We just got back from the vet: our 7-year-old, otherwise very healthy, 2200g adult male ball python has been frequently adjusting his jaw between feedings. This is not right after eating or anything, and it's not yawning - he's clearly working the sides of his mouth into alignment. Sometimes when he does this, his tongue will also stretch out of the side of the mouth he favors (see photos for reference). When he did it today, he couldn't get his tongue back into his mouth and it was just hanging out to the side, which led to him biting it repeatedly.

Our local vet saw us and had no idea as to the original cause of the problem, but she gave us steroids and antibiotic injections for him to keep the swelling down and treat the wound. She also suggested we use a dropper of ice water regularly to help treat the swelling. We have him at home now, but his tongue is so swollen he can't get it back into the sheath and he keeps opening his mouth and causing his tongue to flop out again.

Does anyone have any suggestions to keep him from biting his tongue further until the swelling has reduced, or thoughts as to what may have caused this in the first place?

Gallery of related photos attached. http://imgur.com/a/xgy8g