Last week I went down to my snake room for the daily clean. I opened one of my boxes containing a 2006 Eastern King and I was shocked to find his eye twice the normal size and all white with puss. His mouth on that side was so swollen and filled with so much infection/puss he couldnt close it. Now I keep my cages very clean I use paper towel as a substrate so I was at a loss as to what happend. I had just looked at him maybe a day and half prior to finding him this way. Then it struck me I had him outside to take pics in my yard a few days before. I put his hide on the ground and set him in there. The first thing he did was start digging with his snout. Im thinking he may have slightly injured his mouth and some bacteria from the dirt caused the infection, Its the only thing I can think of. Anyway I figured he was a goner but I was gonna do what I could. I drained as much infection as I could removing his eye cap (wasnt hard due to the swollen eye). I then flushed his eye and mouth with an antiseptic rinse and applied an antibiotic ointment. I then put him in a small (4 gal) aquarium that gets real hot. About 80 on the cool side and 100 on the hotspot. I know if you keep a reptile extra warm it boosts their immune system. For the next few days I continued to apply the ointment and I noticed his jaw was no longer swollen or deformed. His eye was a red and white scab and he was going into shed. Regardless he ate 3 small pinks and seemed otherwise healthy. He should shed tonight so Ill see if he still has an eye but the infection is gone. This is the first time Ive seen an infection like this in my collection and hopefully the last.
Here is a pic I just took. He should be shed by tonight or tomorrow and Im hoping there is an eye under there but Im not too optimistic there is.
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