Wound won't heal

[Skittles1101]

Well I'm sure she will recover just fine as long as the vet can treat her

[captainjack0000]

I don't know what I would have done. It sounds like any other emergency, its hard to know what to do unless you've trained for it, like a fire fighter.

Somebody may have said this already, but I would suggest in the future to not feed live animals. Frozen/thawed or prekilled would be better.

[Homegrownscales]

I agree I think a vet trip is in order. There could be an infection making keeping it open. As for what you could have done better... The next time she has a hard time with a kill prevent the prey from scratching or biting with chop sticks or hemostats. If she does get a wound even in or near her mouth betadyne is fine to use. Even in her mouth. It will not hurt her. It seems like you waited a bit long to make an appt. I would have done it sooner. No harm no foul though. You may also want to get more comfortable with doing mouth checks. Small overall exams are important for you as a keeper to do on your own as well.
These aren't things you need to beat yourself up over though. Just needs a bit of practice.



Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

[thomasK]

I don't know what I would have done. It sounds like any other emergency, its hard to know what to do unless you've trained for it, like a fire fighter.

Somebody may have said this already, but I would suggest in the future to not feed live animals. Frozen/thawed or prekilled would be better.

I know, I give my others Frozen/thawed, but she really is a picky eater and only eats live (she even prefers white ones i think cause it takes longer for her to strike at brown/grey rats...)

[snake lab]

A good thump to the head of your prey item wouldnt be a bad idea. I have one female that is like 8 years old and she has never fully coiled properly. Since she was a baby she never did it. I thump her rats for her. I know i know some people are gonna say thats inhumane whatever but the rat is food and she needs to eat. But for sure a trip to the vet to get it fixed is in order. Snakes can hold an infection for a while and the longer it sits in the harder it is to fix.

[thomasK]

I just got back from the vet. She needs antibiotics and i have to treat the wound with flamazine-gel. Maybe a tip for everybody, all snake wounds (even inside the mouth) can be treated with flamazine to get them heal faster!

Thnx for the help guys/girls!

[Domepiece]

you know what, I think reading this thread jinxed me. I have never seen or heard of this happening in my 10 years of owning snakes. However, I switched my black pastel female over to small rats the other day and sure enough she had the head in her mouth and the rat was still alive and started kicking. She has been a mouser her whole life and I think she underestimated killing rats. I watched to make sure the rat wasnt getting her (this is precisely why you keep an eye on them if feeding live) and after a minute or so the rat suffocated and she finished the job, thats got to be a horrible way to go, eaten alive. All is well though, just thought I'd share since I'd never had this happen before and I see it on here and then it happens.

[thomasK]

you know what, I think reading this thread jinxed me. I have never seen or heard of this happening in my 10 years of owning snakes. However, I switched my black pastel female over to small rats the other day and sure enough she had the head in her mouth and the rat was still alive and started kicking. She has been a mouser her whole life and I think she underestimated killing rats. I watched to make sure the rat wasnt getting her (this is precisely why you keep an eye on them if feeding live) and after a minute or so the rat suffocated and she finished the job, thats got to be a horrible way to go, eaten alive. All is well though, just thought I'd share since I'd never had this happen before and I see it on here and then it happens.

Lol, I'm really sorry to jinx you . It really is a horrible thing to watch, poor rat... But I'm glad youre snake is ok .