What's wrong with her mouth?

[Calift]

There is a slight gap in the left hand corner....it doesn't appear to ever fully close.:confused: I haven't examined it in detail- and I can get some better macro pictures later today. She's a recent WC. Thanks!

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/cally_dog/CIMG6194.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/cally_dog/CIMG6195.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/cally_dog/CIMG6162.jpg

[Stefan-A]

Could be stomatitis, an abcess or some injury, you better get her to a vet asap.

Welcome aboard, by the way. :)

[bkhuff1s]

Maybe her right jaw is dislocated from a recent meal, or when she yawns.

[bkhuff1s]

Another thought is that it's her imitation of popeye...

[MoJo]

It could be any of the things that Stefan mentioned. You can try cleaning it with peroxide and see if it heals. I would keep her on paper towels until you can see if it is healing. I know you are in MA and I would say that if you are near the Tufts vet school there is an excellent herp vet there by the name of Dr. Jorge Mayer. Otherwise I have been very disappointed in vets that say they treat reptiles.

I have a girl that had something similar and I could not find anything wrong. I did clean her with peroxide and it may have helped. She is eating very well and acting her normal self. Her mouth did not gape open as much as your snake's does though.

Good luck.

[Thamnophis Man]

Well... it don't look like mouth rot. If you just noticed this overnight, it might me the she has something stuck in her mouth (like a piece of substrate or something).

[DrKate]

I don't see much of a gap in that last photo. (The little "hole" in the front is always there, that's where they stick their tongue out.) If she's recent WC and she's been that way since you got her, it could be she had previous trauma (e.g. broken jaw) that's just healed a little wonky. Best to get someone with experience to look at her, obviously. But if you can get a good look in her mouth and you don't see an open sore, swelling, or any foreign objects, AND she's eating OK and has a normal attitude, it probably wouldn't be wrong to just take a bit of a "wait and see" with her.

I would suggest, though, if you do wait and see, that you start up a little "medical chart" for her - record everything she eats and how easily she takes prey, observe her attitude twice a day, try to get a weight every couple days, etc. It takes snakes so long to deteriorate, it's easy to think everything's going OK and then suddenly realize one day that you've got a very sick snake. If you're keeping a detailed record it's easier to notice a downward trend early on and get her to a vet if she needs it.

[drache]

one of my snakes seemed to be doing that one day and it freaked me out at the time
in her case I think it was just a facial expression though
let us know whether yours keeps doing this long-term

[adamanteus]

It's difficult to tell from the 'cloudy' photograph, but in the first pic there appears to be an area of white inside the mouth, in which case I would be inclinded to agree with Stefan and suspect stomatitis.

[Odie]

A foreign object is my guess :confused:
When cleaning go from front to back :D

[mustang]

look at second photo look under the chin...see the skin coming off i got 4 ideas not in any order
stomatis
u tried to force feed it
or it is a foreign object
it could just be making a face mine did that too a few times but he correctd his jaw in 30 min

[ConcinusMan]

Baby concinnus, which will bite each others' mouths if fed together, often develop this condition. It will get infected and won't heal if not treated. Tooth loss and pain can cause them to go off food and die if it isn't taken care of. However, it does look like there's an area of white. That could be mouth rot, or it could be just an injury that got infected. It definitely looks injured and possibly infected. I really don't think it's a foreign object.

Most snakes will swallow liquid if enough is around their mouth. You don't want that to happen. You don't want them swallowing peroxide.

How is this snake? is it OK? I know the thread is old but we never got any updates.

[mustang]

Baby concinnus, which will bite each others' mouths if fed together, often develop this condition. It will get infected and won't heal if not treated. Tooth loss and pain can cause them to go off food and die if it isn't taken care of. However, it does look like there's an area of white. That could be mouth rot, or it could be just an injury that got infected. It definitely looks injured and possibly infected. I really don't think it's a foreign object.

Most snakes will swallow liquid if enough is around their mouth. You don't want that to happen. You don't want them swallowing peroxide.

How is this snake? is it OK? I know the thread is old but we never got any updates.
diggn in the ol threads eh?

[Stefan-A]

Apparently. The thread's a year and a half old and the OP hasn't been active in two, almost three months.

[ConcinusMan]

Well, two or three months isn't a very long time. Never hurts to ask for an update. besides that, it bumps the thread so maybe someone will see it and find the info useful.

Now, I know of other forums that close a thread after a certain amount of time with no replies. You don't do that here but I must ask, is it inappropriate to reply to an old thread at all, or in any particular circumstance? I mean, does it bother the moderators or annoy anyone? If it does, I'll take care to not do it again.

[Stefan-A]

It just seems pointless.

[ConcinusMan]

Is it?

[Calift]

Although I haven't logged on in AGES- I still check my email all the time and noticed this thread had been updated.

The snake in question - Minnie- mouth issue is quite strange, because it seems more like a demoformation or tumour than liquid or an infection sight. She's at least two years old and has never had trouble eating (actually LOVES food).

I will try to look and see if I have pictures of her mouth at different ages. I wish I could figure out what had caused it? :confused::)

[Calift]

Here's a photo from last christmas.

Her mouth did close fully, but there was always a bump on the side of her head. You can kind of see the relief of it in this photo:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2229/4234205280_8557298a69.jpg[/url]

[Calift]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4233430871_faeb138e80.jpg

Here's another picture ... you can kind of see the assymetry, but not that well.

I did make that original post a long time ago, its nice to know that you all still care about for an update! :)

[ConcinusMan]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4233430871_faeb138e80.jpg

Here's another picture ... you can kind of see the assymetry, but not that well.

I did make that original post a long time ago, its nice to know that you all still care about for an update! :)


Thanks. I knew it wasn't pointless to update the thread and ask for an update but I must admit; I really didn't expect an update, especially so soon after asking.

Your snake looks fine and healthy. The asymmetry you mentioned could very well just be leftover scaring from what was an infection or injury which has since healed nicely. Good job. You've taken good care of your snake.