Is Ruby's lip broken?

I just got done feeding everybody and when I walked by Ruby's house, she hit the glass like a rattlesnake.

Now her lip is "bent".

http://www.walagata.com/w/the-salamander/rubylip.jpg

She ate her second small rat with gusto but I'm worried about her lip.

I've never had any of my snakes do something like this before.

Will it straighten itself back out?

Should I take something and push it back in place?

Help!

:O

I wish I could be of assistance, but I don't have any experience with this either.

If I were to hazard a guess I would say that her lip is just swollen and will return to normal in a few days, but again I don't have any experience with things like this.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

I wish I could be of assistance, but I don't have any experience with this either.

If I were to hazard a guess I would say that her lip is just swollen and will return to normal in a few days, but again I don't have any experience with things like this.

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I've been Googling 'snake jaw broken' like crazy and everybody so far is saying let her be, especially since she ate again with no hesitation.

There's tons of photos that look just like her lip does and they range from 'bruise' to 'lip stuck on tooth' and so far, nobody's had any dire long term consequences.
[apparently she's not the only psycho-feeder on earth]

Ruby's the girl who's grown to over 6 feet just being fed mice.
[previous owner]

She went from not knowing what rats were to going bonkers on feeding night.

This time, she went quite a bit beyond bonkers.

:(

I have to wait until hubby gets up to hold her still and check to see if she has her lip stuck on her teeth.

Poor snake.

She's so happy to have real food now that she gets over-excited about eating.

Aw. geeeze!

NEVER MIND!

LOL

While I was here freaking out and searching madly, she fixed herself up.

She's just as pretty-faced and perfect again as she ever was!

Thank you!

:banana::banana::banana:

That's great. I'd rather have a false alarm than a real issue any day.

Looks like her lip was stuck on a tooth and she should fix it on her own before long. I've had it happen before. But keep an eye on her just to be sure.

* I should read the whole thread next time. Glad she's ok.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

That's great. I'd rather have a false alarm than a real issue any day.

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I seriously have to stop having a massive stroke every time my kids do something weird.

:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by H.o.F.R

Looks like her lip was stuck on a tooth and she should fix it on her own before long. I've had it happen before. But keep an eye on her just to be sure.

* I should read the whole thread next time. Glad she's ok.

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Thanks so much for weighing in, anyway!

Lord knows I need all the hand-holding I can get, sometimes.....:)

My GTP tagged my hand one time on my knuckles. This caused his bottom tooth to pierce his bottom lip and hold it in a similar way as yours. GTP have some pretty long teeth and it did not appear that is would fix is self. I had to open his mouth and get his lip off his tooth and then all was well. With your having shorter teeth I think it is possible it will correct itself but you may have to help like I did.

Scared me to death when it happened. I thought he broke his jaw too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KMG

My GTP tagged my hand one time on my knuckles. This caused his bottom tooth to pierce his bottom lip and hold it in a similar way as yours. GTP have some pretty long teeth and it did not appear that is would fix is self. I had to open his mouth and get his lip off his tooth and then all was well. With your having shorter teeth I think it is possible it will correct itself but you may have to help like I did.

Scared me to death when it happened. I thought he broke his jaw too.

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Do you ever wonder exactly when you went completely insane and decided to give your heart to snakes?

I know I do.

:rofl:

She's all better now.

[I swear they do this stuff just to see how much we love them]

:oops:

I'm sorry. My tablet was having an internet fit and I only saw the first tw post. I see the problem resolved itself for your snake and my tablet.

My heart sank when it happened. They are incredible animals that most people will never understand the attraction to.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Salamander

Thanks so much for weighing in, anyway!

Lord knows I need all the hand-holding I can get, sometimes.....:)

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Lol anytime. I've just recently started crossing the street without holding someone's hand. (single lane only not the big ones yet)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KMG

I'm sorry. My tablet was having an internet fit and I only saw the first tw post. I see the problem resolved itself for your snake and my tablet.

My heart sank when it happened. They are incredible animals that most people will never understand the attraction to.

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They're the only pets in the world that can properly hug you back....:)

She's now happily digesting her supper, wondering what all the fuss was about but enjoying the extra attention.

:oops:

[but OMG it looked so dire!]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by H.o.F.R

Lol anytime. I've just recently started crossing the street without holding someone's hand. (single lane only not the big ones yet)

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I run across streets as fast as I can...LOL

Is your avatar firemen carrying snakes out?

If so, awesome!

