Feeding with Aspen

[KTyne]

Hi there,

So I started using Aspen in my baby BP's cage just recently. He's eaten in his cage with the substrate in it I think 3 times now.

Well this last time didn't go so well!

I dropped the fuzzy in his tank and he struck 3 times and missed all 3 times. Well the 3rd time he got a wood chip stuck in his mouth and couldn't get it out himself.

So being the brilliant person that I am I went to grab him to see if I could get it out of his mouth and he struck at me! (dur) I don't think I've moved so fast in my life, LOL. He just missed me.

So re-thinking my strategy I got my feeding tongs that I use to feed my Leo and picked the wood chip out of his mouth.

After that he struck the mouse again and got it and all was well.

What I'm wondering is how should I avoid this in the future?? I don't want to go back to using paper towel because A) it's ugly, and B) it smells if I don't deep clean the tank multiple times a week.

Thanks for the help guys.

[Mike41793]

Keep doing what youre doing. A bit of substrate wont hurt him.

[kitedemon]

The only problems with wood chips is sometimes they get jammed in the mouth and need to be removed (stuck in bleeding and such) and if there is not a chip or two but a lot ingested with a small snake it can lead to impacted bowels. I have a one eyed snake with horrible aim she managed to get a mouth full (FULL) of substrate and subsequent digestion issues that took laxatives be administered.

Typically a normal snake will have no issues with substrate ingestion it is just the stuck in the mouth that can occur to be concerned with. You could use a shield placed well before feeding can solve this. I used to use a think (1 mm) plastic sheet about as big as my hand that I fed over it helped a fair bit. The only substrate that ingestion is a HUGE deal is paper towel. I would not suggest paper towel with anything but a hatchling. (goggle image search paper towel ingestion snakes you'll see what I mean be warned it is unpleasant) There are many alternatives, so I see no reason to risk the life/health of an animal to use paper towel (no matter how remote) . Personally I use coco husk and have had no issues it soft and breaks down easily (wood breaks down too but too much overwhelms the system)

[KTyne]

Thanks guys! I'm glad that it's nothing to stress a ton about as long as he doesn't ingest a ton.
I think I'm going to start dropping his mouse on a plastic lid or something. Currently I'm feeding live but am hoping to try to get him on f/t soon.

[Annarose15]

Switch to F/T and then hold the prey with the tongs, rather than dropping it. But, as was already said, nothing to worry about.

[h00blah]

Something that was recommended to me that worked out is using a cutout piece of a cardboard box on top of the substrate. This will be a little dinner plate . I did this until I switched to a rack system with paper towel substrate .