Jake's Saga Continues....

[AnniesMom]

Well, I have finally got a picture of Jake the Snake's stitches and his lovely face. This pic was taken 4 weeks after the stitches were put in. Imagine his face right after the surgery. He was SO swollen.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/508/3225JakeStitches.jpg

The discolouration under the chin is the remains of a shed that didn't come off all the way due to the stitches. There are a total of 5 or 6 stitches. The piece of flesh that was removed was 1/2'" to 3/4" across.

Isn't he a lovely boy??

[marisa]

He is very cute.

How long will he have to have stitches? Any idea on how this will, if at all, effect the rest of his life?

Marisa

[AnniesMom]

He's had them for 4 weeks already, and the vet recommend that we keep them in for another 2 weeks. Snakes have really slow metabolisms and we want to give the incision the best possible chance to mend before we take them out. I don't think that it will affect his eating all that much. The skin that died and had to be removed had stretched his face out so far out of wack that when it was taken out, his mouth looked normal again. The chin projected probably 1/2" beyond the upper jaw. Imagine a boxer with his chin stuck out and that is what he looked like. I may have to put him a smaller prey size for another month or two, but after that, hopefully he will be eating normally.

There is an abcess under his jaw that I will try and get a pic of. It is because of this abcess that he is still on antibiotics.

[Dani33]

Wow, what a trooper. Poor guy. He is certainly beautiful. I hope that all works out well for the two of you.

[Bartman]

ouch..looks painful, hope he gets better soon
what happened to him?

[AnniesMom]

I wrote a small novel about his trials and tribulations and it is written here...

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35633

Hopefully this link works.

He's doing well, and I have some pics of him before all these problems arose in my gallery

[BoidKeeper]

Good on ya for taking care of your pets and not shying away from a few vet bills!
Congrats and good luck with him,
Trevor

[AnniesMom]

Oh boy Trevor, if only it was a few vet bills. I guess it is though.... if those bills are $100 ones! LOL!