Broccoli floret stems can be a dangerous hazard

[Sue_P]

I had the fright of my life last night, I’d been at work all day and didn’t check on my rodents when I got in at teatime but went to see them at 8pm where I grabbed my black rodent for his daily eye dabbing with a tissue cos he’s got runny eyes. Once grabbed I looked at the little fella and I had to double-take because he had what looked like a massive great big green smile slapped across his face!

He then proceeded to bow his head and try to wriggle backwards under my towel and didn’t want to let me have a look at his mouth and was being difficult and I was so freaked out cos it looked so freaky and weird. I eventually managed to grab the smile and it was rock hard and wouldn’t budge, at that point I didn’t know what the hell it was, I was thinking it could have been a bit of green cardboard from a banana box but it seemed so solid, I couldn’t budge the thing, it was jammed in there in his gob. It was an inch long and he looked like a rugby player with a teethsheild, he couldn’t close his mouth because of it. What had happened was he’d bitten into a tough bit of broccoli floret stem and his bottom two teeth had gone straight through it and it had gotten lodged, there wasn’t a chance in hell he’d have been able to shift it by himself because I had to do a lot of yanking and maneuvering around for several minutes to get it out and it was so big for the size of his mouth.

I think it had been in his gob since the morning because there was his favourite grass and carrots still uneaten. It’s terrible to think he’d been like that for hours! He couldn’t close his mouth, he couldn’t eat anything for hours, he couldn’t drink, it must have been very uncomfortable. Poor thing. All I can say is thank God I noticed it and it didn’t stay lodged like that over night and in future I’ll be giving my rodents a good looking at on a regular a basis as possible. In a morning before I shoot off for work I make sure they’re both acting normally and go to eat their food but I don’t hang around and rush off, but in future I’ll be making sure I check properly so that if a freak accident like that happens again I can deal with it as soon as poss and not let it go on without me noticing. On this occasion I’m certain he was fine when I left in the early morning and I remember seeing a broccoli floret stem left over from the night before so it must have been that one that he bit into later on. Take my experience as a warning, keep a check on your rodents gobs. If my rodent had have gone much longer without food it could have been serious. :{

 

[doglovinpiggylover]

arrr thats really sad, poor guy, hope he is ok after this stressful episode.

 

[1st-time-mum-sarah]

Oh god poor thing and poor you must have scared you too.

Sarah x

 

[Sue_P]

I ain’t been that scared in ages.

 

[paulag]

These freak accidents do sometimes happen - one of my chinchillas got a piece of vine toy wedged in her back teeth once and was literally frothing at the mouth. It's very scary.

I really agree about the twice a day check over. But it's so easy to just check they are up and moving when you're in a hurry.

Paula

 

[Sue_P]

Were you present when the vine toy got stuck or was your chinchilla frothing for ages?

Did you get your fingers in its mouth to remove it or did it manage to get it out itself? I wouldn't fancy putting my fingers inside an angry mouth.

 

[AndreaJane]

Poor boy, must have been very scary for you both. Glad it turned out okay. x

 

[Sue_P]

Once it was out he seemed very chilled and as soon as I added in some fresh veggies he made a beeline for the new broccoli floret.

Bet he’d been sniffing it all day and was desperate to eat some.

I remained flustered all night though.

 

[paulag]

Were you present when the vine toy got stuck or was your chinchilla frothing for ages?

Did you get your fingers in its mouth to remove it or did it manage to get it out itself? I wouldn't fancy putting my fingers inside an angry mouth.

No - I think I noticed when I got in from work (it was a while ago now). She got rushed down the vets and luckily came out when they were looking in her mouth with a scope. She was minutes from being anaesthetised so we were lucky.

Funnily despite being the best equipped to do damage I've never had more than a warning nip from a chinchilla. Had a couple of nastys from degus but with fairly good reason as they were scared or in pain. But most of my bites have come for guinea pigs and usually during introductions - my own fault really, I would never dream of getting my hands between tow scrapping chinchillas but for some reason it always seems like a good idea to pick up the aggressor with guinea pigs. mallethead


How is your fella now? Has he recovered from his experience?

