The Pets tongue came Off!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Years ago I was treating a boa constrictor for "mouth rot". The name aptly describes the condition as infection sets into the mouth resulting in abscesses and sometime loss of life. I had hospitalized the snake for treatment and after a week he improved and the big day came for the snake to go home. The owner would have to do some flushing of the mouth but otherwise he seemed good to go. By the way I knew it was a male because I "probed" him but we will leave that for another story or if your super curious ask I and I will tell you what probing a snake means... Anyway I had a tech and the owner in the room and was demonstration how to flush the snake’s mouth out with an antibiotic wash. All of the sudden I see the snakes tongue on the gauze detached from the mouth. I said," Excuse me Mrs. Smith we have to take your snake into the other room to check on something". The tech and I left the room as the owner did not see the tongue come off. This is not a common occurrence as it never happened to me before. The tech looked at me horrified and said, "Can he live without a tongue?". I said I hope so. We then went back in the room and explained it all to the owner. Mrs. Smith didn't seem too worried because it was her son's snake and honestly she didn't want it anyway. I never did hear how he did. I can only tell you he stopped singing in the bathtub. Have a great weekend! Dr. Robb
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Dr. John Robb is a respected doctor of veterinary medicine from Connecticut. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California – Davis in 1981 and his D.V.M from that same institution in 1985. More
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