Sick BP? Swelling. Please help!

[WolfJob]

We fed our girl live last night, which is only the 2nd time ever. I know I know, but we were desperately trying to get her to eat. Now she's swollen, opening her mouth, and has brownish fluid leaking out of the corners of her mouth. I have a call into our vet, but haven't heard back yet. Someone please help!

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[Bogertophis]

Oh geez, she looks awful. Feeding live is a self-punishing act...she seems to have gotten bit in the mouth with a blazing infection...she needs a vet a.s.a.p. IMO.
Brownish fluid sounds like old blood mixed with oozing from the wound. Poor snake! Bet you wish you could take back that moment of feeding live...this is why
many of us get all "preachy" about feeding dead prey (either f/t or fresh-killed)...injury prevention! Snakes can die from rodent injuries & vets aren't cheap.
If that was my snake, I'd find a vet now, not wait.

[Bogertophis]

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...d-Exotics-Vets



This is a great resource: https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

[Jakethesnake69]

When I got my first BP I was going to always feed live and thought how cool it was to see the wonders of nature in my own home live. I was sold on the idea, had a very constant place for live feeders and then I got my second BP and started to rethink it. Mainly because I didn’t want to deal with a live rodent that didn’t get eaten. On the occasion that one survived a trip in the tank with a snake uninterested in feeding, I had to house the little mouse and they are
disgusting dirty creatures by nature. I never had an injured snake but decided that was a con in making the decision.
Another con was frozen rats in the freezer with my food. I could not get past that so I bought a small freezer and went frozen. The biggest concern since has been wasting a rat if the desire to eat isnt there. A huge pro for me is the amount of money I save per meal. Even with the expense of shipping Frozen are almost half price and that’s not counting gas for the weekly drive to get a live rat.
That’s really a bummer your noodle got hurt but it’s a risk with live feeding. I seen a YouTube video, quite offensive actually, where the keeper was smacking the rat bitting her snake and inadvertently hitting her snake as well. Needless to say I made a comment that went over like a lead balloon. I can’t tell you how you should feed your snake however I will say this is a con for live feeding and sincerely I hope it works out with no permenant issues for your snake.
The transition from live to F/T could require some perseverance and time or could go like clockwork. In my opinion the second best decision I ever made second only to getting snakes obviously. Looking forward to seeing her healthy again.

[distaff]

She looks terrible.
Can't imagine that is going to get better w/o a vet and some meds.
Please keep us updated, and best wishes for her.

[Bogertophis]

Another downside about feeding live is that once a snake has been injured by a rodent, they might get even MORE hesitant to feed. Some apparently associate
the color of the one that bit them & thereafter refuse all similar rodents. It may seem like a lot of work to teach a ball python* to eat pre-killed prey, but that's
easy compared to "picking up the pieces" from a bad bite, not to mention less expensive.

*If you don't want the hassle of teaching a BP to take f/t prey, you might also consider the many OTHER kinds of snakes that make great pets and EASILY take f/t.

I really do hope you get this snake seen quickly by a competent herp vet, & that she makes a good recovery.

[Lord Sorril]

That would be quite the reaction for a 24 hour time-frame in a cold blooded animal (if it was a rodent bite).

Since you say you were 'desperately trying to get her to eat': I suspect there is pre-existing condition.

Best of luck at the Vet!

[WolfJob]

Thank you so very much to everyone who answered! I got my girl in, and she's doing better. The lump was actually trapped air, not fluid and there were no bite marks present. Her trachea was swollen to about 1.5 times it's regular size. After releasing the trapped air with a needle, she was given a steroid injection and she already looks 70% better. I am to give her a steroid injection at home every 48 hours for the next 10 days, and I am taking her back in 2 weeks for a check up. Even though it had nothing to do with the rat, I learned a lesson (because I thought that's what caused it) and will ONLY be giving my girl f/t from now on. I was heartbroken thinking I might lose her. The vet told me she's a very healthy looking girl otherwise, and I must be doing something right. My little porker is 2.3 grams!
Thank you again to everyone who answered.

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[Bogertophis]

So glad you got her some help quickly...what a strange thing to have happen! Not sure I understand how the air got trapped? did the vet explain?
Hopefully she'll make a great recovery now (no more "drama"! LOL).

[WolfJob]

Thank you! It's definitely strange and even the vet couldn't completely explain it. I should have asked more questions, but to be honest I was too busy throwing my money at him to make her better lol.

So glad you got her some help quickly...what a strange thing to have happen! Not sure I understand how the air got trapped? did the vet explain?
Hopefully she'll make a great recovery now (no more "drama"! LOL).

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