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Bleeding from mouth

Q

qube

New member
Hi, this is my first post although I've been keeping a corn snake for almost 16 years now.

Up till recently I've never had problems with my snake. Yesterday I noticed blood dripping from his mouth. I suspect that he got somehow injured during feeding, because I recall seeing a drop of blood on the mouse when he was consuming it, but that was a week ago. Could it be possible that the injury didn't heel for so long.

Could it be something else? Some kind of disease?
Please help!
 
It could be an unhealed internal injury - maybe something small and sharp was stuck to the mouse as he swallowed it? It could also be something that's ruptured internally like an abcess, or he could be bleeding from a tumour. Maybe he's just caught the edge of his mouth on something inside his tank as he moved around and it's only a graze.

There are a range of possibilities, from minor injury to a symptom of life-threatening illness. Unfortunately, we can only guess - you really need a vet to investigate fully. Do you have one near you who knows about reptiles?

Good luck - let us know how things go. I know how stressful this sort of thing can be when you've had a beloved Corn for such a long time and a health problem appears out of nowhere. I lost a 17 year old to cancer last year - he'd never had a day's illness in his life and after two weeks of ill health the vet told me he was terminal and he was euthanased. They're very good at hiding illness and sometimes problems can get very advanced before they show any symptoms. I hope this isn't the case for you.
 
Thank you for your quick reply.
I'm sorry about your snake, but I am sure he had a good life with you taking care of him.

My snake appears to have stopped bleeding, but I'm going with him to the vet today
to have the problem diagnosed. I'll let you know what the vet said.

I have a question about transportation...
It's rather cold outside, how can I safely transport him to the vet?
 
I put my Corns inside a pillow case, then inside one of their escape-proof feeding tanks. I pack old towels loosely around the pillowcase to provide insulation. If you don't have a small tank, try the same trick inside a zip-up rucksack or holdall (taking extra care to avoid knocks).

Best of luck - I'll be thinking of you and keeping my fingers crossed.
 
Is there any news, qube? How did the vet visit go? I've been thinking of you today.
 
I've returned from the vet about an hour ago. It turned out the my snake (Claudia) has the first symptoms of mouth rotting (I don't know if that's the exact term in English. It's a bacterial infection of the mouth after injury). That mouse he had a week ago must have injured him and he caught an infection. He got antibiotics and a gel cyano-something(forgot the name) for his mouth - to be applied twice per day. The vet said that she should get out of it quickly :) Thanx for your help and warm thoughts! :)
 
"Mouth rot" is the right term. I'm so glad it's something treatable! What a relief.
 
I am so very glad you took him into the vet to get the proper care. Now he can be on the road to a speedy recovery. I let out a nice big sigh when I read that it wasn't anything serious, very good news
 
I put Claudia to a specially prepared tank, that was put into another one filled with water that's being heated by an aquarium heater - so that I can regulate the temperature and dampness with more precision.

The good news is that she stopped bleeding - so the medicine seems to work.
 
I'm way too late with this, but maybe for a future occasion it can be usefull.
About the transport when it's cold outside (or hot for that matter), I put the snake with bag and paper and all in an "cool box". Don't know the english word, just a box (you have them in bags too) that keeps the temp inside quite steady. If it's cold outside, you can put a bottle with warm water in there (warm, not hot), and it'll keep your snake nice and cozy. Just take care the bottle can't roll on the snake of course. In hot weather, you can put a bottle with cool water in it.

I'm very happy for you and your Claudia. Hope she'll be well soon.
 
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