Quote Originally Posted by DVirginiana View Post
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!