Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Tonight I noticed a bit of swelling on the left side of little Clyde's mouth. I've heard tips about swabbing with non-flavored Listerine, but I've never handled him, and he's so small I'm almost afraid of hurting him if I force his mouth open. Any tips on the least-stressful way to approach this?

As a husbandry note, I went away for a week on vacation, and when I came back, the water dish with the feeder fish in it was really dirty - my pet sitter hadn't changed the water at all! So I wouldn't be too surprised if it's mouth rot. It's all clean now, and I'll do a scrub down on the whole tank tomorrow.
-----
~Cynthia

"And in the spring, I shed my skin and it blows away with the changing wind..."

First of all, how does my question get to be a hot topic without a single reply? Come on, guys!

Secondly, I've been swabbing his mouth with the aforementioned Listerine, but I don't see any changes so far. There was nothing stuck in his mouth, and he's so tiny that I can't tell if there is an injury or not. I also cleaned his tank.

Any thoughts guys? Anyone? Bueller?

Does anyone know a good herp vet in the San Diego area, just in case?
-----
~Cynthia

"And in the spring, I shed my skin and it blows away with the changing wind..."

I had a ball python that had a swelling between the eye and mouth--turned out to be a tumor--it was removed but more popped up and we had to euthanize.
-----
We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.

The Listerine swab seems to have worked - the swelling is greatly reduced although still slightly noticeable, and he's taken one prey item recently. All good signs.
-----
~Cynthia

"And in the spring, I shed my skin and it blows away with the changing wind..."