ball pythin possibly bitten by spider

My ball python got loose in the basement for about a week before we found her. When cleaning her up, we pulled what looked to be a spider leg out of her mouth and since she's been back in her tank she keeps opening her mouth like it hurts and has a big black mark right where it opens, another one on the side and it looks like a black streak down the roof of her mouth. Her whole head also looks swollen. Any idea what this could be from? I'm thinking she got bit by something she tried to eat, but I'm not sure and I don't know what to do for her. Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

Black means necrotic (dead) tissue. Swelling means either infection or poison. She needs to see a vet ASAP, regardless of the initial cause of injury.

The only two spiders I know of that could do that are brown recluse and black widows, but neither occur in Pennsylvania, but I'm hardly an entomologist. It could've been a spider bite, but I doubt a ball python would see a cold-blooded invertebrate as a source of food. Maybe she got injured and was crawling around through some spider webs in your basement and the spider leg just happened to get in her swollen mouth? Anyway, she needs a vet or that necrotic tissue could prove fatal.

thanks for the info, the swelling went down today and she's no longer holding her mouth open like it's bothering her. She also has pink around the black areas... not sure if that's from the necrotic tissue, or if she happened to just burn herself on the hot water heater. The soonest open appt. at the vet is Wednesday evening, so I'm hoping she's still looking better tomorrow.

Pink is good, that's healing tissue. Is it possible it's an older wound (like a week old) that's beginning to heal?

It's a possibility. I hadn't noticed the black until she got loose, that's what made me think she had done something to herself. And as far as the types of spiders mentioned earlier, we do have brown recluses out here, I had actually killed one while she was missing. Ugly little things.

Sorry about that, accidentally posted that reply under my boyfriends account that was left logged in.

Just a heads up... we actually do have black widows AND brown recluse spiders in PA
Check the Daily Local news website for when the found black widows 2 houses up from me last year. Our aunt and brother in law were both bitten by brown recluse!

Black widows (we have 2 or more species in the USA) are native to the entire continent. Recluses are far harder to properly ID, but are endemic nonetheless. Most of the US also has brown widows - not deadly, but still have a painful bite.

It is entirely possible your snake was bitten by a spider, though one of those 2 species would most likely have done far more damage than just some necrotic tissue. All spiders have venom - only those 2 mentioned above are medically significant to humans. Another type of spider biting your snake is not out of the question either, and the venom would still cause irritation, or slight necrosis.

You can rinse the mouth with betadine (available at wal*mart) to slow down any infection until you can get to a vet, but it is not a total solution, and it won't neutralize spider venom. It can help minimize complications that might arise from a serious injury of any kind.

Even in humans, there is no treatment for a recluse bite (no antivenin is yet available in the states) other than painkillers to make it tolerable, and antibiotics to prevent the wounds from festering. Other than that, it just has to run it's course. IF it was a recluse. Short of taking the carcass of the spider to an arachnologist, you will never know with certainty.