Your one stop reptile community - Question for the more Experienced keepers

jgarms · #1 (**permalink**) 11-17-2002, 04:50 PM

Last night (Sat night) I was feeding all of my boas. I always feed the largest last. It was time to feed one of my big males. I put him in his feeding container and then placed the rat in it as usual. Within seconds he struck but this is were it gets weird. Instead of constricting the rat he thrashes the rat violently against the sides. In the process he ripped the rat open and tore a chunk of the rat off in his mouth which of course was lodged in between his teeth. I removed the rat immediately and inspected his mouth. I took him out and placed a towel over his head to get a handle of his head to open his mouth while my wife restrained his tail. I got most of it out, yes i was very careful with him, yes he was stressed, yes he wasn't happy, yes he can be an aggressive snake. He is still one of my favs. Now my question is this, I can't get to the vet until monday is there anything else that i can do for him here or should have done differently. This was the first time this situation has happened to me and i have kept boas for around 10 years. Thanks in advance.
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eddie · #2 (**permalink**) 11-17-2002, 05:11 PM

Are you feeding live, pre-killed or frozen/thawed?

And unless there is any damage to the snake, such as broken teeth or possible bite marks, I wouldn't worry with a vet.
Some snakes are aggressive and do things like this. Maybe not all the time but you may have fed duringa bad mood or something.
Busted rat is messy, huh?

And welcome to Redtail!
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jgarms · #3 (**permalink**) 11-17-2002, 05:50 PM

I'm feeding frozen/thawed and yes a busted rat very nasty. I have never smelt anything that bad in my entire life. No damage that i could see but he did have a little bit that was around the base of his tooth that i didn't want to chance in case i did hurt him.

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eddie · #4 (**permalink**) 11-17-2002, 05:56 PM

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE> No damage that i could see but he did have a little bit that was around the base of his tooth that i didn't want to chance in case i did hurt him.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

You mean a piece of food?
Just get an extra set of hands to help hold the snake and open its mouth gently to remove it with a set of tweezers.
If you mean a little bit of damage, then it needs to be cleaned up to lessen the chances for infection. Same thing, help with snake, open mouth and swab it out with a q-tip dipped in a diluted peroxide solution.
I mix mine about 1/3 perox and 2/3 water.
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jgarms · #5 (**permalink**) 11-17-2002, 06:03 PM

Yup, a piece of food. I am waiting for one of my friends to come over to help me with him. I planned on trying that today. The peroxide is a good idea thanx. I'll post later to let you know how it goes.
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JuliusSqueezer · #6 (**permalink**) 11-17-2002, 07:04 PM

next time just let him eat it....then after an hour or so check his mouth ...im sure he's fine

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#7 (**permalink**) 11-17-2002, 09:36 PM

WOW ! I've had colubrids do such a thing but never a boa. LOL. Like Juls said though.. Shoulda let the snake finish his meal anyways [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img] Sure he's most likely even more in a 'tude now that ya didn't even most liekly.
Now as long as you know that he has the food piece stuck in the mouth.. make sure you do as Eddie suggested and get it out of there before the snake becomes ill from it rotting in his mouth etc. It won't be something you'll want to deal with at all I am sure ! Just like a piece of substrate stuck in the mouth.. I would think that a piece of food could also cause mr even. UGH.
GOOD LUCK with him and let us know how it goes too !

WELCOME TO REDTAILBOA.NET !!! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

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jgarms · #8 (**permalink**) 11-18-2002, 01:24 AM

I am happy to report that nothing was discovered when i looked today. My wife held the light and the tail while i had the lovely pleasure to open his mouth. He was actually very cooperative this time. I didn't know if i should let him finish his meal yesterday because i knew that i needed to check his mouth but i will next time if this ever happens again. I frequent this site regularly but rarely post thanks for the info. Thanks All!!!

[img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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ratsickle · #9 (**permalink**) 11-20-2002, 04:44 AM

HI,
Sounds like a really good appetite,, my only thought would be are you feeding a large enough prey to satisfy his appetite between feeding or is he really hungry...
Most of my boa's have a pretty good bulge after feeding that resolves its self in about 24 hours.
here's a pic of a baby BCI after two just weined rat pups, you can see the bulge

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Aint them BOA'S COOL --

same snake recently at around 11 mos the extra food did him good

he's eating a small rat every 14 days now..
doug [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

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