Swallowing Substrate

[EasternGirl]

You have to make sure that he cannot do that again. You could try to take him out of the tank and get a separate feed tank lined with paper towels to move him into when he eats. If you can't do that...cover all of the substrate with paper towels before feeding him and supervise him closely to make sure he doesn't drag the food off of the paper towels and into the substrate. Aspen can be very dangerous when swallowed. You need to watch him closely over the next few days...make sure he is pooping normally...watch for any signs of distress...a swollen vent, vomiting, etc. I hope everything turns out okay! Keep us posted. I just saw that you ordered a critter keeper...good thinking...I use those for feed tanks too.

Edit: Do you have a exotic or herp vet to take him too if he should run into serious problems?

[Sonya610]

You have to make sure that he cannot do that again. You could try to take him out of the tank and get a separate feed tank lined with paper towels to move him into when he eats. If you can't do that...cover all of the substrate with paper towels before feeding him and supervise him closely to make sure he doesn't drag the food off of the paper towels and into the substrate. Aspen can be very dangerous when swallowed. You need to watch him closely over the next few days...make sure he is pooping normally...watch for any signs of distress...a swollen vent, vomiting, etc. I hope everything turns out okay! Keep us posted. I just saw that you ordered a critter keeper...good thinking...I use those for feed tanks too.

Edit: Do you have a exotic or herp vet to take him too if he should run into serious problems?

He won't do it again! He has been fed in a separate glass container for the last year because he was sharing his enclosure, since he has his own cage now I put the food on a plate instead (which is how the other eats, inside the cage with a plate). As far as herp vets, there are only 2 vets in town and one was probably the only herp vet in Middle Georgia, she recently got diagnosed with cancer and sold her practice (though honestly I went in for a consult when one of my dogs was struggling with a tick borne disease that was hard to diagnose and that vet was crazy). Kind of ironic -- she told me I should not spend $60 testing my 3 yr old dog for more tick born diseases because "the dog is going to die anyway from the undiagnosed disease, why waste money on tests?". Now she has cancer and I hear she can't afford the tests to see if she will need chemo, I thought to myself "but why should she waste thousands on tests if she is going to die anyway?". PS Dog was diagnosed by another vet and is fine now.

Otherwise I drive two hours north to Atlanta, realistically this is a small little guy, a little over a year old, if he had a blockage could they do surgery to remove it? I mean successful surgery and not a hack job that leads to $700 vet bill and a deceased snake?