Should I be worried??

[d_virginiana]

I gave Houdini a chopped worm treat tonight, and everything went normally. I chop it super-fine so he can't drag anything through the substrate. He had finished eating and I took the dish out of his tank like normal. I try and monitor Houdini's feedings just in case he flips the dish over so I can stop him from eating stuff off the substrate, but I guess I missed a tiny chunk of worm getting knocked off the dish.

THEN about five minutes later I look over and he's got his mouth open like he's eating something on the carefresh. I couldn't see what though. I took him out immediately but he had already swallowed whatever it was. I put my finger behind where it was in his throat really gently (he had JUST gotten it in his mouth) and it didn't feel big. Like maybe a tiny bit larger than a pinkie's head. Not enough to really even change the shape of his throat just behind the jaw.

I'm SO paranoid that this was carefresh and not just whatever he knocked off! If it was a piece that size, should I be worried? Anything you know of to do? I'm going to try giving him worms every day and soak him to make sure he stays as hydrated as possible... I keep telling myself he should be able to pass something that small, but idk.

[chris-uk]

He should be able to pass whatever it was, and chances are it's was just a piece of worm. All you can do is what you have already planned, keep him hydrated until it passes. Although if the bulge goes down it's not likely to be a piece of substrate so you could get some peace of mind sooner.

[d_virginiana]

It wasn't large enough to create a bulge anywhere except at the thinnest part of his neck, so hopefully it'll pass with no problem.
The more I think about it though, the more I'm sure it was a piece of substrate. I don't think one of his worm chunks would have been big enough to cause a bulge...

I just get really paranoid about stuff like this!

[Sonya610]

Sounds like it was a pretty small piece and carefresh doesn't have sharp edges right? He will probably be fine. If you recall mine swallowed a bunch of aspen last week and 6 days later he seems right as rain.

[EasternGirl]

I have had snakes swallow bits of substrate and everything turned out fine. Don't panic yet...watch over the next couple of days to make sure he is pooping normally and there isn't any swelling around the vent...or in the throat area. He will probably be just fine...just keep a close eye on him and keep us posted.

[Steveo]

Carefresh is supposed to be safe in small doses. It's a paper product so it should get soft and pass right through.

[EasternGirl]

Right but a couple of members have had problems with snakes that ingested it and got blockages. No substrate is completely safe. But it is really one of those things that you just have to keep an eye on the snake. Like I said, I have had snakes ingest carefresh, shredded paper, and even bits of aspen and everything turned out fine.

[kibakiba]

Stevo, that's completely incorrect. Carefresh isn't safe to ingest at all, unless it was the size of a pin head. A tiny piece of carefresh killed 2 of my snakes.

[d_virginiana]

He's a pretty big guy (a little over two feet) so I'm hoping a small amount will not cause any problems. Just going to try and keep his digestive tract nice and full of worms and water so hopefully it'll just go on through.
It went down very easily, so I'm optimistic that it was a small enough piece to pass. In twelve years he's probably eaten a fair amount of substrate that I'm not aware of, and never knew about. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

I might just switch him over to newspaper as well after this... He doesn't burrow anyway, so it shouldn't bother him too much. Can't think of any way he could ingest that.