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Caramel baby w/ mouth rot

M

Malkingray

Certified Vet Tech
I have an 05 female Caramel ("Rollo") that has mouth rot. She has ONLY ever eaten f/t for me. I have had her since the beginning of Dec and she has never missed a meal until 2 weeks ago. She refused 2 meals. She looked fine and was as feisty as ever so figured she just didn't want to eat. 2 days ago she looked like she was going into shed. I saw her eye was cloudy (I could only see one with the way she was positioned) and left her be. Today when I went through to clean all the cages and feed I noticed only one eye was cloudy and that underneath her eye her face was slightly swollen. When I was able to open her mouth I was that there is definitely an area that is infected. I have started to treat her and hopefully I can get her turned around and recovered.

This is the 2nd snake with mouth rot. (my 03 Candycane male, "Narsil" had mouth rot last Feb and he too has only ever eaten f/t for me). Obviously feeding f/t greatly reduces ones risk of having mouth rot but does not eliminate the risk. Is there anything that I can I do to prevent this from happening again? My cages are kept clean and disinfected regularly. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
 
What kind of humidity do you have? My medical reference for snakes said that it's usually a gram negative bacteria responsible and correcting environment and supplementing the heat should help. I'm not sure what has to be corrected though. It does say that mouth ailments are a very common problem with snakes, but perhaps there is something in the environment that needs to be changed?
 
She is currently in one of the hatchling racks that I purchased from Jeff Mohr. I am not sure of the exact humidity in them though. The rack fits sandwich containers with a very small gap between the shelf above and the container. The cage is always dry except when they knock over the water dish and I check them twice a day to make sure everyone is dry. Rollo has always been good about not knocking hers over. The paper towel is always dry and there is never any moisture/condensation on the sides. Room temps range from 72 at night to about 80 during the day. I am going to be setting her up in one of my 10 gallon aquariums with a heat lamp for extra heat during her treatment. Most of my hatchlings will be moving out of the racks this weekend except for a few of the smaller ones.
 
My reaction would be leaning towards the temperatures. I usually try to keep my hatchlings at 80-83. I believe I read somewhere that it's more important to have the higher temperatures for hatchlings (yearlings as well?) than for adults. I believe adults can safely be kept down to the 70-75 range without worries.

D80
 
I'll try to increase the temps. I probably won't be going anywhere this weekend due to the "huge snow fall" that the wonderful weather people are predicting, so I can hopefully fine tune the thermostat and space heater to keep it around 80 - 84 or so. I have been using the space heater due to the huge increase in gas prices so that the furnace wouldn't run as often. All the money I am saving will now be going towards Rollo's treatment.
Her weight and body condition is good so the vet is hopeful. I caught her way sooner than I did Narsil who hid for about a week and a half before I was able to get him out of his hide. The vet didn't think he would make it but he has grown like a weed in the last year.
 
I had Rollo to the vet for a recheck today and he no longer thinks it is mouth rot. Her whole head is swollen and her other eye is now clouded and she looks like she is about to shed. I remember seeing pics that Hurley posted about the corns getting swollen prior to shed and the vet thinks this is whats happening to her. He no longer sees the area that he thought was mouth rot before, he said it won't hurt to continue treating her just in case but to increase the humidity for her til she sheds. The inside of her mouth look like the pics Hurley posted, everything is swollen. I feel bad for her. She isn't comfortable. She is starting to rub her head on everything, so I am hoping she sheds soon.
Hopfully she will shed and everything will be fine. I have become rather attached to her after this weekend so I am keeping my fingers crossed!
 
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Good news. Hadn't even thought about pre shed swelling since you were so sure it was mouth rot! I'll bet everything will look better after shed.
 
I didn't think of it either since when it started it was only the left side of her head and only her left eye was clouded. I swear I saw an "infected area" and my vet did too but now that area is just swollen like the other side of her mouth. I am feeling better about it all, but won't be completely relieved until she sheds and has her follow up appointment afterwards.
 
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