Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was feeding my 2 year old boa today and he stuck the glass hard (before I could even get the cage open).

Anyhow, his bottom jaw is folded in on the right side all up into his mouth. He appears to be very uncomfortable, he can't close his mouth. I can't get a good pic and I want to avoid messing with him until tomorrow.

Is it possible its broke? Is this common? What should I do? Help?

It is common for boas to strike the cage when they are hungry and smell food and see movement in front of them especially if the cage is at eye level.

I wouldn't have the boa in a glass cage for this reason and many other reasons. Maybe it's just a glass door and wood cage but if I were you, now that your boa has a tendency to strike the glass, I would immediately go out and buy a 4'x2' PVC cage. They aren't expensive - your vet bill will be more expensive.

Sounds like your boa has a broken jaw if it is folded in and it can't close it's mouth.

Take it to the vet immediately before infection sets in and you have bigger problems. This isn't likely to just go away and your boa won't be able to eat. Which I assume didn't eat after striking the glass so it must already be hungry.

Mike

Boafusion
www.boafusion.com

Well I guess I freaked out a little bit.

He is fine apparently. It seems the skin on his jaw got caught on some of his teeth and was stuck... he looks all good now.

His mouth is closed and his jaw is lined up straight. I will pull him out in a day or two and take a closer look.

He just finished eating a med/rat and he was going to get an extra mouse someone else didn't want. I don't feel handling him tonight will be a good idea.

Glad to hear Keep a good eye on him. Not sure if you are but if you feed F/T I would recommend thawing the rat in a separate room so your boa doesn't smell the rat (they have a very good scent when it comes to rats). Then before bringing the rat in the room I would put the boa in a Tupperware bin and feed in the bin.

Mike
www.boafusion.com

My albino female does the same thing to me all the time. She apparently hates the sight of me. I have her in a boaphile cage. Her jaw gets a little likes yours did but after a few minutes she corrects it herself. I wouldn't worry about it too much just keep an eye on him/her to make sure it's corrected after a while.
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If you don't stand behind our troops, please, feel free to stand in front of them!

www.rezendesreptiles.com

>>Glad to hear Keep a good eye on him. Not sure if you are but if you feed F/T I would recommend thawing the rat in a separate room so your boa doesn't smell the rat (they have a very good scent when it comes to rats). Then before bringing the rat in the room I would put the boa in a Tupperware bin and feed in the bin.
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>>Mike
>>www.boafusion.com

I think you underestimate just how well they can smell/scent things. LOL I thaw mine in the kitchen sink with hot tap water, and by the time I get the rats into the water, and walk into the room where the snakes are housed, they are (every one of them) out of their hides, and at the cage door waiting for their meal. I have about a hundred different pictures of this.

Glad it turned out well for you. I read this a lot actually, and it's almost always just a lip caught on a tooth or something. A big stretching yawn to put things back in place usually fixes it. Their jaws are pretty flexible, not solid and stiff like ours. They are also hinged in the rear in 4 places as well as in the front on the lower jaw where it actually splits. So they can get their jaws into some pretty weird looking shapes on occasion.
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Sublime Boa Constrictor

>>I think you underestimate just how well they can smell/scent things. LOL I thaw mine in the kitchen sink with hot tap water, and by the time I get the rats into the water, and walk into the room where the snakes are housed, they are (every one of them) out of their hides, and at the cage door waiting for their meal. I have about a hundred different pictures of this.
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I COMPLETELY agree with this and even though I thaw in ziplock bags, I have seen the same thing in my collection, time and time again.

jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

I disagree with the above opinion. I've had some serious strikes with some messed up looking jaws and they've always fixed it eventually. I've had then like that for almost 2 days but they always fix it usually. If it was broken you'd mosklikely see swelling but this happens all the time so I bet by the morning he/she will fix it. Just don't jump to conclusions just yet. Best of luck,i'm sure it'l work out.

OOPS,
guess everyone replied at the same time! All I can say is...I TOLD YA SO!!! LOL Glad it's fixed!