One of my friends has a Cali King that his mom dosnt exactly like. About 6 moths ago he got out of his enclousre only to make a run for it, but was stopped suddenly by the boys mom, he went to strike at her and she close the sliding door on his jaw, breaking it off completly. My friend took him to the vet and the only thing the vet did was give him some antibiotics and send him on his way. He just recently started accepting food again, but by the looks of things he has a rather hard time getting the pinks down, he is a 3 1/2 foot eating pinks still because thats all he will accept, and prolly all he can get down. He will take about 3 pinks a week, all in one sitting. Now I have 2 questions: Is this going to be enough food for him? And do you think he will ever be able to move onto bigger prey size? And for a snake missing his lower jaw he still likes to bite...Im attempting to tame him..hes slowly coming around lol...Ill see if I can get ahold of a cam to get some pics for you guys

I don't have snakes but looking at the way they eat, moving each jaw back and forth to push stuff in, it will have a hard time eating stuff bigger than the current mouth diameter.

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Wish list: Blue Tongue Skinks and Uruplatus =)

where is the jaw tacken off? right at the hinge or jsut before?

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Live for today Not tomorrow.

It was taken off just before the hinge, Im considering bringing him to my vet, just to get his opinion and have the little guy x rayed, no need for any damage to go unfixed

If the lower jaw is completely gone its likely that the snake will have two options.
1. to be fed on multiple small rodents for the rest of its life possibly requiring vitamin and calcium supplimentation. Mind you this is do-able but just a hassle and will get expensive if you are having to feed 10-15 pinks at a time.
2. to be force fed a liquified diet thru a syringe.
Either way is going to require a commitment.

Something else to consider is the problem of the jaw being gone. This is going to allow the mouth tissues to dry out possibly leading to other health problems.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I was thinking about that earlier Merlin, his mouth tissues drying out. What sort of health issuse would this cause? Id rather have him take his time eating as many pinks as he wants then force feed him, I dont want to cause any more stress on the little guy. Im sure he'll prefer it too . Should I up feedings to twice a week? And Ive already got vits prepared for him for his next feeding

If the tissue dries up the tissue may die and possibly go necrotic. And this close to the snake's brain that in itself could kill it.

Personally I would still feed only once a week. Bi weekly feeding is going to put a strain on his digestive system.
And with someone PROPERLY TRAINED a force feeding doesn't have to be as traumatic as you think. I had a corn hatchling that had to be force fed medication every day for 3 months as well as being force fed during this period.

THIS IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION THAT SOMEONE DO THIS WHO HAS NOT BEEN PROPERLY TRAINED!
I spent a great deal of time with a qualified herp vet in order to prepare me to preform this procedure! If you don't know what you are doing you can seriously injure or kill the patient!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Well Ive oly learned force feeding procedures on Water Dragons, never a snake but Id be more then willing to learn if you think it would be the best thing for him IS there anyhting to do about the dead/dried tissue?

Having the lower jaw completely missing is way beyond anything I have personally dealt with or even heard of. This is a pretty drastic injury. The vet may have a recommendation. There may be something that you can put on it to prevent drying out. I just really don't know on this one.
I hate to say it but be prepared for the worst.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Well my vet suggested he be put down. I dont have the heart for this, I never gave up on any of my other monsters when they were going through their hard times like Sally (may she RIP)...Im still paying off her vet bills which came to be over $900...The way I see it is if he has enough will to be in this condition and still do his best to stay alive (eat, drink, remain active..) Then I should have enough will to help him along, even if he is the biggest monster towards me ever . So Im gonna give it a try. The vet said I should allow him to eat on his own, and if it appears to become too much for him then Ill start syringe feeding him, so Ive got time to tame him I do however have to give him liquids 3 times a week, just to be sure he remains hydrated, as he really cant drink easily lol..he tries tho...which is very impressive. I will definaley keep you guys posted on his condition and I appreciate everyones help and advice As for the drying up Merlin, he said there really is no way around that..so Im still considering what to do about that..as I hope he is too