Hello guys.

I have been having some issues with my CA motley boa's mouth. About 1.5 weeks ago, I noticed a slightly raised lip on one side. I put him in a clean tub on paper towels, cranked the heat up to 95f, and checked out the inside of his mouth. At that time, there were no other symptoms...not runny / thick saliva, no puss, no discoloration, debris, etc. I swabbed his mouth with chlorihexidine (sp?), and let him be. Since then, I've done the same procedure ~3 times (I didn't want to over-stress him), and just yesterday noticed what the problem was. He has a swollen area around a couple teeth in his upper right gum. Still no puss or discoloration, etc. I once again swabbed the area and put him back.

This is the first reptile related health issue I've had in the 10 years I've been keeping... I have been calling vet clinics in my town all morning and even though several say they will "see exotics", they either won't see reptiles, won't see snakes, or will only see them for "wellness exams" (I guess just to take your money even thought they don't know what they are looking at...).

I had one vet talk to me and say that he has only prescribed meds for mouth rot a few times in the past and wouldn't know what to do.. He is going to make some calls for me and see if he can find anyone within an hour or so radius of my town that will see reptiles and has experience with snakes. The only place he knew of off hand is UGA veterinary school (~4 hours away) but he is going to call Auburn and ask them. .. I am just praying that they will take appointments on the weekend if they do, as getting to an appointment on a week day will be tough / impossible.

All that said, it is looking like I will have to take him to someone without a lot of experience (unless he finds someone), which brings me to the point of my post. If any of you have ever dealt with a swollen gum issue before..either broken tooth-related or abscess, etc. Could you please tell me what meds your vet prescribed, if they aspirated the wound, etc.? If they did operate / aspirate, did they render the snake unconscious during the procedure and if so, how did they do this (gas, etc.)? I'd like to know some information going into whatever appointment I can get so that I know if the treatment they prescribe sounds similar to what others have had done, etc.

I know that I should have already established a relationship with a vet prior to an illness, but due to many practices in my town having listings that said they would "see exotics" I didn't think finding one would be a problem. I guess this just goes to show that you can't always trust what places put on their websites.