Dry mouth? Can't swallow? Choking?

[Light of Dae]

So the past couple times I've tried to feed my little gal, she can't seem to swallow. It seems like the food is too tacky or sticky, something...? I noticed the inside of her mouth is really bright pink, I'm not sure if it's always been so red or not. I got her some silversides frozen minnows She seems to really really want them, I don't even have to make them move for her to 'sniff' them n attack them. She'll grab on to it and look like she's trying to swallow it, re adjusting her mouth n such, but then she also drags it back n forth on the floor looks like she's trying to push it in further and then drag it outta her mouth, but with her mouth clamped shut on it. She does this for a bit then drags it backwards and lets go of it. Circles around it, then bites it again n goes through the same process, or she'll raise her head n 'prance' around with it held high, then spit it out on the other side of the tank. ????She has been doing this more n more and with everything I've given her lately, Worms, Minnows n Pinkies. Is there something wrong? It looks like she's choking on everything.

Has anyone else seen this? Or know what may be causing it? Anything I can do to lubricate the food or? Any advice welcome!!

[Light of Dae]

She'll keep trying to eat for as long as I leave her in with the food. I know she's hungry... It's not like she gives up or is uninterested, she wants to eat...

???

[guidofatherof5]

With the fish, you should be able to push it down her thoat once she has it in her mouth.
Not sure what might be causing this.

[chris-uk]

Assume that the fish is wet? And therefore already slippery?

Again, no idea the cause. You say the mouth is bright pink, does it appear to be inflamed or swollen?

[guidofatherof5]

In the absence of swelling. Pink is good.
Good blood flow and oxygen exchange.

[Light of Dae]

hmm There is not swelling or anything so bright pink = good. got it.... so I take it by no one having anymore clue then me on this, no one else has had this happen? hmm I'll try shoving it down her throat lol. I've been wetting the food with just water trying to see if that would help at all, no luck. Can you think of anything safe to lube her food with? I thought that the fish n worms were slimy enough but guess not....

[guidofatherof5]

How long has it been since she last ate?

[dieselbaby]

what about dropping the chunks in her water bowl, and try smaller chunks. you may have to mince it up mushy like for her for a little while.

[d_virginiana]

Mincing it up is a good idea.

Also, until she can eat better, try sticking with fish and pinkie innards. I've noticed those go down much quicker than worms, which can be sort of sticky or parts of mice with skin still on, which can be a bit dry.

Does it look like she just can't swallow, or like she doesn't have the muscle/jaw power to get the food down?

[Light of Dae]

Well I got her to eat two tiny chunks of fish, then she didn't seem to wanna even try to eat anymore pieces. She'd just open her mouth, push on them then turn away... it was weird but at least she ate two little bites. It had only been a week since she ate so it wasn't to bad i suppose. I had cut the minnow into tiny bits, not quite minced, and I put them in a little bit of water, so maybe I'll just keep doing that.

I'm not sure if it was lack of jaw power or what but she'd be moving her jaw side to side trying to pull it farther into her mouth but it just wouldn't go. So I no know.

I did figure out how to get my webcam on my laptop to take pictures, crappy quality but can kinda see how cute she is... see if I can post some here...