Does this look like mouth rot? (pics)

Received this snake via FedEx today, and although he is otherwise in good condition, his face is immediately visibly abnormal. The right side is more swollen than the left, but I think both sides have some swelling; it's hard to tell for sure but his labial pits seem more distended and pink to me.

There is also (not visibile in the photoe) some submandibular swelling on the right as well. Pics below show what we saw when we opened his mouth.

Does this look like mouth rot? A tumour? My vets saw him today but they are not really herp folks and weren't sure. I can get him into a herp vet tomorrow.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../DSC01049s.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...DSC01051cs.jpg

Whatever it is, it looks painful as hell.

Looks like it could be a tomour. or even where it lost a tooth and got infected.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Looks like it could be a tomour. or even where it lost a tooth and got infected.

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I think its this also.I would not accept that snake in that condition unless you were given compansation for the vet bill.

Thanks. The seller has an excellent reputation on Fauna and is a member in good standing here. I have e-mailed him the pictures and am awaiting his reply but wanted to get some thoughts from the members here on what it might be.

It definitely looks infected, probably needs to cleaned out and treated with antibiotics.

OUCH! Looks a bit infected!!!

Heard from the seller; he indicates that when he got the snake over a year ago it had some swelling in the lower jaw which was treated with Baytril but did not completely resolve and that he would not have offered him for sale if he had been aware of the larger area on the upper jaw. I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with a herp vet who will hopefully provide a better diagnosis.

This sucks! The snake is, in all other respects, just gloriously beautiful and was supposed to be a breeder for me down the road but I definitely don't want to put him through that if he's not totally healthy and I don't really need another pet male, since I have two already.

His mouth seems really pale to me as well but that could just be the camera ( mine changes the colours of everything and I can't work out how to fix it yet),


But yeah It does look abnormal - hopefully its something easily treatable **crosses fingers** and hes back to 100% soon. The fact it's in a few places though is kind of worrying and might mean its quite well spread or in the bone ( that's worst case scenario I think so don't panic just yet :) ).

I always thought mouthrot presented more as cheesy yellow deposits covering most of the redness - but it's been years since I saw it.



dr del

Well, it definitely requires a herp vet visit. I don't know that much about mouth rot, it's not something I've ever treated or seen in person.

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I always thought mouthrot presented more as cheesy yellow deposits covering most of the redness

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That's my understanding of mouth rot as well.

If it is, it looks like it's being caught fairly early and hopefully it won't be too difficult to cure.

I also concur that his mouth should be a deeper pink. The bluish spots would give me concern to worry about the possiblity of it getting into the bone, but that may just be the way your camera is presenting here. I really hope it hasn't gotten into the bone.

Good luck, and keep us updated.

It looks like an abscess to me. Hope he gets better.

I would probably think of returning the snake, if it is not something curable.. you say you don't want another pet male, and breeding him might be too stressful.. personally, if I sold the snake, I would encourage the person who bought it to return it for a full refund.

Alright, the vet says that it's a bacterial abscess that was caught early and has not reached the bone. It seems that yesterday was the the final stage and it ruptured sometime before I got him to the vet today, so it was much smaller when he examined it. He cleaned out the pocket of necrotic tissue and pus. We're starting some oral antimicrobial rinse and he expects it to be cleared within a week.


The vet also said that it could be recent in origin, with major swelling happening in the last day or two. Those of us who've dealt with cat bites can appreciate how quickly they can build right before they rupture.

I am much relieved and I'm sure the seller is too. :-)

Glad to hear it was something so treatable :)


Do these things pop up in snakes often? Because I'm still giving mine oral baytril and wonder about maybe scraping the gum and triggering something like this - though I assume the baytril would also fix it at the same time.


dr del