Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I believe that my Dumeril is starting to develop mouth rot I am not 100% sure about this, but you can look at the attached picture (I know it might not be too clear but holding a snake in one hand and I camera in the other is not that easy).

Can someone tell me what I can do to heal this? The cage temperatures and humidity are monitored and are OK. I don't see any visible infections on the snake, the stools look OK.

I believe the problem could be stress related because I got him a couple of weeks ago and he had difficulty feeding, although he did feed eventually. The change of environment could also have contributed to the stress.

Unfortunately, the possibility of taking him to a vet is non existent because of the lack of a reptile knowledgeable vet in our region.

Can someone recommend any kind of medication I can give him before it gets too serious?

I have not had any experience with mouth rot, although I do know it can become very serious and painful for the animal. Do you have any reptile breeders or stores in your area that could help you identify the condition? It is hard to tell from the picture, but it does look like a case of mouth rot.

Here is the best link I could find in regards to mouth rot...I haven't tried or heard of anyone using any of the treatments listed, so I cannot recommend any to you. Be careful with iodine or hydrogen peroxide though to avoid swallowing....and be careful as the snake is likely to become "upset". Let me know if the link does not open!

http://www.pkreptiles.com/informationterms/articles/mouthrot.asp
-----
Thanks,
Amy
www.myboids.4t.com
----
1.14 Normal ball pythons
1.0 Pastel ball pythons
0.0.1 Sinaloan Milk Snake
0.0.1 Plains Garter
0.1 Normal Kenyan Sand Boa
2.0 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Mid-Baja Rosy Boa
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat
1.2 Dumeril's Boa
1.2 BCI
That's Just The Snakes!

I've already seen that site before. Along with what they recommend and some other sites as well, I applied Betadine solution to the outer lip with a cotton swab. This is safe in terms of the snake not swallowing the solution. I'll continue doing this for a week and see what happens.

I am currently working with a snake that has the same problem and my way of helping it is making it better.

Dilute some betadine to a tea color. In a seperate container, mix 50% water and 50% peroxide mixture.
Use a Q-tip with the betadine mixture on it and brush the gums, then use a different q-tip with the peroxide mixture and brush it on the gums, then go back over with the betadine mixture again(different Q-tip to be safe)

Do that once daily for 2-3 weeks, then every other day until it is healed. If it gets worse then take the snake to a well experienced vet.

I tried the "fix" in the previous post. When I added Bettadine to water to dilute it, the water turned blue and precipitated out. Is it supposed to do that?
-----
Terry Norris, Keeper of the household Zoo

My ball python had mouth rot and I took him to my vet. He had to have antibiotic shots for 3 weeks before he got over it. The vet told me if left untreated it can eventually kill the snake. I reccommend getting yours to a vet as soon as possible.