Hello everyone,
We have a 3-4 year old gray-banded who has, up until recently, been in good health. About 2 1/2 weeks ago he seemed to be having trouble shedding properly and was also holding his mouth open; not gaping wide, just open about 3mm. He seemed to be having a little trouble breathing through his nostrils so we thought that might be the reason for the mouth breathing. We began soaking him daily to help with the shedding. His mouth seemed to relax and close properly during these soaks and for a while afterward. After a few days my son was getting worried and got a little over eager. During a soaking he rubbed off the soon-to-shed skin, starting at the snake's nose and going back about six inches. The skin is damaged but healing. The rest of his shedding was not rubbed off but allowed to peel gently during the soaks. The snake is still holding its mouth open and when it does close, the mouth doesn't form a tight even bite like normal. It is slightly crooked. There don't seem to be lesions or sores in the mouth but I'm not an expert on mouth rot. I've read that povidine rinses are the approprate treatment for mouth rot but don't want to put him through that if it isn't necessary. Could this be a mild mouth rot or early symptoms? Should we povidine rinse just in case? Could the dry tight skin around the mouth (before shedding), and then the damaged skin around the mouth (after forced shedding) be the cause for holding the mouth open? Any experienced input would be greatly appreciated.
