Colors inside mouth? May be silly question...

[AmandaJ]

Is it natural for a boa (BCI) to have black splotches inside its mouth, or should the entirety inside the mouth be pink? I ask because Leonard was realigning his jaw post-meal and I saw what looked like black pigmented splotches in two places and I don't know if I should freak and call the vet Monday or if he's just fine and has different natural pigmentations in his mouth.

For what it's worth, his temps range from 78 to 88, he's at 60+% humidity, he's eating, defecating, and has shed for me once thus far. There's no slimy discharge, no sound of wheezing... so there's nothing "off" except for this odd coloration.

Thank you for any info you all can offer. I'm googling like a madwoman, but I must not be using the right words because I'm not getting any relevant results.

[MootWorm]

Wow I have no freaking clue lol. Have the splotches always been there, or is this something new? I'm just gonna throw this out there, it may be way of base, but meh. Could it be like in mammals where they have some pigmentation on the interior of their mouths/tongue? I googled around for awhile and I couldn't find anything on this topic either... Hopefully someone else can chime in.

[Evenstar]

Personally, I have never seen that, but I suppose it could be possible. What type of boa do you have - species and morph?? Some darkly pigmented boas may have some gathering of pigment cells in odd places such as in the mouth.

However, I would check him veeery carefully to make sure this isn't mouth rot. You could take him to the vet, but you could take a look yourself. Have someone help by holding him for you and hold the head (hopefully your helper is experienced holding snakes still). Use a q-tip and insert it sideways into the snakes mouth very gently. Once you have it between his jaws, move it at an angle (up and down) to open the mouth so you can examine the spots more closely.

I know you said there was no obvious discharge, but once you have the mouth open, look for discharge very closely and for any "cheese-like" substance. if you see anything like this (other than a normal amount of clear saliva at the back of the throat) or if the spots look lumpy, schedule that vet appointment. If the spots truly look like spots of coloration within the skin, he should be fine. I would continue to monitor and examine the spots in this manner every few weeks to look for any changes though. Just to keep an eye on them. Anything out of the ordinary with them would warrant a trip to the vet.

**If you have another helper who can take some pics of this exam, please post them!!!


Btw, to google some additional information, look up "stomatitis" and "mouth rot" in snakes. Warning - graphic pictures!

[AmandaJ]

Leonard's just a generic, common boa, BCI, no morph, nothing fancy... at least that's how he was presented to me and from pictures it seems that's an accurate description. Here's a link to a thread with some fairly decent pics of the boy. He was sold as a B-grade boa, has a kink in his tail, and one of his eyes is micro ophthalmic.

I don't remember seeing this before, but the last time I saw him yawn I was more focused on how he looked like he was having trouble realigning his jaw after his first meal with me, about 6 weeks ago. He's been to the vet since then and she checked his mouth, and we departed with a clean bill of health.

He just ate today (no trouble, NO hesitation LOL), so rather than manhandle him and risk a regurg I'll give the vet a call on Monday and see what she has to say. Hopefully she'll remember looking in and seeing black pigmentation that's nothing to worry about, otherwise I think I'll be heading in for an appointment.

Thank you both -- I'll keep you posted.

[Evenstar]

Leonard's just a generic, common boa, BCI, no morph, nothing fancy... at least that's how he was presented to me and from pictures it seems that's an accurate description. Here's a link to a thread with some fairly decent pics of the boy. He was sold as a B-grade boa, has a kink in his tail, and one of his eyes is micro ophthalmic.

I don't remember seeing this before, but the last time I saw him yawn I was more focused on how he looked like he was having trouble realigning his jaw after his first meal with me, about 6 weeks ago. He's been to the vet since then and she checked his mouth, and we departed with a clean bill of health.

He just ate today (no trouble, NO hesitation LOL), so rather than manhandle him and risk a regurg I'll give the vet a call on Monday and see what she has to say. Hopefully she'll remember looking in and seeing black pigmentation that's nothing to worry about, otherwise I think I'll be heading in for an appointment.

Thank you both -- I'll keep you posted.

That sounds reasonable. I agree it's best not to bother him right now since he just ate. And since he's not a darkly pigmented morph or subspecies such as an IMG or Argentine, I'm a bit more concerned. I don't think a normal BCI would have that kind of pigmentation. Let us know what the vet says!

[AmandaJ]

My own stupidity, that is.

TL;DR: Leonard is just fine. Now the rest...

I called the vet yesterday about the black splotches I saw in Leonard's mouth and she said that although they didn't sound worrisome considering the rest of his health indicators (eating vigorously, no signs of illness, no "oozing", etc.), but she couldn't say for sure if she hadn't seen him so I took him in.

We got his mouth open and... well, nothing. Everything is pink and clean, and the only black pigmentation is right around his esophagus and where his tongue emerges. What I saw was either a shadow, or some remains from his lunch that day... and we're leaning more toward shadows. My genius knows no bounds.

So I feel like a bit of an idiot, obviously, but at least we have had a GOOD look into his mouth and he is fine. Better safe than sorry, even with a vet bill for it.

[Evenstar]

ROFLMAO!!!




** Seriously, I'm glad everything is ok.......... But I'm still laughing............

[MootWorm]

Oh wow. I'm sorry that's just too funny. But I'm glad he got cleared, and at least now you have some peace of mind. Until the next time you see some concerning shadows

[AmandaJ]

LOL -- yeah, I know, I literally was jumping at shadows. Sheesh Oh well, all's well that ends well

Thank you both again!