Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When I fed my alterna today, I noticed some blood around the connecting point of his jaw. If > is his mouth, I'm referring to the area where top and bottom meet. I think the slight bleeding was triggered from the feeding. When I say bleeding, I don't mean it was gushing or even pooling blood. More like a slight cut along the jaw that marginally breaks the skin. Is this considered... normal? He was eating a pinky and he is approximately 1 foot in length. I've never noticed this on him before, and I've never seen it occur with my desert king either. I'm wondering if I should take him to the vet... or just apply a minuscule amount of hydrogen peroxide to the effected area. He also just finished shed, and I've also noticed his eye caps retained. I've read that sometimes if you can't pull them off after soaking that it's ok to leave them on until they come off on their own during the next shed... is that also true? Any advice/tips would be appreciated.

Tell us more about how your keeping him.. substrate, enclosure, temps, hides, etc..

~ Mike Russo

5 gallon tank, uth on one side, two covers (one on either side), carefresh for substrate, water dish, temp sensor keeps uth at about 88-90, cool side stays at mid to upper 70s, at night I usually lower this by 5 degrees, stool looks ok. I guess I'm concerned about mouth infection, but when he was feeding I always check his lining and it looks fine. Screen top... maybe I should have it partially covered to lower airflow?

Well your setup sounds good, but the retained eye cap has me thinking that there is a lack of humidity issue..

One more question, Are you 100% sure that there are no mites on the snake?

~ Mike Russo

I can't say for 100% certainty. From the visual inspections I've done, he doesn't appear to have any of the symptoms of a mite infestation. This could be caused by mites? I hadn't even considered that.

No, i was not thinking that mites directly caused the bleeding, but i have never seen unexplained bleeding from mouth and the mite infestations can effect the overall health of the anaimal.

As Doug mentiones below check the water bowl for mites. Also, I am not a huge fan of carefresh, so i would switch to paper towel until you get things straightened out.

Can you post a picture of the snake so we can see what condition he is in?

~ Mike Russo

False alarm... it was blood from the pinky.

There you go then.. All cured, see how helpfull these forums can be!

~ Mike Russo

You said he has blood on his mouth.Blood is a liquid,so you saw blood a cut or a lesion? We have to have the correct terms here in order to help you out.
Incomplete sheds (retained eyecaps) can happen if conditions are too dry."Mouth rot" is a scab type thing around the mouth can be caused by too much dampness.or fouled damp substrate.Any photos?
This pic shows what they call mouth rot on his maxilia just in front of the eye.

Here is the same snake a few weeks later.The mouth rot( I hate that term) is mostly healed and has turned pink.

So whats the story ?

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"Wake me when its April"

Doug L

No scab. Blood at the corners of his mouth. Perhaps this occured because his skin was too dry at the corners of his mouth. Maybe when he ate it caused some tares and consequently the bleeding. I can't get any pics tonight, I don't want to stress him anymore. I'm trying an experiment though. I did some more reading about the dangers of screentops during the winter season and I decided to cover about 90% of his screen top with some plastic wrap and a book to seal the deal. I had no idea that snakes could dehydrate from exposure to dry air. That would also explain the retained eye caps. I live in florida, but we are experiencing quite some dryness. Also, unlike my desert king, the alterna likes to lay in his little tree... often. The desert king stays burrowed for about 80% of the day, but the alterna just hangs out in the open... maybe that also explains why the alterna would be dehydrated and the desert king wouldn't given that they've possibly both been exposed to the same dry conditons.

Could it of maybe been a little blood from the pinky? Where in Fl do you live?

That is exactly what I was thinking. I think it is a big possibility that this is just blood from the pinky, as I have seen that happen before.
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Genesis 1:1

You were right, it was from the pinky.. false alarm

Very glad to hear that!!
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Genesis 1:1

not sure of your heat source but remember that if you cover that tank top with plastic you could increase temps in the tank and bake your snake, and no mites wont cause bleeding,Check the water bowl for little dark dots .Thats where you will see mites.
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"Wake me when its April"

Doug L

you know what they say about common sense ???
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"Wake me when its April"

Doug L

Even if the blood was not from the pinky, I would say this is pretty normal. Especially if you feed live, snakes often shed teeth, get scratched, etc. A little bit of blood is something you will see again eventually. Their mouths are very able to heal small scratches every time they feed. Obviously there is a point where it is not normal and more serious, but that's not what you described here.