Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Long story but this little guy escaped his feeding cage. The next day I opened my sliding patio door and found him but his lower jaw got mangled when the door opened. Do you think there is any hope? The pic is 4 days after the incident. Sorry for the poor quality pic.

I think a vet can superglue some "splint" material under the jaw where it is broken until it can fuse back. Left like that doesn't look real hopeful at all. It can go a good while without food, but not water. This all depends on how long it has gone without since escaping too.

I would bring it to the vet. If the rest of it's head and internal body parts aren't damaged, they can probably set it back to a great degree. Don't offer it any food because at THAT SMALL a size, even tiny pinks are going to be a painful struggle to eat right now.

Other than doing the above, I would humanely euthanize it. It has to be able to drink and eat with it's mouth. It's really just that simple.

I hope it can work out.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I think there is always hope, but the best approach is to see a vet. In the meantime, if you can get one of those feeding syringes for reptiles (they have a silicon tube that will not damage a snake's throat) you can give the snake some Gerber baby food, like strained turkey or something like that. This will keep it alive. Also give it a little water. I kept a cornsnake baby alive for quite awhile on Gerber until it fed on its own. I added some vitamin/calcium powder that I use for a box turtle.