fluid coming out of mouth?????!

I've had Horby , my male bp for a while now and just today I found some sort of clear sticky liquid dripping from its mouth. It seemed like saliva but do snakes salivate??? Horby's terrarium is a 20 gallon and its kept at 85-90. THe humidity level is about 55-70, and everything seems right. Could it possibly be a respiratory infection or something? If it is, how do you treat a respiratory infection?I just wanna make sure it's not something too serious.


-Joe

Oh my gosh, the same thing happened to me tonight!! I had Norbert out and noticed a clear fluid coming from his mouth. At first it came out the side of his mouth, and then it came out the front. And then it stopped. I'm very worried, does he have an RI? I haven't noticed any sounds coming from him. I'm glad I had him out or I might not have noticed.

Well, one of the BP's I got recently has a respiratory infection (thankfully, not the pastel :P). I first noticed something was wrong when the fork in her tongue was stuck together. I phoned a breeder friend of mine, and he told me that generally when this happens it's because of a respiratory infection. He told me to check inside her mouth, which I did, and I didn't notice any bubbles or mucus. Just a little bit of substrate. I rinsed the substrate out of her mouth, as he advised, and then right after I put her back in the cage, I noticed a bit of bubbling.

Anyway, his recommendation was to raise temps just a little bit, leave her completely alone for a few days, and then try feeding her a live prey item. Apparently, frozen/thawed rodents have less vitamin C in them than live ones. I googled just to make sure he wasn't talking crazy, and sure enough, I saw a few documents recommending that frozen/thawed prey items be injected with vitamin C to make up for what's lost during the freezing/thawing process. You could do that instead of feed live I guess. This female BP of mine has good weight and muscle tone to her, and I think she will recover on her own in a few days, being an otherwise pretty healthy specimen. If she's not better in a week, I'll definitely be booking a vet appointment.

Anyway, just though I'd share what I could, as I've never had a snake develop an RI on me before. Hope what I've said helps.

I just took a look in Norbert's mouth and didn't see any mucus or anything. I don't know, I hope he's okay! His cool side temperature has been a bit on the low side lately, but not incredibly low. Around 78 during the day and around 76 at night. A bit lower than I would normally want, but I didn't think it would cause an RI. :?

I'd make that live prey P/K, since it's only the freezing process that's to blame for the loss of vitamin C. The same thing happens to vegetables and berries you put in the freezer. Hope your snakes will be fine! If it's RI I suppose it's a very early stage and they might be able to fight it off if taken care of properly.

First off ... Welcome to the site crzyzzang. Glad to have ya around :)

Now ... on to the fluid. It could be a number of things. How long have you had him and did you get him as a baby or as an adult? How long has he been doing that? Have you seen any open mouth breathing or does he "pop" or whistle when he breathes? Those are definitely classic signs of RI. Has he been exposed to any low temps or low humidity for any period of time?

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Originally Posted by gen

I just took a look in Norbert's mouth and didn't see any mucus or anything. I don't know, I hope he's okay! His cool side temperature has been a bit on the low side lately, but not incredibly low. Around 78 during the day and around 76 at night. A bit lower than I would normally want, but I didn't think it would cause an RI. :?

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gen : Those temps are good. Has he been doing any of the things i described above?

In either case ... if the fluid continues i would think a vet trip might be in order. Its always best to play it safe when it comes to RI's.

Time to bump up the temps a few degrees and make a vet appointment stat. Those of you who were around will remember that my at-the-time roommate lost her poss het pied to a stubborn RI a few months ago, despite 3 visits to the vet and proper husbandry and medicating. An RI or potential RI is nothing to screw around with.

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Originally Posted by led4urhead

Have you seen any open mouth breathing or does he "pop" or whistle when he breathes? Those are definitely classic signs of RI. Has he been exposed to any low temps or low humidity for any period of time?

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No on all of those things. Just the fluid coming out of the mouth last night. I'm going to call my vet tomorrow just to be sure, I'm not messin around.

Good idea gen, RI is definitely not something to mess with. Let us know what happens guys.

Maybe he just took a drink of water :?: BP lovers can be overly paranoid sometimes. Trust me, I am one of them :wink:

That thought crossed my mind too, but the fluid was thicker than water, a little gooey.

I didn't hear any popping noises or any thing like that. I checked him today and he was perfectly fine. Hmmm....

water burping is pretty common when it comes back up it is much thicker if its no longer there thats probably what it was

one of my lizards used to occassionally "throw up" water. it was really thick but totally clear. so like robert said, that may be what it is if there are no popping or wheezing noises or whatever.

I had Bela, my female Bp, out a few weeks ago. Somehow she got into a position where her head was hanging down over my arm, kind of unsupported, and she let out a big yawn, and this thick clear fluid dripped out. Quickly, I brought her head up over the level of her body, and everything's been fine since. Maybe she'd been drinking water just before I took her out? At any rate, I am now most careful about supporting the head when they're being handled.

Thx for the reply guys I really appreciate it. Horbys doin fine up until now so I guess I'll just be on the lookout for a "possible" RI.


-Joe

Well, I took Norbert to the vet and he does not appear to have an RI. But apparently he does have the beginning of an infection in his mouth, or mouth rot. One of his blood vessels was enlarged or something, but his mouth didn't look really infected yet, which is why I didn't notice anything when I looked in there. So I've got antibiotics to give him everyday for 14 days. The problem is I'm going on vacation on Sunday for five days and there is not going to be anyone here that I trust to give him his medication. So when I go on vacation to Mexico, Norbert is going on vacation to stay at the vet so they can give him his daily antibiotics.

I hope he gets better gen. Thats cool that you found a place for your snake to go while you are on vacation, and even better that its a vet so you know that he's gonna get the best care possible :)

I'm sure that will be expensive gen, but at least you know he'll be well cared-for.

She said it's 12 dollars a day, and I'll be gone for 5 days, so that will be 60 dollars, which is how much I spent just for today's visit. So it didn't sound that bad to me. It will give me piece of mind, I know he'll be in good hands while I'm gone and getting the medicine he needs.

The vet also said she'd look in on him for me while he's there to check how his mouth is doing. And the guy who looks after the animals staying there has a ball python at home, so it sounds like a good deal to me. At first I thought my boyfriend might be able to give Norbert his medicine while I'm gone, but he will barely even handle Norbert I practically have to force him. I doubt he would feel comfortable forcing Norbert's mouth open everyday to give him medicine. It's not an easy thing to do. Nope, I think I'm better off leaving him at the vet.

Sounds like a better deal than I would have expected. Seems like the best plan, for sure.

Yea .. definitely a better deal than i thought too. Definitely the best idea. Oh .. have fun on vacation :)

Thanks!! :D

Hi.My snake has been missing for about a week. It ends up my sister found it yesterday in the same room the cage is kept.The same clear liquid was coming out of my B/P mouth yesterday while I was handling her after the remarkable finding of the snake. Its the first I have ever seen such a thing happening with my snake with all the 5 years I have owned it. I was scared at first and now worried. I would just to know what it is and if its a bad thing. Also I was wondering if it is something she caught in the house while missing for the week. I apprieciate feedback... thanks..

Most likely your snake has caught a respiratory infection as a result of not being able to keep warm enough. RIs can be fatal, so a trip to the vet is a good idea.