Help! one of my BPs just hurt herself!

I was going to feed her and was reaching over the cage to undo the latch (one of those sliding screen lids), and she decided to strike at me. I think she hit the edge of the cage and now her lower jaw looks sort of dented in.

At first she did a strange, rapid opening & closing her mouth, and I could see it actually looks like the edge of the jaw is folded over. Maybe she is caught on her own tooth? I know their jaws are supposed to be very flexible, but this is still alarming.

What should I do? Wait & see? Take her to a vet?

I'm trying to get a decent pic of it now...

Here are a couple of bad pics, but it is enough to give you an idea...
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...isc/Mouth1.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...isc/Mouth2.jpg

Give it some time. I've had my snakes smack their heads against their cages before (usually because their prey was on the other side and they could see them), afterwards I give them a few minutes to gather their wits and then feed them. But she'll probably be fine.

Thanks for the reply. She's struck at me like that before, but only hit the screen so she didn't hurt herself. I obviously need to figure out a new feeding system to avoid this somehow. Or just get her switched into a tub, which I've been wanting to do.

I probably should have mentioned that she usually eats 3 mice, and had already eaten 2. So I just didn't even offer the third after that.

I am still concerned how her jaw looks like the corner is dented in. She is hiding now and I don't want to disturb her more, but last I saw it was still like that.

Keep an eye on it, but that injury looks like it might work its self out and be just fine.

Doesnt look too serious, definately want to keep an eye on that. I hate screens, I have seen then turn into cheese graters on reptiles that are trying to escape.

When I checked on her this morning, it looks slightly less bent.

I decided to open her mouth to get a view from the inside, and it looks like maybe a tooth is broken off. I'm not quite sure if it is a tooth exactly, but some sort of thing in her mouth. I tried to get a pic of that, but that just wasn't happening. If anyone happens to have a great pic of the inside of a BPs mouth (mostly the lower part), I could show you all what I mean.

I tend to believe that this is either an injury that will heal by itself, or even if it doesn't make it back to normal, it is slight enough it won't bother her. But this is our first snake, and so she is very special to all of us and so I'm extra worried.

Just a quick update. When I checked on her this evening, everything appears normal again, at least from the outside. I didn't want to stress her too much and force her to open her mouth. I'll check on that in another day or two, just to be sure.

good deal! :gj:

Hey, Kc261 What is the status of your snake now? This very thing just happened to me and my normal. He struck at me through the glass at the start of our feeding session and dented the tip of his bottom jaw just like your snake.

I am worried, because he is rubbing his nose constantly as if to pry the tip of his jaw back into position.

I am curious if anyone Else's snakes have had issues when striking through the glass?

It sounds like he may not be getting enough food if he is that hungry at feeding time!

This happened to our boa a while back. Glad to see yours fixed itself. Ours ended up having his inner lip caught on one of his teeth and we had to pull it off manually when it didn't fix itself after a couple of days.

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Originally Posted by seeya205

It sounds like he may not be getting enough food if he is that hungry at feeding time!

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I would doubt that. My guess would be if they smell the rodent and can see it, they'd strike.

The people with the striking bp issues,areyou feeding the snake in its enclosure?Does it only strike at feeding time?

I've had a glass and screen enclosure for almost 2 years and nothing like that's ever happened...I feed Aphrodite in a seperate container though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rthamilton

The people with the striking bp issues,areyou feeding the snake in its enclosure?Does it only strike at feeding time?

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i feed all of mine in the enclosures. feeding day or if its hungry also some do if they are in shed(crabby). feeding in the enclosure doesnt really matter with ball pythons

ive always wondered if it made much diff. Honestly i switch it up. Ive done both. My friend has 2 ball pythons and feeds them inside the enclosure everytime and his balls i find to be more aggressive than mine. im pretty good about always washing my hands before i stick it in there, so hopefully they remember the smell as one that doesnt pose a danger or dinner.