mouth rot in ball python

My big female ball python has had a mucus coming from her mouth for about a week, she wasnt eating, and wasnt really moving around much, so my brother took her to the vet for me and found out she has mouth rot, he got rot guard and some instructions, however they arent great instructions, i tried to administer some to her, after cleaning her mouth with a q-tip tipped in watered down peroxide, wich i also need help with

when i try to clean her mouth, not only do i need 2 people to hold her so she doesnt break her own neck, but the cotton gets stuck on her teeth, so its hard to clean, so far nothing is rotting, but there is a lot of thick saliva.

I tried to give her the rot guard and she started wheezing, and her nose was bubbleing, like she couldnt breath, what im asking is, is there any trick to treating this? i can take photos if needed, shes a very very sweet snake, never has she tried to bite me, even when she layed eggs for me early last year.

shes just a normal but shes very special to me. the few ball pythons i have are special to me. but her more so then the rest.

I want to save her life, but i feel like im hurting her whenever i try to help

please someone give me a little advice

It sounds like she has a respiratory infection on top of that. Is there another vet you have access too that would be able to prescribe antibiotics?

there is, however they are more expensive, charging 70 just to see the snake, not to diagnose or give medication, ive looked at photos of both RI and rot mouth, she doesnt look like she has severe rot mouth, but there is a lot of saliva in her mouth and the part where she breaths from while eating (im not keen on snake anatomy, forgive me) its a bit swollen and it was bleeding a little bit, her skin inside her mouth is almost white as well.

What's the old saying...you get what you pay for? Just because a vet is cheaper doesn't mean they provide the same level of care. I talk to people on a daily basis in our clinic that have taken their pets (both exotic and not so exotic) to other places because they were cheaper and their pets have gone undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Usually they end up spending more and the pet suffers because they tried to safe a few bucks. Many times I've had people say gee my other vet never took the time to explain that to me. Well yeah, they were trying to make up the loss in profit from not charging you very much by getting you in and out asap so they can get thea next patient in and out. They're running a business after all. So...I'll get off my soap box now and say that it does sound like the snake has a URI either in addition to the mouth rot or the snake was misdiagnosed as having mouth rot when it has a URI instead. Your options would be to take the snake back to the vet your brother took it to and see what they say about the URI or take it to the new vet and get a second opinion.

As for the Q-tips, I assume you're using the regular Q-tips you get for people. They are probably a bit too "fluffy" for what you're doing. I would try the cheaper off brand Q-tips. They're usually not as "fluffy" and you shouldn't get it stuck in the teeth as much. The applicators we use at work are similar to the cheaper ones.

Hope things are working out for you.

well thank you for the advice about my snake, she was not taken to the store vet just because it saved money, she was taken because my brother knew the owner and they are semi friends, i guess my brother thought he would be honest because they were. I dont know if they did anything at the store, i only know that they asked a bunch of questions, like is she foaming at the mouth or the nose, is she coughing, and a bunch of other questions.

also the mucus coming from the nose only happened when i gave her medicine, i think i gave her too much because she was "puking" it out if you could say that. and she wasnt moving around much for a couple days after i gave it to her, however the 3rd day she was very active. whenever i looked in her mouth, it was purely clear thick substance.

but again, thank you, and if need be i will take her to another vet, i will have to look of course, aside from reptile shops, ive only seen regular pet vets around here.

Originally Posted by heatherp

there is, however they are more expensive, charging 70 just to see the snake, not to diagnose or give medication, ive looked at photos of both RI and rot mouth, she doesnt look like she has severe rot mouth, but there is a lot of saliva in her mouth and the part where she breaths from while eating (im not keen on snake anatomy, forgive me) its a bit swollen and it was bleeding a little bit, her skin inside her mouth is almost white as well.

wow, i forgot i posted that, huh, i dont remember seeing any repti-vets

anyways though i appologize for any confusion of any sort, ive been very stressed out lately and worried about the snake, however she is doing better and if she does look like shes not better in the least bit i will take her in, i suppose i may have posted that because at the time i didnt have the cash to take her, im not sure, but all is well

It doesn't mean they aren't honest, just that they aren't familiar enough with snakes to properly diagnose them. Snakes don't cough... they can wheeze and breathe loudly, but they can't cough.

The excess mucus coming from the glottis still makes me think she has a respiratory infection. I would try to find a vet with more reptile experience. Until then, what temps are you keeping her at? You may want to bump her hot spot up a couple degrees until she gets over it.

Originally Posted by April Homich

It doesn't mean they aren't honest, just that they aren't familiar enough with snakes to properly diagnose them. Snakes don't cough... they can wheeze and breathe loudly, but they can't cough.

The excess mucus coming from the glottis still makes me think she has a respiratory infection. I would try to find a vet with more reptile experience. Until then, what temps are you keeping her at? You may want to bump her hot spot up a couple degrees until she gets over it.

i thought it sounded weird that he asked that, i said she was wheezing and having a bit of a hard time breathing somtimes, and the mucus isnt coming from the peice in her mouth that she breaths from while eating, its coming from her throat, unless that is what you meant, then, my bad.

Her temps are at the moment... hot spot 88-90 and cool is about 78

Take to the vet asap. The longer u wait the more severe the ri gets.Its does not take long to go from little sick to belly up.I lost 5 out of 40. Of that 40 10 where sick.I had a very hard and long time battle but all are well now.Had I gone to a vet alot sooner more would have survived. My issue was the humidity was just to low in the room as well as tub.Now my room stays at 65 to 70% humidity with a morning or night spray.Another good idea would buy some f10 disenfectant and get your hands on a nebulizer they work wonders with antibiotics. Have the vet do a culture to narrow down the bacteria causing it.

Originally Posted by pmp187

Take to the vet asap. The longer u wait the more severe the ri gets.Its does not take long to go from little sick to belly up.I lost 5 out of 40. Of that 40 10 where sick.I had a very hard and long time battle but all are well now.Had I gone to a vet alot sooner more would have survived. My issue was the humidity was just to low in the room as well as tub.Now my room stays at 65 to 70% humidity with a morning or night spray.Another good idea would buy some f10 disenfectant and get your hands on a nebulizer they work wonders with antibiotics. Have the vet do a culture to narrow down the bacteria causing it.

already have an appointment, but there was a wait since its the weekend, so early morning i go in and see whats really wrong