Please help - diagnosis mouth rot?

Contact these people and ask for assistance.
Society For The Prevention of Cruelty To Animals
155 Foster Rd Walu Bay, Suva
Ph: 3301266
Vakabua Veterinary Consultancy Services
Lot 1 Ivitavaya Rd Laucala Beach Estate, Nasinu
Ph: 3621109
Veterinary Care (Fiji)
Carpenters St Raiwai, Suva
Ph: 3372212
1


Chief Veterinary Officer
Ministry of Agriculture
PO Box 2526
Wellington
New Zealand

Thanks Mona - you have resources!

The previous owner took the snake to the Laucala Bay vet - she thought it was not an infection, and didn't offer any treatment options. I haven't tried the SPCA with this case, but have been before with cats and dogs and in my assessment they are dedicated but limited. I may try the NZ address after the New Year holiday though.

Many thanks for the efforts!

Hi Helen,do you have unpasteurized honey in your area? If you do,Google medicinal honey,use in humans+animals.I have used it with excellent+quick results.It is a natural anti-bacterial+antibiotic.

Hi Angie,
Well, we do have honey production in Fiji, and they do produce honey for local sales (no idea if pasteurised or not), I'll have to look around. Now you mention it, my mother (in the UK) was treated with special medicinal honey for a foot ulcer, so I've heard of this, but certainly hadn't made a link here. I'll look around, thanks for the idea.

I'm interested in whether anyone has seen this type of damage before - at this point I still do not have any evidence that it is a progressing infection, and I don't want to undertake any treatment unnecessarily. This snake stresses every time he is handled, (urinates or defecates every time) possibly because of previous attempts to treat this injury.

Hey Helen,
Let me first say that I cannot legally "diagnose" an animal. So, I can't say "Yes, this is what it is." I can, however, give my opinion as far as treatment goes. This snake has some very suspicious rostral damage, and to me that looks nothing like mouth rot. Mouth rot generally affects the inside of the mouth as well as the outside. The wounds appear to be from the snake rubbing his nose on something at one point. I'd be inclined to believe this was exacerbated by live prey items he ate before he came to you, and could be why he's not eating well.

I would NOT use hydrogen peroxide on a snake, or any other reptile. If you have chlorhexidine, I would go ahead and dilute some of that, and wash his face with it two or three times a day. I then would get Silvadine cream and apply that twice daily. I would keep offering him food at regular intervals to get him used to to the idea of getting fed regularly...

Hi Maia,
Many thanks for your opinion (I understand you cannot officially diagnose from on-line photos).

The damage definitely does not extend inside his mouth, and has not apparently changed in over a year, definitely not in the six months I've had him. I felt / hoped that it was not an infection, but as I have never seen mouth rot I wanted someone to look at this with an educated eye.

I have Betadine (Povidone iodine) in liquid and lotion form. I have used the diluted liquid as a bath when introducing new snakes. Is Silvidine interchangeable with this? If not I'll look around and see if it's something available here. If this treatment is effective would I expect to see any physical change or just prevent further damage?

And, while I have your attention, do you (or anyone else) have any opinion
about a product called Repta Aid? (see pics below). It's a food supplement I picked up when I last passed through the USA, and I tried it on this little guy as he was severely dehydrated and not eating.

I originally made it up as directed, but it was thicker than I expected. I gave him a little of the thick solution, then force fed him 2 geckos and then a thinner solution of the Repta Aid, and some plain water. He kept the geckos and the liquid down, but regurgitated the thicker Repta Aid paste. However he seems to be doing a lot better now, and has passed a full stool, which he had not done for 2 months.

I force feed with reluctance, but this snake is very small, and in the past 6 months the only two meals he has had have been force-fed geckos. In between force feeding he becomes inactive, dark, thin, and shows thick oral mucosa and dark oral colouration. After feeds he quickly improves.

I'm wondering whether to continue to force feed him geckos and water or to continue with a thin solution of the Repta Aid.

I really appreciate the input - this forum is invaluable to me out here in th islands!

Hi again Helen....I don't know about the Repta-aid,maybe someone else will comment on that.It sounds like whatever he can keep down is the thing to go with.I did want to mention that the snake has been ill for a long time and you mentioned that any handling causes distress.I know you can't gauge his suffering but I would like to mention 2 benefits of honey versus the a.biotic creams.One is that compared to the horrible taste that it must endure from the a.b.creams,the honey would be a welcome relief...the other is that if you look at the report on the medicinal honey website,it seems to work better+faster than the creams,according to the report.Safe+non-toxic AND you can put it on your cereal or in your tea !! LOL Just thought I'd throw that out there.No one can really say WHAT will work but you do want to try whatever causes the least discomfort.

thanks go jordan for her opinion. I will keep the h202 thing for future reference. This certainly makes sense.

Yes, thanks again for that tip, I had never thought of applying mediical honey to snakes, but your points make a lot of sense.

Re stress on handling, the little fellow holds VERY tight and actually shakes and then invariably defecates when handling (or just passes urates if he is empty of stool), and I interpret this as stress. His previous owner was a young, but very intelligent and knowledgeable boy, and I wonder if he's either been over-handled, or if previous vet visits and treatment attempts have caused this.

Either way I need to win his trust, and pleasant tasting treatments must help that!

Just an update for those who followed this little tale:

He has now shed and started feeding voluntarily. There's no progression in the mouth damage and so it seems it probably was an injury, not mouth rot. The injured portion shed OK, but was scaleless, just skin.

I force fed him F/t geckos once a week for 2 weeks, and gave him 2 doses of very dilute Repta-aid. For another 2 weeks I forced geckos into his mouth but once in, he started eating them and swallowing voluntarily. Now he's taking F/t geckos from the floor of a feeding tank. So far he's done this 3 times in a row, and I am close to declaring him CURED!

Will post pics soon. I am VERY relieved, and grateful to all those who posted assistance and suggestions - I didn't use them all, but all were helpful and reassuring, so thanks a lot!