Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an albino yellow belly rat snake and She is sick. I feed her live (she wont eat frozen)and her baby rat bit her several times b4 i could get it out. it bit her body and her head (mouth) I have noticed that she has been acting funny. I thought it was the mites that i am currently treating. well now her mouth is all messed up. the front part of her gums are all puffy and swollen. i think she has an infection. she also is blowing bubbles when she breathes. is that a respiratory infection? How can i help her? please help. i love her a lot and i hate to c her in pain. I picked her up out of her cage and thought that she was dead bc she wasnt moving. its been 3 weeks since her last feeding. Please tell me what i can do.

I don't know how you managed all those compound problems in one snake, but your snake needs to go to the vet ASAP!! for treatment and a regimen of antibiotics to quickly target the definite respiratory infection and infectious stomatitis(mouth rot) that it also now likely has brought on from the R.I. and now the bites. The life of the snake all depends on your swift action at this point. This is nothing that will simply go away, this is seriously life threatening!!

Good luck with it....

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Thank you so much. idk how all this happened with my snake either. I keep her cage clean and take good care of her. Ill be taking her to the vet today if i can. thank you so much for your help.

My snake is going to be alright!!! i am so happy. i took her to the vet today and he gave me some meds to help her and vitamin c. she is on the mend. I am so happy.

Glad you did the right thing and brought it to a vet. What meds did the vet administer/give you?

Hope things work out well.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Jonathan,
You did the right thing with the vet. Very good.
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However...
And this is rhetorical (you don't have to respond.)
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You need to evaluate your husbandry (the conditions in which you are keeping your snake.)
Blowing bubbles, mites, possible mouth infection, and the bites are often indications of a few problem areas.
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Bubbles and mites persisting are often an indicator of cage strata (and sometimes the air itself) that is, too cool and too damp.
A snake too cool and damp has lower resistance to fighting parasites, disease, and even rodent bites.
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There is nothing more fascinating than watching a snake hunt, catch, constrict, and swallow live food, but one of several down sides is, when a snake is weakened by other conditions, they are prone to injury.
Though rodents are mostly herbivores, the will eat meat when nothing else is available.
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Terrible story, but a lesson learned.
When I was young, I dumped 4 mice and a free hamster into a spacious cage with a large Black Racer. The Racer ate well regularly, but was not ready this time.
I left them together over night and, in the morning, there were:
two dead mice, half eaten from tail up,
..one mouse with no tail,
..one healthy mouse,
..and one healthy hamster.
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Still optimistic that the snake certainly is safe, I left them overnight again.
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Result:
..One dead mouse, half eaten from tail up.
..One 5 foot Black Racer – dead – lower ¼ eaten to the bone.
..One fat, healthy hamster…….
Lesson: all the warnings of not leaving live food with a snake are true.
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Bottom line on all this is that your vet may fix your animal, but if husbandry is not right, the vet will see it again some time in the future!!!
Good Luck….

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Regards, Bill McGighan