Let me say this -- I know Stomatitis can have many causes. I'll list a few that come to mind: physical trauma, foreign object, environmental - unhygienic, environmental - physical (temperature, humidity), psychological stress, and others.

Since snakes don't have any extremities, the primary body part most prone to trauma and vulnerable to infection [in captivity] is the mouth/oral cavity and nose. Where you have tissue protected by mucous membranes. No skin. Used and abused most frequently. Easily infected. Damage does occur more often than not as a matter of routine in the captive situation. Healthy Immune System -- repair and healing a normal occurrence. Compromised Immune System -- obvious and often chronic infection present.

It's a given that prolonged cooler than normal temperatures will compromise and degrade the effectiveness of the immune system.

For whatever reason the damage was done, temperature may be the number one reason the immune system isn't getting the repair job done.
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"

John Crickmer

[ Hide Replies ]

• Stomatitis and the Immune System - jscrick, Sun Dec 14 11:07:08 2008
• RE: Stomatitis and the Immune System - EricIvins, Sun Dec 14 11:18:47 2008
• RE: Stomatitis and the Immune System - jscrick, Sun Dec 14 11:36:03 2008
• RE: Stomatitis and the Immune System - jscrick, Sun Dec 14 12:15:44 2008
• Temps and the immune response….. - Kelly_Haller, Sun Dec 14 16:42:58 2008
• Great post N/P - jhsulliv, Sun Dec 14 19:58:10 2008
• Thank you, Kelly. - jscrick, Mon Dec 15 09:24:20 2008