Guys, does no one know how a snake's jaw is put together??? The lower jaw is disjointed at the "chin" and connected by a ligament which stretches. This allows the lower jaw to seperate and the snake to move each side independantly. This allows the animal to swallow large prey items.

Ruby just "dislocated" her jaw at the point of the chin and had to realine it. Boas and pythons have to realine their jaws every time they eat. It does look grusome sometimes though, lol.... ;)

Here is a picture illustrating this. This is the jaw of a Burmese Python, but all constricting snakes have the same seperation. :gj:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...psa1dc0da5.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KMG

They are incredible animals that most people will never understand the attraction to.

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Sadly their missing out on these beautiful animals. People don't believe me when I tell them they all have their own personality. It's their loss, we can try and tell them, but sadly there's too many stereotypes and most are closed minded when it comes to snakes. If only they knew.

Cool illustration, Evenstar! It's fascinating to see them open up sooooo wide!

I've had a minor freakout about jaw misalignment too, my Dumeril's did exactly the same thing as Ruby. Similar situation with her, too. Her previous owners had been feeding LIVE hamsters and gerbils all her life, which were way too small for her. She also received some nasty bites from the hamsters before she came to me.

It took me 1.5 years and literally EVERY SINGLE TRICK IN THE BOOK to get her to switch to f/t, now, she eats the very biggest rats I can get (retired breeders) and will be moving to rabbits soon.

But anyways, she did end up having her lower jaw stuck in behind her 2nd row of teeth (or something...couldn't quite figure out what happened) and I had to get my boyfriend to hold her up while I released it. She probably would have got it eventually, but it had been a couple hours and I didn't want her to go burrowing and get a mouthful of aspen to add insult to injury.

Glad Ruby is okay, and let this be a reminder (pff as if we need one) that snakes are such fascinating creatures!

That's a cool story Squamish! It can be scary to see your snake's jaw like that - especially when they do it by smacking their face against glass. Snake's really do the dumbest things sometimes......... :D

One of my Argentine boas, my hypo female, and my retic has messed up their mouths before just from hitting the side of their enclosure when they got too excited about feeding (they corrected themselves within five minutes or so, but it still looks scary!). I just put a towel over them until I'm ready to drop the feeder in so they don't get strike happy :gj:

Thanks Evenstar,

I know how they work and wish I took a pic of what my gtp looked like. In my case the tooth was holding the lip in its mouth on the left side. This caused it to appear that the jaw bone was broken directly in the middle of the lower jaw on the left. It looked as if the jaw bone had snapped in the middle and folded into his mouth.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KMG

Thanks Evenstar,

I know how they work and wish I took a pic of what my gtp looked like. In my case the tooth was holding the lip in its mouth on the left side. This caused it to appear that the jaw bone was broken directly in the middle of the lower jaw on the left. It looked as if the jaw bone had snapped in the middle and folded into his mouth.

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I see what you're saying now. That would truly be scary. I have an Argentine male that continually tried to strike through his tub and I fear a real broken jaw, lol. I'm going to have to try that towel trick Daybreaker suggested..... ;)

Am I the only one that has a perfectly behaved boa?! lol Satin is such a lady; she's never struck at anything except her food in the entire time I've had her. Never seen such a slug of a snake.

Except for the time she bit my boyfriend, but that was his fault. He was re-situating the aspen right in front of her face and she nailed him good. :rofl: I'm pretty sure it's because she was asleep and woke up thinking "FOOD!"

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Originally Posted by xFenrir

Am I the only one that has a perfectly behaved boa?!"

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Apparently, yes.

:)

Yeah but that illustration doesn't show smushed faces.

She looked like a Fiat that had smacked into a semi....:rofl:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

Guys, does no one know how a snake's jaw is put together??? The lower jaw is disjointed at the "chin" and connected by a ligament which stretches. This allows the lower jaw to seperate and the snake to move each side independantly. This allows the animal to swallow large prey items.

Ruby just "dislocated" her jaw at the point of the chin and had to realine it. Boas and pythons have to realine their jaws every time they eat. It does look grusome sometimes though, lol.... ;)

Here is a picture illustrating this. This is the jaw of a Burmese Python, but all constricting snakes have the same seperation. :gj:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...psa1dc0da5.jpg

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

That's a cool story Squamish! It can be scary to see your snake's jaw like that - especially when they do it by smacking their face against glass. Snake's really do the dumbest things sometimes......... :D

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And then she did it twice again today while hubby was near her house.

Either she doesn't like him or thinks he looks mighty tasty.

:rofl:

[greedy little pig is still in feeding mode....she's insatiable and 'making up' for lost time, I think]

maybe she wants bigger rats