Fishhead stuck in throat

[Light of Dae]

Ok so I'm blonde n wasn't thinking, I left the house for a job interview in a hurry n forgot my little snake in her feeding tank with a few minnow chunks, all of which were really small. When I got home I felt so bad, then I noticed a bulge in her throat!!! I felt worse :(
Picking her up, she seemed able to breath ok, lots of tongue flicking. I was able to work the blockage out, it was a half of a fish head.
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After getting the fish head out she had a rather comical look about her....

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She seems just fine now, but will keep a good eye on her :) Anybody else ever had food stuck in their snakes throats?

[guidofatherof5]

Glad you were able to help. Good job.
Can't say I've ever had anything like that happen.

[chris-uk]

Odd. The bulge doesn't look so big that it couldn't be swallowed. Had she given up trying to swallow, or was she still having a go?
Breathing would be OK as they have their glotis at the front of their mouths to enable them to breath while eating.

[Light of Dae]

I think she had given up, I have a feeling that she was getting poked by the bone, and that is why she stopped. The fish head was in there sideways, tried feeding her again today but she wouldn't have any of it, Possibly still little sore, I am now going to de-bone all minnows to avoid this little scare.

I have a feeling that a piece of bone protruded through her skin just behind her jaw... it looked like there was just a hair of dried blood in that spot today. She still seems ok, I rubbed the blood off n it didn't bleed again, and she didn't seem bothered by me touching it so...

BTW she did awesome through the whole thing, no musking or any real fighting me. She's got such a great personality :) or maybe she just wanted the d*mn thing out lol :rolleyes:

[d_virginiana]

De-bone minnows? How big are the minnows? She looks like she'd be big enough to just eat whole/live ones... I'm a bit afraid of de-boning them as I tried it once with my baby and it ended with a scare. Ended up getting a rib caught in her throat, but finally got it down fine.

Glad you got that out, didn't look comfortable!

[Light of Dae]

The minnows I got are about 2inches long. Yea I thaw them out first n cut the head off, then using a sharp fillet knife I feel out the backbone(working from tail up) till I feel the ribs. then I just use my fingers to pry the meat off the ribs. I feed the guts too n pop out the fish eye :) Read in one forum that a snake loved fish eyes so :P

I'm sure you could google it n get the jist of it if you need a visual :)

[d_virginiana]

If they're that size, then it'd probably be easier to just feed them whole. That's what mine's eaten for years :)

[Light of Dae]

I tried feeding them whole but then she just gives up if she thinks its too big.. plus they are wider then her head, she's still a baby

[Mommy2many]

I feed my snakes the whole fish or cut up pieces. Maybe your pieces just need to be smaller if she's a baby.