Respitory Infection?

[Wild Bill]

i just noticed that one of my juvinile roises had its mouth open. only half of its jaw is open and on the other side of its head it looks like theres some purpleish bruising around the nostril area. i though this might have been caused by some tramua durring feeding. does anyone have an idea what could be causing this and the appripriate course of action?

[The BoidSmith]

It could be a respiratory infection but by your description it seems it might be mouth rot (bacterial infection of the mouth). First thing is to isolate her from any other animal that's hosed close by. Depending on how bad it is (open mouth is not a good sign) you may have to have the snake treated with antiobiotics. Mouth rot is an infection that can be caused by a broken tooth and/or any other trauma in the mouth. Dirty substrate or water can also lead to this infection. If the infection is mild you can start by removing the caseous secretion (cheese-like) that will show in the mouth with a cutip soaked in hydrogen peroxide. Diluted povidone iodine with hydrogen peroxide can be used to cleanse and treat topically. Again, at this stage it would be wise to take him/her to a vet for a proper diagnostic and suggested treatment.

Good luck!

[Wild Bill]

well unfortunately i found the snake dead tonight. I put it in the freezer and plan on checking into COD. i did inspect the mouth but didn't notice any rot. i had this problem with a leopard gecko a few years back so i don't believe thats what it was. the snake had refused to feed for the last few weeks but didn't lose what i believed to be enough weight to cause any concern. thanks for the reply.

[The BoidSmith]

Sorry to hear that.

Regards.