried the mouse under a heat lamp. doesnt work. like i said, the breeder feeds all his snakes live. so apollo has only eaten anything BUT live 2 weeks ago when i finally got him to eat. i think tomorrow im going out and buying a live mousie, then im gonna... *sniff*... im gona whack it... *sniff sniff*

Be strong. You'll get through it....lol

The only other thing that comes to mind is hhw's(I think..) method of feeding it a live mouse, and watching how the snake hunts the live mouse. Then next time, try and recreate the situation with a prekilled or frozen thawed mouse.

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Originally Posted by Super_Smash

does this sort of thing happen a lot? i know Cody has talked about it happening to Pelota before. i feel really bad... has it ever happned to anyone else?.

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I think this is something that happens to "everyone else" sooner or later in the course of snake keeping, and 99% of the time it's nothing to sweat. ;) (whew, huh?)

On another note, how is Apollo set up?

K

[quote="KLG"]

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Originally Posted by Super_Smash

On another note, how is Apollo set up?

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rubbermaid... 34x17x6.5.... water dish in the middle, heat pads on both sides, no heat lamp, 2 pots on the warm side, one log thing on the cool side, newspaper.

heres a set up of it.... its old though, stuff is moved around and what not. im also getting 1-2 new hides for him bcuz Cody thinks my hides are too big, which they are for his size. so i'll be getting flower pot bases :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...1/MVC-528F.jpg

yeah since i had my BP on small rats her jaw seems half bent when she yawns. like when she yawns her mouth is kinda crooked but it never got stuck like what you explain, i wouldnt worry, bp's pop there jaws out of place when they eat so i imagine that there is not pain.