 

[doglovinpiggylover]

i once went round to my mums house and her piggy colin was eating a piece of red pepper and we thought he had got it stuck in his teeth and stood around giggling, until i realised it was actually stuck in his throat and he was gasping for air...omg i have never moved so quick in my life!

Luckily i managed to get it out with a pair of tweezers, thank god my mum knew where they were!

 

[Sue_P]

No - I think I noticed when I got in from work (it was a while ago now). She got rushed down the vets and luckily came out when they were looking in her mouth with a scope. She was minutes from being anaesthetised so we were lucky.

Funnily despite being the best equipped to do damage I've never had more than a warning nip from a chinchilla. Had a couple of nastys from degus but with fairly good reason as they were scared or in pain. But most of my bites have come for guinea pigs and usually during introductions - my own fault really, I would never dream of getting my hands between tow scrapping chinchillas but for some reason it always seems like a good idea to pick up the aggressor with guinea pigs. mallethead


How is your fella now? Has he recovered from his experience?

Touch the *rse end of one the next time they’re fighting, my rodents hate that.

(Although my two don’t do serious battle against each other.) I wouldn’t fancy a bite myself, I’m so squeamish and hate pain.

Yeah good job your chinchilla didn’t have to be knocked out. I was all ready for rushing to the vets before closing time although in the panic and not thinking right I’d forgotten that they no longer shut at 8.30pm, they shut earlier now so I’d have been too late.

Yeah, my black rodent is fine. I was worried he might have injured his gum by either me pulling at the broccoli stem or by him trying to remove it all day but I couldn’t get him to open his mouth afterwards for me to have a look. I figured he was stressed enough so just let him go and he went straight to food and started eating everything for ages so I know his teeth and him are fine.

i once went round to my mums house and her piggy colin was eating a piece of red pepper and we thought he had got it stuck in his teeth and stood around giggling, until i realised it was actually stuck in his throat and he was gasping for air...omg i have never moved so quick in my life!

My rodent having a huge green smile was strangely amusing, I’d have gone and got my camera out if I wasn’t so frantic to get the obstruction out.

The thought crossed my mind to get the camera but I figured his welfare was more important than being able to share the incident with others later.

Luckily i managed to get it out with a pair of tweezers, thank god my mum knew where they were!

You’ve got me thinking now,

I think I might get some tweezers and put them somewhere handy for any possible future emergencies. That wouldn’t be a bad idea.

 

[doglovinpiggylover]

yes i agree, but i was paranoid about catching his skin with them in my panic, imagine that owwcccchhhh that would hurt!

 

[suem]

thank goodness you got to him in time. If he had been like it over night it wouldnt have been good news. My last piggie used to get hay stuck in between his front teeth. he was really old at the time and I used to get a cocktail stick and snap the point off and then get the hay out with that. He used to sit with his lips sort of curled..as much as if to say "Mum do my teeth ....!" what with that and the impaction at the other end!....good job we love them

 

[Sue_P]

@ Sue - Aww poor thing, bless.

 

[Pepperdog]

I have to remove bits of hay sometimes round crystals eyes - for some reason she is the only pig that hay sticks like velcro to and its not like they walk all over or bury into it.

I have had to remove things from other animals though, a goat managed to get a chain link round its back teeth, hadnt realised how sharp they really were until I was having to put my fingers near them to free her, I managed it without damage :... and a orphan lamb managed to get the hook on the heat lamp through its lip, that was a little easier to remove but wasnt plesent doing it, then tied the hook up out the way so it didnt happen again.

Then there has been the piece of bone in peppers teeth, this is the dog that growled at me thursday because I was trying to put her in the car crate mallethead (she was achy so fair enough), and if I trim her nails she isnt nice to know, but she was really calm and I managed to remove it after a little effort, think its happened twice actually. And in the first few years she got a thorn in her eyelid inside, I couldnt hook it out with a cotton bud - thought it was a hair to begin with, so took her to the vets and she had only just had her tea, no way was she going to wait till it was safe to knock her out so we put her on the table I held her and the vet got it out shortly after with no issues at all from her. She is funny like that, she will let you help her when she needs it, but gets funny about routine things.