Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Tonight I was feeding my 4 ft Hypo het Anery and she struck at the plexi on the front of her cage while I was cleaning out another cage. I then noticed her breathing really hard out of her mouth and making a hissing sound. I coaxed her out with a stick b/c she was being really aggressive and put her on the floor and cover her with a towel. I then grasped her around the head area and used a spoon to try to open her mouth. I rinsed the mouth out with some water and then I saw a lil blood. I think when she hit the side of the cage she may have broken a tooth or two.

Does any one else's snake his when it is pi**ed off or was she breathing like that because she hurt herself and if so what would be the best course of action.

I appreciate all your help. I do not have a vet around where I am currenty accessable to that specializes in Reptiles.

I have a couple of snakes that use to hiss real loud when they were agitated and I actually thought my albino broke her jaw when she struck at the plexiglass on her cage. My albino's lower jaw was bent up from striking the glass and I took her str8 to the vet after I let her calm down enough for me to handle her. The vet gave her an antibiotic and told me she would be fine and sure enough her jaw eventually straightened out and she was back to being her mean self. They gave my snake the antibiotic to prevent mouthrot and if your snake was bleeding in the mouth that would be something to be concerned about. I would atleast call the nearest vet that does treat reptiles and ask their opinion and if they are too far for you to travel too maybe they could tell you what to do. If there is no vet help around just keep the snakes mouth very clean. Hopefully some one with more experience will respond but if not , this is the best advice I can give you from my experience. I hope your snake gets better.

This is worste case scenerio, your snake will probably bounce back on his own but I would keep a close eye on his mouth to make sure it doesn't get infected.

Marcus Williams

If you are really concerned about it, you can treat the wound a couple times a day with a Q-tip and mouthwash. I've had Boas feed, break teeth, and scrape the lining of their mouths before. They've done it with wood chips too. I notice because they start to look like they have a fat lip. It gets irritated and swollen.
A few applications of mouthwash has worked every time.

Bummer if she's mean though!
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sounddjinn@yahoo.com

Things always get cloudy, just before transformation.

This is good advice. To add more specifics, this is what I do:
Colgate makes a product called Peroxyl. The active ingredient is hydrogen peroxide, but it's made for oral use. You can get it anywhere. I bought some and put it in a small spray bottle. I pry the snake’s mouth open and spray t all over making sure to get the parts that I think are infected. I follow the directions which say to let it sit for one minute. Then, I have another spray bottle with pure water and I use that to rinse really well. I usually only do this once a day, but I doubt it’d hurt to do it more often. After 3-4 days, you'll definitely see results. Hope this helps and good luck!
Oh, also, the DO make Chlorhexadine for this purpose and it comes in a spray bottle already. This works well, too.
Aaron