HELP: He bit the feeding tongs!

[jylesa]

So I was feeding him and I usually use tongs, but this time, he missed and grabbed ahold of both the tongs and the mouse, and so he had, in his mouth the looped in his mouth (my tongs look kind of like this: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21%2BZ9Pqn49L.jpg ) and, thinking that he might try to swallow it, I tried to get him to let go, spraying him with water and kind of running it over his face and manually trying to pry his jaws open. There was a lot of blood on the mouse, but upon further inspection, he bit a hole in the mouse, and the blood is probably from the mouse. When he let go, he was breathing kind of funny (although I think that might've been from the water).

I have the option of--going to the emergency room (vet) here to get him checked just in case (but, he does seem fine for the most part other than the wheezing) or leaving him alone. I was just on the phone with one of the emergency techs at the local vet hospital and I know walk ins cost 100. Should I just wait till tomorrow and schedule something?

He is obviously. Not interested in eating right now. Should I just try again next week?

[Tat2Guy]

I can't help ya with all of the answers but i would suggest getting different tongs... My tongs look like giant tweezers and cost me like 5 bucks

[Dracoluna]

First off, calm down. Is he moving around, tongue flicking, and is his jaw in a natural position? If so, you probably just scared him by spraying him when he thought he was getting dinner. Chances are he's fine and just a little put off by the evening's events. Next time, don't try prying, etc if he catches the tongs. Be patient with him and see if he releases on his own. You risk broken teeth and other issues by trying to force him to let go. After the initial squeeze maneuver they will typically loosen up and realign their prey. Wait for that and slowly pull the tongs back.

Agreed on the tongs. The ones sho linked are perfect.

[sho220]

Not sure about the vet, but I would get a different set of tongs (hemostats) for feeding. What you're using is good for turning hot dogs on the grill, not so much feeding rats to snakes...if they grab the hemostats, they will slide right out...

[Zombree]

So I was feeding him and I usually use tongs, but this time, he missed and grabbed ahold of both the tongs and the mouse, and so he had, in his mouth the looped in his mouth (my tongs look kind of like this: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21%2BZ9Pqn49L.jpg ) and, thinking that he might try to swallow it, I tried to get him to let go, spraying him with water and kind of running it over his face and manually trying to pry his jaws open. There was a lot of blood on the mouse, but upon further inspection, he bit a hole in the mouse, and the blood is probably from the mouse. When he let go, he was breathing kind of funny (although I think that might've been from the water).

I have the option of--going to the emergency room (vet) here to get him checked just in case (but, he does seem fine for the most part other than the wheezing) or leaving him alone. I was just on the phone with one of the emergency techs at the local vet hospital and I know walk ins cost 100. Should I just wait till tomorrow and schedule something?

He is obviously. Not interested in eating right now. Should I just try again next week?

Other than getting new tongs to avoid another incident, I think you should let him calm down. Completely remove the food from you, the room, get the smell of everything- even the fear/freak out hormone smell off of you. Wash your hands. Next inspect the animal after a few minutes. As others have said, look for signs of flickering and normal functioning. I don't think there would be any reason to go to the ER VET, but I could be mistaken. A lot of the times animals sense your level of anxiety, if you are extremely anxious- as you seem to be, they will be, too. Thus displaying abnormal signs of behavior and further interfering with the process ;P With that said, I really hope it was just a misfire and he's alright.

EDIT: Also, a note for the future. Never, ever, ever, try to manually pry open a snake's jaws. Especially if you are freaking out. If anything you will do more damage.

[jylesa]

Yeah he let go. He's sleeping now back in his tank. I'll probably skip tonight and feed again next week. How can I tell if he's got a broken tooth? and if he does, what do I do?

Sorry massive panic haha...

edit: I didn't try the whole deal with trying to get his jaws to open manually for very long (ie I did very little with that idea... for fear of hurting him), but that's a good thing to keep in mind next time. But yes, massive panic in the land.

[Zombree]

I mean I am sure it's probably all crossed our minds at one point to open a mouth. My normal was choking on a repti-bark chip from his enclosure and I had to remove it but I definitely hate having to mess with their jaws. It's all they've got to defend their little selves. But in any case I am sure everything is fine with your ball. If anything an injured tooth, I would try to explain how to inspect for one but it's hard to type. Either Youtube how to check for a broken snake tooth- or something of that variant or a trip to the Vet. if you suspect an actual tooth injury.

I don't even know what I call what I use to inspect. I mean you could use a probe if you had one. Make sure it's clean ;P

Edit: And be careful.

[jylesa]

Thanks for the response guys. After that brief freak out, now I know a little bit better. He seems fine right now. I took him out and gave him a look around, but he seems fine and dandy doing his usual repertoire of snake things (doesn't seem too upset with me, no more wheezing, etc., etc.) I'll give it a go again next week. Tomorrow--new tongs will be something that I acquire.

[KMG]

I use similar tongs but I hold the prey by the middle of the tail. I have never had the tongs struck doing it this way.

If something like this ever happens again just release the object. Once the snake thinks the food is dead it will release its grip. In most cases you could probably leave the tongs as the prey should be eaten and not the tongs but if it is imperative to remove them this would be the time to do it. You probably shouldn't do it by hand though being the snake is in feeding mode.

A lost tooth is no big deal. Snakes replace teeth their entire life. No trip to the vet should be needed. A snakes mouth is very flexible and their jaw is quite amazing. Watch your snake close as it eats and after. You might get to see it reset its jaw. I doubt any damage was done. However if you notice the jaw not seeing correctly and your snake tries unsuccessfully to set it, you may have an issue. Again highly unlikely.

[DooLittle]

I would have just let him have the tongs. He's not going to eat them, you can remove them later. I've had both a boa (boa was just in a coil) and gtp (gtp had them in his mouth) take the tongs with them before. I just let them have them, kept an eye on them, and got them back when I could.