BP's teeth aren't covered by gum?

[nrrdgrrl]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum so I apologize if I posted this in the wrong place. I'm going back and forth on whether my ball has mouth rot. I haven't seen any certain signs, just some blood in her mouth which I wasn't sure whether it was due to my unintentionally hurting her when I opened her mouth or something else, and also I've noticed only the top half or so of her teeth are covered in gum, with the bottom part completely exposed. This doesn't seem normal, could it be due to mouth rot? Her mouth is fairly pink, although it could be pale compared to other BPs. There's bubbles at the very very back of her mouth where the opening of the esophagus should be. Saliva seems pretty normal otherwise. She does wheeze occasionally but she tends to get stuck shed on her nose so it could be that.

Obviously if things get worse or I see any cottage cheese stuff she'll go to the vet. Just curious what everyone thinks. She's in a 4' x 3' with aspen bedding and is eating.

Temps: 80 F cool, 95 F hot, although my thermostat is mince so the temps can swing by as much as 5 degrees and the temp gun gives me different readings than my analog thermometers
Humidity: 55, goes up to 70 when I mist but I'm not doing that at the moment.

[Navaro]

Anything like this is always going to be really tough to advise without seeing pictures.

In the meantime if in doubt, head to the vet

[NH93]

That doesn't sound like mouth rot to me, but I have not seen it in person either. My guess is that the blood was from you opening her mouth as you mentioned... usually, what I hear from breeders is, unless there's a reason to open the mouth - don't. If you've noticed darkened gums near the opening of the mouth (more outside the mouth) or noticed anything off when the snake yawned, that's about the time I'd be opening up the snakes mouth.

Pinkish colour is a good thing. Does your snake wheeze only while in shed? If so, could be the skin around the nostrils as again you've mentioned. If anything, the bubbles might be more indicative of early respiratory infection, if coupled with wheezing (while not only in shed).

Personally I don't rush off to the vet if something is "off" in my mind, because more often than not (in my case, every time so far) I am wrong and there's nothing going on. Doesn't mean it's always going to be this way of course! Precautions are always good to take.
However, maybe that's just me, but I don't have the time or money to do that every time I am in doubt about something. Not to mention, there's about one exotic pet vet around my area, and I have not heard any reviews whatsoever on her/him. I'd be more inclined to ask a seasoned breeder and experienced handler before running to the vets. They can usually assist with things like opening mouths, and may be able to tell you exactly what's going on and what medication, if any, should be used (from experience or that sort of thing). That is when I'd hit up the vet for a prescription.

Just how I'd do it.

All the best!

[nrrdgrrl]

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, I'm the exact same way, I'm forever convincing myself of illnesses in my pets. The thing with mouth rot and RI is if it is really there, it will get worse and I'll eventually know for sure. If any concrete symptoms show up I'll go to the vet but it sounds like she's probably fine. And yeah, no more messing in her mouth without good reason, I don't want to hurt her or have her lose a tooth.