Fractured Jaw After Striking At Glass Enclosures

[Kopeht]

Just thought I'd share my recent vet visit with you forum goers, a couple days ago I had rushed my yearling Diamond to the Brisbane Bird and Exotics vet in Brisbane after she had striked at her glass enclosure immediately after being fed (first time being fed inside her tank instead of the usual tupperware container... figures)

Now after noticing her trouble realigning her lower jaw, I began scouring the internet for any similar experience (I've known snakes to strike at glass upon feeding response but never heard of them BREAKING their jaw from it- though it makes perfect sense now that I think of it. Regardless I was extremely anxious.) What I found through multiple sites wasn't anything spectacular, mostly recommendation of simply waiting for the snake to heal itself, realign it's jaw itself, take it to the vet if infection occurs... Which is, well. Pretty irresponsible, in my opinion.

The next morning I made an appointment with the friendly guys over at BBEVS where they gave me the option of x-rays and an overnight stay for the Diamond (no extra charge, they were very understanding that I had a closing shift that night and simply couldn't pick her up that day). A couple scans and some pain relief/anti inflammatory's later and it was found the Diamond had small fractures along her bottom mandibles, the vet had realigned her jaw and placed a small metal (basically a paper clip, a pretty pink one) along the length of her jawline to keep it in place while it heals for the next six weeks. The whole ordeal cost just over $400. Honestly, it's money well spent.

Of course, as soon as I got her home she managed to dislodge it, which resulted in being rushed back to the clinic (No extra charge) to reattach it.

I'm not looking for advice, I simply wanted to share my experience- and hopefully help anyone going through a similar ordeal as I found no super helpful information online. But if anyone else has had any similar experiences, do share! Information is a lovely thing.
Thanks for reading guys, she's scheduled for a checkup in two weeks to see how she's healing, I'll chuck an update up then and try to post some pics of her new 'braces' at some point.

 

[Kopeht]

Just a little update, it's been two weeks since the incident and she's been back to the vet to see how she's healing, check for infection, swelling, soreness etc and so far she's doing nicely. You can see the slight discolouration (this photo was taken the day after the incident, the bruising has gone substantially since.) at the front lip of her jaw where she's gone and fractured it. The pink brace you see is currently what's holding her jaw in place for the next four weeks while it heals and the band-aid is there to give the wee brace some surface area... As the little bugger kept rubbing it off. All in all, there's been slight rubbing against her neck from the band-aid (and much sulking on her part) but no real issue there.

 

[pythoninfinite]

Very interesting! Keep us posted on progress. You didn't comment on anything "indecent" in your first post !

Jamie

 

[Kopeht]

Lmao that autocorrect
& Will do!

 

[geckoman1985]

Ah this is reason I feed mine outside on back of chair by hand. Years ago I was volentering at local pet store and person brought 2 mounth hatching that hit tongs and did similar thing with the help of match stick and microcode tape we were able to get it to heal.person Learnt a lesson from me not to be afraid of giving food by there tails that bites relay occur and at that age do t here to much. The three months trying to get it to feed again was the hardest part as sit feeding bub ants ant easy nor fun let alone one with a healing jaw.

Just note to you feeding is not a good Ider I the every day enclosure it can lead to them thinking that any hand that enters might have food and this could lead to your python being enclosure defancive . I Fed's mine in back yard on back of chair for years now and never an issue I hope your little one heals quickly as not to miss out on feeding during the warm growing period.

 

[Kopeht]

Thanks for the note mate, Though I have fed my snakes in their enclosures for years using my own routine with no problem ever. (Aside from this little girl, who's always been a tub feeder since I've had her... with exception of this one time, believe it or not) That being said this little girl is going to stay a tub feeder, unlike the others, absolutely.

She's scheduled to have the brace off in a few more weeks, with any luck she can be offered a small meal soon after.