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We just got a phone call from the local pet store who has a 2' amel motely corn that he thought had mouth rot, my wife picked it up for us to look at and treat here forhim. At first I thought he had asped bedding stuck in his mouth so started removing it after the first few chunks of it I got a closer look and realized it wasnt aspen it was worms. hook worms came to mind . Any idea on how to treat them? He doesnt want to pay to have it treated. Thanks j&j reptiles

thats interesting.never heard of worms in a cornsnakes mouth.i have however seen flukes in eastern hognose mouths. jeff

I removed most of them by hand ,with a wet q tip,they were down his throat so bad he couldnt even breath.After removing them he had a almost instant turn around and started tounge flicking and seemed to be very dehidrated, as he drank a lot of water. I will keep posted on the status, and see if I can get a pick of them if he has any more that we need to remove. Thanks

Sounds like a poor prognosis if treatment isn't sought. Best you can do is what you've done, and offer ideal husbandry. Ideally, take this critter to the vet.

Ian

ps, sounds like a good petstore

Thanks for the reply, we are keeping his box as sterial as sossoble. As for the pet store he used to be terrible ,but we helped him out a lot with his reptiles and he has gotten better.We believe the worms are from the feeder mice because the snake was on f/t before he got him and looked flawless, he was feeding f/k mice so that is where the problem probely started. A bad batch of rodents from a mixed blood line can do lot of damage. People up here have always seemed to have a ".problem" with wild mice getting into there domestic tanks and breeding.[a lot do it on purpose not knowing the ill effects. The other pet store in town is just as bad, cal king with mouthrot?my wife told them it looked bad, they said oh.. no its not mouth rot its were we watched the mouse bite it yesturday. They also sexed this snake by looking at the vent... it had a slit so they say its a female.! My question is now the hell do they tell a male???????????????????????

>>Thanks for the reply, we are keeping his box as sterial as sossoble.

In a lot of ways, keeping the environment clean will not prevent or treat a bacterial infection. Keep in mind that the parasites have penetrated the snake's primary defense. And with the stress of captivity and a heavy parasite infestation, the chances of a bacterial infection as a RESULT of the parasites are quite high. Veterinary care shouldn't be optional, the best bet for this snake's survival is getting it to a vet. Good luck.
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Virginia Herping
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaHS
Virginia Herpetological Society
http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS

If there is a just God, how humanity would writhe in its attempt to justify its treatment of animals. - Isaac Asimov

Hookworms can only be successfully treated with medicines prescribed by a vet. If the worms are coming out of the snake's mouth, good chances that the parasite load is extremely heavy and it will kill the snake if treatment isn't given asap. If you are not able to pay for veterarian care, it would be best to have the snake euthenized. However, treatment for worms isn't really expensive, so to save the snake, taking him to a qualified reptile/snake vet would be the best solution (and practically your only solution).
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PHLdyPayne