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Inside Colour of Mouth??

EmJagsz

EmJagsz

cornscornscorns
I realize the typical colour for the inside of a snake's mouth would be pink and normally, pink would indicate a healthy mouth of a snake but I was just wondering...

Is it possible for the inside of a snake's mouth to be another colour besides pink yet still be deemed as healthy?

I only bring this up because between my two snakes, I have seen the inside of Ninja's mouth occasionally when he feeds or when he stretches his jaw and it's a nice fleshy pink colour inside. It's August that has brought upon this concern. Normally when she feeds, I can never get a good peek inside her mouth and she's not much of a jaw stretcher when I'm looking. Except, I HAVE seen tiny bits of the inside of her mouth every now and then and it doesn't exactly appear to be the same fleshy pink as Ninja's.... So, today I decided I'd try getting a good look at the inside of her mouth, and gently I got her mouth open for a few seconds and the inside of her mouth is a pale grey colour BUT still pinkish aswell.

Maybe I'm just over-reacting, but I'm not exactly sure this is normal. The only reason for this that I can conclude is that she may be beginning to contract Mouth Rot:awcrap:

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Sorry, I forgot to add other bits of information....

Besides the "abnormal" discolouration in her mouth, everything else about her seems fine. She has never missed a meal, she's decently active, sheds without problems and is a joy to handle.

Again, I may just be worrying way too much, but I figured it's better to be safe than sorry...
 
the thing you want to look for are discolored "clumps" around the teeth. if you see any of these your snake may have mouth rot. If it is a uniform color it probably isn't anything.
 
Also, (and I'm just assuming here) Ninja is the anery, right? And August is the normal? (I'm looking at your avatar). It may appear that Ninja has a more "pink" looking mouth and August has a more "gray" looking mouth due to the contrast of these colors and their skin color. They may both have the same color mouth, but since the pink is up against gray on Ninja then it looks rather pink. And since the pink is up agains red-tones on August, it looks more dim or gray. You understand what I'm saying? Here's a demonstration of this paradox:

optical%20illusion.jpg


Notice that square A and B look different, when in actuality they're the SAME color. This is due to their surrounding colors. Our brains make sense of it differently than it actually is.

I may be going out on a limb even suggesting this, but it's the first thing that came to mind when I saw that the outside color of your snakes was different.
 
I understand your theory, but I'm afraid that isn't the case :( I really wish it was like that- then I wouldn't be so concerned about it. But I have now seen the insides of both the snakes' mouths under extremely decent lighting conditions and what you've suggested doesn't seem to be the case......

It was a completely valid theory, though, I must say.
 
Hmm, well I sure hope it's nothing serious then. I've never had an "up-close-and-personal" experience with mouth rot (thank goodness) so I can't say what the warning signs are... but like Zlehmann said, if it's a good uniform color then it's probably fine. I know my dogs and cats have different variations and shades of color for the inside of their mouths.

As long as your babies are eating/drinking/shedding just fine then they're probably alright, but if you become any more concerned I would take them to a good herp vet.

Is there any chance you can get some pics of the insides of their mouths? I don't think I'd be able to do that, it sounds tough, but I thought I'd throw that out there...
 
I could probably try getting some pictures with the help of some extra hands.... If I get those, I'll post them up for further inspection.
 
Just a question, this may seem silly but how does one open a snakes mouth, for inspection etc.

I know that with other animals pressure at the jaw hinge usually works.
 
How do you open up a snake's mouth? Very carefully, lol!

I too would like to hear a professionals opinion on this...
 
Jadie.Glitch said:
How do you open up a snake's mouth? Very carefully, lol!

I too would like to hear a professionals opinion on this...
Click to expand...

While I was typing my post I was totally thinking "carefully" especially with tiny snakes.:D I was watching some snake show on tv and they do just grab the head and squeeze at the side of the mouth. But these were fanged snakes so I'm wondering if its different for corns.
 
I should carefully try that... although if it wasn't NEEDING to be done then I doubt I'd have it in me to go all the way through with it. I'd pinch it a bit and be like "Okay, nope! Didn't work!"
 
Hmm I don't know if I'd be able to pry my snakes' mouth open...but I've seen my vet do it before with a flat throat stick.

DSC_0227.jpg


Here's the only open-mouth shot I have of my ball python. (He was in a transition cage in the pic)
 
AWWW that is the cutest photo I've seen in a long time, he almost looks like one of those sucker fish. I love the shape of the ball python's head, almost looks like they have muzzle puffs eh?

oops:-offtopic

We're bad... But so cute!!!
 
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