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Misaligned jaw after feeding

D'n'D

D'n'D

New mom to bloodred Elsa
Elsa had a mouse today for dinner and after she swallowed it completely she kept opening her mouth and trying to adjust her jaw/bite. I had a close look at her and it looks like the left lower jaw is not aligned well at the front half - like it has a small kink in it. She's now in her warm hide digesting the bigger but I'm concerned about her jaw. She is 136g and had a small adult mouse. I'm concerned that it was too large although it is not much thicker than her. The guy from the store I got her from and where I get the frozen mice from said that the hoppers were already too small for her and he gave me the next size up. I'm afraid that she's hurt. Thoughts anyone???


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My first thought that it might be some bedding or some part of the mouse. Might want to take a close look yourself
 
I tried, there's nothing extra there - just like a little bend in her lower jaw


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I've done some googling on the subject. The results I get say it should right itself in a few days, but I have no personal experience in this except to observe my own snakes resetting their jaws after feediing. You can also search this forum. Some of the Google results lead back here. Best wishes to you and Elsa.

Added: I just see Claire and Daddio answered while I was searching and I didn't notice.
 
it's probably nothing to worry about. A snakes jaws can move independently and after swallowing a mouse it can take a while for everything to go back. You might see her yawning and stretching her mouth, this is perfectly normal.
 
Thanks, everyone! This morning it still has the little bend - I hope it will go back to normal - maybe at the next feeding ... jeez, i love this little creature and would not forgive myself if I hurt her in any way.
 
D'n'D said:
Thanks, everyone! This morning it still has the little bend - I hope it will go back to normal - maybe at the next feeding ... jeez, i love this little creature and would not forgive myself if I hurt her in any way.
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Now stop that! :D. You didn't do anything that anyone else wouldn't have done. No blame allowed. This is not bad judgement or bad husbandry on your part. You didn't hurt her.

I can say this because I carry a very heavy load of guilt over my escapee who should be safe in his viv, but I don't even know if he is dead or alive because of something I didn't know until it happened.

Odds almost 100% that this will right itself. If it doesn't, the delay of a few days before doing something else or contacting a vet is what I would call a best practice in this situation.
 
She will be fine! I keep some large pythons and boas, and occasionally they will strike at movement outside the viv when I'm feeding. They hit the acrylic pretty hard, and have temporarily disfigured their jaws before. So far, their jaws have always gone back to normal alignment in a day or two. :)

Kathy
 
Had this happen to me last week with Naga. Never happened before and I was also scared as hell because of the meal size. Naga did yawn as always, but the jaw didn't align correctly and he kept opening it a bit for a while. I let him sleep and checked him later at night with a small flashlight. Jaw was OK and aligned.
I guess you just have to wait for a while so she actually finds out her jaw is badly aligned and yawn again.
 
DollysMom said:
Now stop that! :D. You didn't do anything that anyone else wouldn't have done. No blame allowed. This is not bad judgement or bad husbandry on your part. You didn't hurt her.

I can say this because I carry a very heavy load of guilt over my escapee who should be safe in his viv, but I don't even know if he is dead or alive because of something I didn't know until it happened.

Odds almost 100% that this will right itself. If it doesn't, the delay of a few days before doing something else or contacting a vet is what I would call a best practice in this situation.
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@Dollysmom - I didn't know until now that Dolly was missing - so sad to hear. I'm not spending too much time on the forum and I missed this happening. Any hope to still find her???
 
D'n'D said:
@Dollysmom - I didn't know until now that Dolly was missing - so sad to hear. I'm not spending too much time on the forum and I missed this happening. Any hope to still find her???
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There's always hope. It has been 3.5 months. It seems like a lifetime and it's winter here. Thanks for asking :)

I have no doubt that Elsa will fix her jaw! Hugs while you wait.
 
I hope Dolly will show up in spring - maybe just hiding somewhere ... Did you try baiting with mice? I'm thinking - silly idea- to buy a live pet mouse and keep it in a cage in places where you think that dolly may show up...


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Thanks again to everyone- I kept checking on her all day with a little flashlight - she's looking at me from her hide with her bent jaw. Waiting out for her to digest and then I'll take a closer look at her. She kept yawning last night after her meal but doesn't seem to have fixed herself yet. Fingers crossed!


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D'n'D said:
I hope Dolly will show up in spring - maybe just hiding somewhere ... Did you try baiting with mice? I'm thinking - silly idea- to buy a live pet mouse and keep it in a cage in places where you think that dolly may show up...

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Click to expand...

Very kind of you-- yes I put out bottle traps. I did a lot of things. When he escaped we had just discovered mice had gotten into basement. We removed the traps so that Dolly wouldn't get hurt if he was still in the house. I hope he feasted and is brumating.
 
Still digesting tonight - that was a large meal - from what I could see in her hide, I think she yawned herself back in place ... Hoping to see her out tomorrow for a better view. Thanks again to all of you for putting me at ease with this. I'll keep you posted.


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