2 year old BP bit by rat on jaw please help

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Originally Posted by KryptBaby

I dont really have anything to add except poor guy! I hope he gets better! He is a good looking little man!

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Thank you!! Much a appreciated!

You're welcome, I know how you feel, I am very much the nervous new snake mommy... he squeaked like 3 times after being in his water bowl and of course i had to google that and make sure it was nothing to worry about cause obviously it was a RI... however, it was just some water and Im just a worry wart sometimes. I did have a thought, I have read somewhere about snakes not getting their jaws back into place after feeding, maybe this is the issue?

The vet never told me an exact reason why it was like that but that was my assumption as well. But I am concerned that the rat bit through the muscle I guess between the jaw lines. I'm not sure though. He is drinking water, moving around and his temperament hasn't changed at all. I'll give it til payday (Friday) and if his jaw doesn't look better back to the vet I go.

I would say after the bite and the wound was open, it possibly hurt to try to realign his jaw so he didn't. By the time it was healed enough to do so, the eco earth physically prevented him from doing so. After clearing it out, if there's no sign of infection, I would give him time to try to realign his jaw on his own. Does he seem to be trying to realign it, or is he just letting it hang open?

I barely see him during the day due to work and when I come home he's in a cave. I caught a few times yawning and pressing his head against the side of the tank but that is all.

Give him until Friday, monitor for signs of infection, and maybe in the meantime look for other herp vets in your area. $90 for an office visit is a lot. I pay $46 for a visit and at that point I can take as many animals in as I want. (Of course even re-checks are still $33 but whatever)

It's 90 just to walk in and his shot was 130 bucks.

I'm also not going to price tag on a living beings life as well. If I had the money id be there daily

It sounds like going back to the same vet is not likely to be helpful. See if you can find another herp vet in your area.

In the meantime, it is good that you now have him on paper towels. He may still be sore and that may be why he isn't realigning his jaw.

I had a snake that had a somewhat similar injury, although it wasn't from a bite, it was from her getting over-excited at feeding time and striking before the feeder was in her enclosure so she kind of smashed her lower jaw on the side of the enclosure. It took a few days, but it eventually fixed itself. Your snake does look a little worse than mine did though.

Anyway, I'd recommend waiting a few days and seeing it things get any better or not, now that you've eliminated the problem with substrate getting in there. That aligns well with you waiting until payday. Then make a decision based on what you are seeing.

Was the black coloring just the eco earth then? It could be that the jaw muscles were damaged, or that swelling from the trauma is preventing him from closing his mouth, or there is an access forming from either the bite or the injection afterward, or some other thing. I agree with Inarikins, keep him off the eco earth for now, in this case it's humidity retaining abilities are working against you since that also makes a nice environment for bacteria.

I applaud your dedication to your snake and your unwillingness to put a dollar value on his wellbeing, but I too am questioning why the vet costs are so high. My most expensive vet visit for a snake (at the exotic specialist vet) was $130 after tax, which included a physical exam, fecal exam, a dose of panacure, and two weeks worth syringes pre-loaded with baytril to inject her with. So $130 for a single injection (that doesn't appear to have helped) is causing some alarm bells to go off in my head.

If you get some one who can help I'd like to see some shots of the inside of his mouth, and an update of the jaw now that the eco earth is off if you can. I hope he's doing well today.