Opening mouth

[lorenhavens01]

Could anyone tell me how to properly open my snakes mouth if I even should? Would like to check for mouth rought.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

[Sonny1318]

If you can get a helper it will make it easier. Have the helper hold mid body and tail. Grab the snake firmly behind his head, from there you should be able to manipulate his mouth a bit with your fore finger and thumb. At that point I'll use a bussiness card to carefully open his mouth and take a look. As with anything, you'll get better at it over time. Hope that at least gets you headed in the right direction.

[DVirginiana]

In my experience mouth rot is usually first visible around the gums, not the interior of the mouth. You can check the gums and teeth by putting your thumb under the snake's chin and pulling gently to either side. My BP barely seems to notice when I've done this to her to check when she had a discolored scale near her mouth.

You can actually usually see signs of mouth infections with the snake's mouth completely closed. What is it that makes you think your BP might have a mouth infection?

Opening their mouths using a credit card (or I've heard of some people using special bars to do it that I imagine a vet could order for you) is very stressful for them, so there's really no need to do it unless you have a very good reason to suspect a mouth infection.

EDIT: I'm not disagreeing with Sonny, just saying you probably don't need to resort to that unless the snake is showing serious signs of a mouth infection.

[lorenhavens01]

I think there is a discolored around the mouth area.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

[frostysBP]

Pics

Sent from my LGL15G using Tapatalk

[Sonny1318]

In my experience mouth rot is usually first visible around the gums, not the interior of the mouth. You can check the gums and teeth by putting your thumb under the snake's chin and pulling gently to either side. My BP barely seems to notice when I've done this to her to check when she had a discolored scale near her mouth.

You can actually usually see signs of mouth infections with the snake's mouth completely closed. What is it that makes you think your BP might have a mouth infection?

Opening their mouths using a credit card (or I've heard of some people using special bars to do it that I imagine a vet could order for you) is very stressful for them, so there's really no need to do it unless you have a very good reason to suspect a mouth infection.

EDIT: I'm not disagreeing with Sonny, just saying you probably don't need to resort to that unless the snake is showing serious signs of a mouth infection.

No problem DVirginiana, I totally understand your point of view. you make a some good points!

[DVirginiana]

Pics

Sent from my LGL15G using Tapatalk

They aren't showing up.. I think some people were having trouble doing pics from mobile devices on here... Or am I imagining that?

[Sonny1318]

They aren't showing up.. I think some people were having trouble doing pics from mobile devices on here... Or am I imagining that?

No you are not, I gave up on laptops. All I have in my home that we use regularly is two iPads. When I first joined I could do it, but no longer. I can only get them into my gallery. And pictures are my favorite part!