Something Wrong with BP Mouth After Feeding

Hello all. I usually just lurk here but noticed something weird tonight and thought Id ask for help.

My BP Pandora just ate about two hours ago and there is something weird in the corner of her mouth. It looks black and gooey. At first I thought it might be mouth rot but Im wondering if maybe its just a piece of substrate that got lodged and is just wet or if its something more serious and I need to take her to the vet? First time Ive ever seen anything like it and I didn't notice it before the feeding.

Sorry about the poor photo quality. Glass reflected the flash and I didnt want to stress her anymore by trying to get a better photo.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...019_222116.jpg

It looks like substrate to me. What are you using as substrate?

Assuming that's what it is, and it's reptile safe, if it doesn't come out on it's own, you might want to use a q-tip to gently get it out.

HOWEVER, and again, assuming it's a non-toxic substrate for BP's/Reptiles, wait at least 24 hours so you do not risk upsetting your BP and causing her to regurgitate.

Im using exoterra coco husk for my substrate. Ive had my snakes for going on a year and neither have ever had an issue with eating substrate before. I guess Ive been lucky so far.

I was gonna wait to handle her for that exact reason. I was afraid she would regurgitate her meal. Thats why I came here instead of picking her up to get a closer look at her mouth. I'll be totally honest though. Im not looking forward to grabbing her head. I havent done it before and she is very head shy.

Thanks for the reply. I was worried when I first saw that last night. I havent had any health or shed problems with either of my snakes yet and the thought of mouth rot really bothered me eventhough its supposed to be pretty common.

Good news. She stuck her head out and her mouth is fine. It was substrate. Thank you for helping me out. These are my first reptiles so this stuff is new to me and I dont want my snakes to suffer because of my lack of knowledge.

Glad to hear she's better (and I love her name)! I was going to agree that it looks like substrate - a few weeks ago, my Tonks got a mouthful of substrate when she struck the heat signature on the floor of her tank instead of her mouse. Poor girl had so much gunk in her mouth she couldn't close it and was visibly stressed, like a whole tablespoon's worth and she's only 160g. I had to hold her head and push as much of it out as possible. Not fun for either of us, let me assure you, but I couldn't leave her like that! She was fine though, and ate when I offered her the mouse about an hour later... she's my best eater, better even than my bullsnake, she's always hungry and never refuses a meal.

I would definitely suggest working with Pandora on her headshy-ness, in case of future need. I know BPs are naturally headshy, but I try and rub Tonks and Ana Gwyn's heads every time I have them out, on top and under their chins, and it definitely helps. Ana Gwyn has never been very headshy and *almost* seems to enjoy the head rubs, but Tonks really hated her head being touched when I first got her. So I was glad I'd been working on it when I needed to hold her head still - she still hated it, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

I think your right about working on her head shyness. Ive been avoiding it but I dont think thats doing either of us any favors. Im gonna have to grab her head at some point to check her out. Id rather her be ready for it than it be the first time, especially if I need to do it when she is in pain. Probably be alot less stressfull for both of us if we work on it now before there is an issue.

Yes, definitely work on the head shyness.
I just had to take out a peice of coco husk from one of my BP's for the first time and really glad that he's not head shy. It was also helpful having a significant other who was willing to hold the BP while I carefully extracted the peice with forceps. Definitely nerve wreaking.

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I feed over pieces of card to minimise the ingesting of substrate but it does still happen occasionally .. it’s usually easy to spot a piece of brown substrate when it’s on a white mouse/rat or just on the snake’s lips so once they’re constricting the food and motionless I use a pair of small tweezers to pull the bark out .. sometimes you just have to gently twist the snake around a tiny bit to get a better look - they don’t let go they just grip the food more tightly :)


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