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[maelstrom]

Hi folks..
A friend of ours has this snake (terribly enough im not even sure on the breed) tho she believes it to be a king? Anyhow shes had it for 7 years now and while appearing very healthy otherwise it was eating an egg about a month ago and she said that it got half way and then retracted from it and now has a problem with her jaw.. Apparently it will go to eat but cannot seem to get its mouth open wide enough to start swallowing..
We took a look at her last night and the inside of her mouth is nice n pink and theres no signs of mouth rot. So im wondering if she somehow injured her jaw while attempting to eat the egg?
Anyhow heres a couple pics we took last night so you can see her mouth.. It def looks swollen or like its unable to close it all the way properly. She was making a vet appointment today for our local vet but they arent reptile specialists at all so shes unsure if they will be able to help.
Anyhow shes a very very friendly snake and for all intensive purposes appears very healthy except for this mouth issue.. Any help would greatly be appreciated since the vets around here are pretty clueless when it comes to herps.
Thanks

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f302/maelstrom666/18479_219967128198_503208198_317880.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f302/maelstrom666/18479_219967133198_503208198_317880.jpg

[Vega3800]

Any luck Jay?  Looks like a beautiful snake.  I hope the vet is able to help.

[iMsP]

I know this much... it's not a King, it's a Yellow Rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus quadrivittata, or the old name, Elaphe obsoletus quadrivittata).

That's a bit of a mystifying one.  Here's my guess, anyway.  Perhaps a muscle(s) or ligament(s) was pulled.  These take a long time to heal, and in reptiles everything takes longer to heal than for mammals.   I can't see it being a bone problem, because of how their jaws naturally unhinge.   I have TMJD (temporomandibular joint disorder), but I wouldn't think a snake's lower jaw could be affected like ours can, as I don't even think they have a temporomandibular joint, or not like ours anyway (a disc surrounded by muscle/ligaments).  Something looks like it may have been pulled out of whack though.  Obviously it felt something not quite right when it began retracting it.

It's possible that more time will help it heal.   Or it could be permanently disfigured, it's hard to say.

[crackedcorn]

Has the yellow rat re-aligned his jaw with a yawn yet?  Has he tried this more than once?  I wonder if he is able to do this with this injury.  Hopefully time will allow this guy to heal up as i am skeptical about what a local vet with little herp experience can do.  An X-ray could be very useful in diagnosing the injury?   Good Luck.
   Tell me more about the eggs.  Not too often you here about egg feeding in captive colubrids.    jim

[maelstrom]

Hey guys.. Thanks for the responses
Im hoping to hear back from her today.. If she doesnt call by supper ill call her and see how the vet went.. Tho like you said Jim im skeptical on what they could do..
Paula it kind of seemed to me like it was a pulled ligament or muscle.
Ill let ya know what i hear back from her Thanks again guys n gal!

[maelstrom]

Just a little update guys.. The snake is doing better and the mouth seems to be healing.. The vet of course said "oh shes fine" And the owner is going to try feeding her a small mouse tonight.

[iMsP]

^ That's good to hear, J!

[maelstrom]

Yeah i was happy to hear it too.. Im sure ill be going over again soon to get another look at how shes doin

[iMsP]

I know one thing... I wouldn't feed it an egg again after this!   Jim asked about the egg feeding situation earlier.  Was this the first time it was offered an egg?

[maelstrom]

No it had been feed eggs previously on several occasions..  I told her and she agreed that there will be no more egg feeding.. I dont know why she would do that in the first place.
Are Yellow Rats egg eaters in the wild?

[iMsP]

I recall reading info on rat snakes that they have been known to eat eggs occasionally.  In the wild, however, the birds that have nests in trees (where rat snakes like to go hunting when not checking out rodent burrows) are often smaller than chicken eggs.  Rat snakes don't have the ability to break the egg and then spit out the shell, unlike their egg eating cousin, who's name I now forget (the egg eating snake? lol).  Those snakes have a sharp bone structure in the back of the throat that breaks the shell, so they can take on really large eggs (comparatively), unlike rat snakes.

[maelstrom]

ahhh!
Yeah she wont be feeding him anymore eggs then! hehe

[maelstrom]

Just another little update that should put this issue away for good.. I was over at the owners house last night and the snake looks absolutely fantastic.. The mouth looks completely healed and is in its normal position again. It had just finished a shed the day  before (saturday) and the owner seemed unsure on whether to try and feed her but i thought it would be worth a shot.. So we put in a small mouse and within a couple minutes the snake had it gone
She truely is a beautiful snake and soo well tempered! The owner also just finished a beautiful new 4x3x3 tank for her to live in and she seems ot have adjusted very well to her new surroundings.. Thanks all for the help!