Toothless snake gets braces to fix its bite

SYDNEY: A green python broke her jaw and was aptly named Toothless! Now she is getting a new set of braces!

This pet snake swallowed her own jawbone while eating and owner rushed her into the vet emergency room.

The vet, instead of operating a risky surgery to correct the problem, decided to get creative.

The folks at HerpVet, a reptile department in Australia, decided to give her braces.The vet designed special braces for the snake using a paperclip, affixing it to her scales with glue.

‘She had recently laid her eggs and this was her first feed post-deposition which may have weakened her jaw making it more susceptible to fracturing,’ HerpVet wrote on their Facebook page.

‘After delicately dislodging the stuck portion of the jaw, it was still abnormally positioned. An x-ray image was taken to assess the bone and a break was seen in the mandible lower jaw. ‘This bone is too small and fragile to fix with traditional surgery, so the bone was aligned and an external brace (a molded paper clip) was attached.

‘After falling off the next day, the external brace was reapplied. This stayed on until she shed and this was long enough to allow her to heal. ‘She was given pain relief and placed on a calcium supplement to aid in the healing process. Food will be withheld for a couple of weeks at which point a final x-ray will be taken to confirm healing has completed.’

Many people praised the vet for helping the snake with the dental problem and her owners for seeking emergency treatment.