Please help

I was feeding Irwin just now in his tank.

I dropped in his mouse and it took him awhile to strike at it. Then once it had expired, it took him a little but longer to get interested in eating it.

So he finally got the mouse down, but a few small piece of aspen got stuck to the mouse, and he swallowed some. I am kind of worried right now, will this cause any problems?

Also, there is a small piece of aspen stuck in the corner of his mouth. I tried to get it out, be he freaked out. Any suggestions?

Nothing to worry about. A snakes digestive system can easily handle a couple small pieces of aspen. As far as the piece stuck in his mouth... check on him tomorrow to see if it is still there. Don't disturb him too much while he's digesting his meal, but if it is still there you will need to remove it in the next day or two. It shouldn't be too difficult if it is sticking out. Just restrain his head and get some tongs or even your finger tips and remove the piece.

I'm glad you asked because I wondered about this also since we switched from repti-bark to aspen. It wasn't much of a problem with the bark because it's heavier and just fell off. We do have a feeding tank so I thought about lining it with newspaper.

Okay, I actually just checked him right now and the piece of aspen is gone, he probably just rubbed it off.

Another problem I saw, he was a very small bite wound. One scale is missing and it is pink underneath. There is not blood but are there any percautions I need to take?

I'm a little scared to feed live now, I had the tip of a pen in the mouse's mouth that he was chewing on, but I guess I wasn't quick enough!