Feeding After Injury Question: How long to wait?

[artgecko]

I have a ~3 year old CA motley male that I took to the vet for a mouth issue. He has an abscess (gash on his gum) and was treated with a baytril shot on Saturday. We went for the second treatment yesterday and will do the final shot Friday. At this point, he has gone without food for a little over 3 weeks. He refused food last Tuesday, prompting the vet visit and he is normally on an every-other-week feeding schedule and takes f/t.

The vet asked me if I had fed him after the last shot and I said that I was going to wait until treatment was done to avoid the wound getting torn open during feeding. Although she treats snakes, I don't think she is super familiar with boa feeding patterns because she told me that I needed to feed him Friday after his last shot.. When I expressed concern about the wound not being completely healed, she said something about not wanting him to starve / be hungry. He is a CA and a motley, so he is smaller / thinner than some other boas his age, which could be why she thought he was too lean...I didn't have time to go into details with her, so I'm not sure. From everything I can see, he is in good body condition, although he has always had less muscle mass than my other boas which I've attributed to the motley gene.

I was originally planning on feeding him next week on Wednesday (we are going on vacation from Saturday - Tuesday) and I figured that would give his mouth enough time to heal.

What do you guys think, should I feed on Friday (that will be almost one week after he started treatment) or wait until the following Wednesday? I am just worried that feeding him too soon might cause harm and I won't be here for several days to monitor him (we have a pet sitter coming but I don't think she would want to look at his mouth).

I'd appreciate your input guys as I don't want to make the wrong choice in this case and I'm unsure on how good of a vet I have lol

[bcr229]

At his age he could go several months without eating with no ill effects. I would wait for the wound to heal completely and when you do start feeding again, offer a feeder a size down from what he normally gets for the first meal.

[artgecko]

Thank you! That is what I was thinking too. Do you think another week is enough time or should I postpone for another 2 weeks (feed on ~7/12)?

[bcr229]

My three year old boas are on a four week schedule anyway so I would feed 7/12 if the wound looks like it's healed up.

[artgecko]

Thank you for your advice!

[GoingPostal]

I'd also recommend waiting, your boa is not going to starve and better to get the wound healed completely.

[chip07]

Agree with everyone else. My Retic went about 6 months without eating while her mouth healed and we were giving her shots. She barely lost any weight. Though I think she gained muscle mass from struggling with us for the shots lol