Home Remdies for Mouthrot

[onelifetolive45]

I believe that one of my corns has mouthrot, this will be my first encounter with the illness and hopefully my last. The left hand side of his mouth is swollen, so it looks like his jaw is out of alignment(if that mkes sense), there is also bubbly mucus in the area. I have a feeling that this has led to an RI but would like an experts advice before jumping to conclusions. What is the best at home treatment I can do now prior to a vet visit(if needed) thanks

Ryan

[Double het]

Visit a vet. Don't go doctering yourself. And even an expert cannot diagnose online.

Do you know how he got in this condition? Temps not right, cage not clean, injury? Best would be to remedy that first. Then vet asap. Good luck with him.

[onelifetolive45]

I keep my corns at my work right now(lots of ball pythons!!) so i am here evry other day and he enjoys spilling the water so it is possible he was laying in water for a day or two. What would be best, keeping his cage dry for now?
I have administered Amitracin before to other snakes that have deveolped RIs over the past couple years, I was unsure if that would be benificial here?

[mike17l]

make sure the ambient temps are on the higher end of the spectrum. Also, see if you can get a hold of some betadine. You will want to dilute the betadine down with water, so that it looks like a medium strength tea. Rinse the mouth with the solution. Also, at least till it clears up, reduce the size of prey items down a notch or two. If it is mouth rot, that should work for ya. If there is also a RI, the temp increase will help that. It may not hurt to administer an antibiotic, if you know how, and how much. If you do not know how or how much, I would not recommend it.

[MegF.]

Diluted betadine, diluted chlorhexidine and I've even known people to use diluted Listerine. As suggested I'd up the temps, keep all substrate out right now and only paper towel to avoid dust and any other foreign bodies. Take to the vet ASAP. Many cases of mouthrot lead to RI's and can also lead to osteomyelitis, or bone infection.

[tyflier]

I've successfully treated mouthrot in it's early stages by:
1-remove all particulate substrate from the enclosure
2-clean and sterilize the enclosure and everything that will be put back in
3-use newspaper or papertowel until all signs of infection are clear
4-up temperatures and lower humidity to prevent RI(or begin treating RI)
5-clean around the mouth daily with a 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and betadine solution.
6-watch closely for signs of RI or worsening of the mouthrot.

Good luck...

[Double het]

I highly doubt that laying in water for 2 days will cause mouthrot...

Really, visit a vet. Don't go home-doktering to save a buck.

[onelifetolive45]

I cleaned the area with a dilute betadine and administered a shot of amyglade, he will be seeing the vet tomorrow.

[mike17l]

Really, visit a vet. Don't go home-doktering to save a buck.

Mouthrot, is very easy to care for, if that is what it is. It is a very likely that it is mouth rot, given the symptoms described. Home-doctoring can be great, if you are low on cash, and know what you are doing.

[onelifetolive45]

Thats exactly what I was thinking but on this forum if you breath a mention of not going to a vet you get slammed. Not that I feel you shouldn't go to a vet but like you said somethings are easily remedied if you have the knowledge to do so.

[Kokopelli]

I don't know how it's like over the seas and all... but here in Israel the level of training a vet gets in treating exotic pets is extremely low... There aren't too many cases that would justify further training.

And since the competition is so damn hard over the market some vets will try to treat the snake even though they haven't a real clue as to what they are doing. And they charge quite alot for a mere visit. (around 45$)

So, reality kind of forced many breeders here to be self sufficient and I tell you- 95% of the ailments -can- be solved without going to a vet.

Naturally you should be an experienced keeper in order to do so properly but it is possible.

Just saying that going to the vet is a good option, but if you're experienced enough, you can do without sometimes.

[mike17l]

I cleaned the area with a dilute betadine and administered a shot of amyglade, he will be seeing the vet tomorrow.


Just clean it with betadine daily for about a week, then every other day for another week and you shouldnt have to worry about the vet. With vet prices, I would wait and not go unless the symptoms worsen.

