Ball got substrate in her mouth right after eating; not sure what to do

Hey all,
I switched over to coco husk recently and thought it would be okay if I fed her in her cage as usual, but she ended up getting a mouthful of substrate. She just ate so I don't know how comfortable I am pulling her out and trying to open her mouth, since I don't have any protective glove to grab her with, and I don't want her to vomit the rat she just ate. am I okay to wait through the night and try to get it out in the morning when she's sleepier, or should I do it now?
(specifically the substrate is eco earth)

No great options really...prevention is the best, from now on, feed on a "plate" of some kind (paper plate, cardboard box lid, etc).

You're right that your snake may still be in "feed mode" & bite you if you approach, & handling her now may get you a regurge, but what I'd personally
do if this was my snake is this: fill a clean spray bottle with cool water (a new bottle preferably, NOT one that has contained cleaning products etc) & give
her some sprays to her face. This may help her flush out her mouth, but mostly it will "change the channel" so she's not thinking "food! bite the incoming!"
Then proceed to help her wash out her mouth in a bowl of water: leave her in place in cage, don't handle her, just remove her hide if needed to reach her,
and slowly put a bowl of water up to her face. Pay attention to her moves & mood, all snakes are different...as I said, this is just what I'd do. She probably
won't drink on her own, but if you pour a little water over her face she likely will, & the substrate will either fall out or get swallowed in the process of her
drinking.

As far as I know, if she swallows a little of this substrate it won't hurt anything, but I hate to leave substrate stuck in their mouth simply because it can set
things up for a mouth infection. BTW, you aren't the first one...this happened just recently to someone else who posted here. ;)

She may very well drink tonight, so I might wait until morning, but probably not any longer. If she still has it in her mouth by then I'll try and give her a soak to get it out. I feel like that will risk less of her vomiting up the rat and will probably not be too risky for an infection?

Yeah, I need to figure out a good solution for her because she tends to press the rat into the substrate in order to get it all the way into her mouth. As far as I know that's where the problem is. She tends to go kind of far and wide when she does this, though, so probably would be newspaper and try to weigh it down somehow?

I wouldn't use paper of any kind...it will get wet, & then can stick & get ingested with the rodent. Cardboard works better or a large plastic tote lid, etc.

It's your call about when...you asked, so I told you what I'd do (I'm comfortable interceding), but others would probably leave it for now.

I appreciate it. I may stay up late tonight and try to do it in an hour or two.

I just went to go and look at her and it looks like she may have swallowed it on her own? Either that or it fell out...I don't keep the substrate exceedingly wet and she's been able to get it out before.

That's good then...I'm sure it happens in the wild too. They cannot cough or spit, though sometimes they'll repeatedly open their mouth (so it falls out).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SatInpw

Hey all,
I switched over to coco husk recently and thought it would be okay if I fed her in her cage as usual, but she ended up getting a mouthful of substrate. She just ate so I don't know how comfortable I am pulling her out and trying to open her mouth, since I don't have any protective glove to grab her with, and I don't want her to vomit the rat she just ate. am I okay to wait through the night and try to get it out in the morning when she's sleepier, or should I do it now?
(specifically the substrate is eco earth)

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Occasionally I see the odd piece of bark going in the mouth on a mouse / rat so I just pluck it off / out with a pair of long metal tongs ..

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2fe1d99ef3.jpg

( eBay)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Occasionally I see the odd piece of bark going in the mouth on a mouse / rat so I just pluck it off / out with a pair of long metal tongs ..

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2fe1d99ef3.jpg

( eBay)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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That's what I do as well...