Eaten substrate

[ffighterstu]

So I was feeding Jigsaw tonight and after the mouse was down I noticed that he kept yawning. I walked around to the side so that I could see inside of his mouth and noticed that there was a piece of the coconut bark that I use in his mouth. I was too scared to try and hold his mouth open and grab it out because it would scare him and I don't want him to go off feed (he only about 6 months old). The piece is about 1/3 the size of his head, so it isn't too big, but it's big enough to notice that it wasn't moving when it was in his throat.

Should I wait until the morning and take him to the vet if it hasn't gone down further? I know that their stomachs are strong enough to digest just about anything, but would the bark get broken down and pass normally like food if it was left in?

[daniel1983]

usually eating a little substrate is no problem, snakes eat leaves and such all the time in nature. If the substrate went down, monitor your snakes feces there is some risk of it causing constapation(sp?). I have had my snakes eat substrate before and never had a problem. I would not really go to the vet unless the substrate is stuck in the bps mouth or other problems occur. Actually if it is stuck in the bps mouth and you can see it, you can probably take it out. Next time you feed place some newspaper on top of your substrate where you feed. Once your bp is done eatting, just take the newspaper out. Then you wont have to worry about him eating substrate.

Snakes stomachs can digest an entire animal...bone and everything...I dont think a little bark is going to be a big problem.