[Double het]

Thats exactly what I was thinking but on this forum if you breath a mention of not going to a vet you get slammed. Not that I feel you shouldn't go to a vet but like you said somethings are easily remedied if you have the knowledge to do so.

If you were you wouldn't be asking here :wavey:

[onelifetolive45]

If I were what? The purpose of this thread was to see if what I thought to do in terms of treatment was correct. It turns out it was. Thanks for the replies

[mike17l]

If you were you wouldn't be asking here :wavey:


Here is how you have to look at these things:

The cost to take it to the vet and treat it vs. what it would cost to replace the animal. There is not a chance I would take my favorite corn (an albino het motley female from 99) to the vet, if she was sick, I would ask advice, and treat her. If I lost her, oh well thats $75 (appox cost of an adult female) down the drain. If I took her to the vet, I would be paying a minimum of $50 for the visit, plus $25-$100 for treatment. Hmmm, what sounds better?

Now if it was an adult male ultra anery stripe, female lavender stripe, or an albino chocolate emory rat snake, then I might take it to the vet, as the animal is worth much more than the cost of the vet visit and treatment.

Its all about perspective. Whats it worth? Thats what it boils down to.

[Kokopelli]

To each his own... I do not weight the animal's worth in money when deciding how to treat it...
as I said though, to each his/her own

[Double het]

Agrees with Kokopelli

If you see it like that you don't care about animals. Just about money. Damn i've take hamsters of 3 euro a piece to a vet! If you buy an animal, you have an obligation to take care of it. Here is Holland it is considered a punishable crime not to take an animal to a vet when it needs one. No matter how cheaply the animal is replaced.

btw not directed to the topicstarter.

[mike17l]

Agrees with Kokopelli

If you see it like that you don't care about animals. Just about money. Damn i've take hamsters of 3 euro a piece to a vet! If you buy an animal, you have an obligation to take care of it. Here is Holland it is considered a punishable crime not to take an animal to a vet when it needs one. No matter how cheaply the animal is replaced.

btw not directed to the topicstarter.


if you ever produce more than 200 babies a year, you will sing a different tune. How many animals do you think Rich, Kathy Love, or Don Soderburg take to the vet a year? I bet it is pretty close to if not zero.

[Kokopelli]

That's when husbandry becomes a business. Not all of us wish to face these decisions or mingle financial interests into our pets.
Those who wish to do so- you have a right to.
Those who don't, such as myself- also fine.

I just don't think there's any need for clashes of this sort really. These are two different perspectives, each rooted in sound logic. There's no right or wrong. Just a matter of choice.

Mike does what he feels is right under the circumstances he's at.

Those who do not wish to become a business will naturally handle things differently because the circumstances are different.

[onelifetolive45]

I agree with both parties but I do not see the logic in spending an obscene amount of money to take a normal corn snake to the vet when it is something easily treated at home. That was the purpose of this thread to make sure that what I was doing at home would be sufficient enough to take care of him, if it wasn't he would be seeing the vet however after cleaning the area with the betadine he has been showing improvement therefore I do not feel a vet visit is necessary.

[MegF.]

If you were seeing rapid improvement with daily cleaning of the mouth, than you are right, a vet wouldn't need to be seen. However, a lot of people wait too long and then the snake is beyond help or in serious condition. Even my $24 corn deserves better than that. I wouldn't spend an obscene amount, but I'd at least find out if it can be treated for a reasonable amount and if not, euthanize...not necessarily in this case, but with any disease including RI's. Which I might add, can rapidly develop with severe cases of mouth rot.

[onelifetolive45]

I would just like to report that Ears(my normal corn) is doing much much better he is in shed now and just about all the swelling is down. Thanks to all that posted on here and I apologize if I butted heads with anyone, no hard feelings

[mike17l]

:spinner: Glad to "hear" that ears is doing well.

[diamondlil]

Glad he's improving, well done

[MegF.]

Hooray!! A lot of snake's heads swell before shed too. Sometimes to the point they whistle when they breath. I wonder if a lot of it was that?