I took in a rescue ball python, very young. She is definitely dehydrated so I gave her a bath and a reptile hydration tablet to help with that and will continue to do so, along with spraying her 10 gallon quarantine once or twice a day. Unfortunately she looks like she has a case of mouth rot. Often times with reptiles I see things that look horrible but are actually considered minor cases and can even be treated at home with ease. However I have never dealt with mouth rot surprisingly, considering how common it is. With this, is mouth rot fairly bad and dangerous? I find that illnesses that are common are usually not that bad and clear up on their own, but I have nothing to compare this too so I don’t know if this is extreme or not as it looks fairly bad. Sorry about the picture quality as she is stressed in probably in pain right now so she definitely made pictures difficult.
P.S. I am planning on calling a vet tomorrow and asking them some questions. If anyone has experienced this how much would I be looking at for a vet visit and some antibiotics, how much for a minor surgery to remove dead tissue?
So I don’t have any experience with mouth rot but I can give you some advice. First she does have a lot of stuck shed and yes she in very dehydrated. So what you can do for that is give her a soak like you did but leave her in there for like 15 to 20 minutes (the water should be maybe half an inch deep). After the soak carefully peal of all the stuck shed. The reason you want to do that is because the stuck shed provides hiding spots and food for the bacteria that is doing the damage. Second is yes taking her to a vet is a good Idea! But make sure that it is a reptile specific vet otherwise they really won’t know what to do to help.
Yikes! As well mouth it looks like she has a stuck eye cap that needs to come off as well. In my opinion she needs a vet appointment asap. Tbh I do not have experience with mouth rot but I believe she is going to need an antibiotic. at least.
As far as vet costs, a reptile vet is a specialty vet so you will be looking at at least a 65.00 exam fee plus the cost of treatment/treatments. I would say ball park figure of a hundred bucks minimum. She needs to be kept in preferably a clean enclosure/tub on paper towels for now.
Kudos to you for rescuing her. Vet costs sometimes become a part of an animal rescue. Best of luck to you.
Edit to add: SOS to @noodlehaus or @armiyana
After looking closer at the 3rd pic that poor snake looks worse off than just mouth rot! At least to me!
Oof. Thanks for the tag. This poor snake!
Firstly… I’m really hoping this just looks worse than it is because of the severity or the stuck shed.
Too much stuck shed can actually cause swelling and make things look alot worse than it is. So helping this poor baby to carefully remove as much as you can after a good soaking is a good start
It’s hard to really give a price because it really can depend on the individual vet and the animal’s reaction/condition.
I recently was quoted 15k at a vet for a cat’s surgery another vet did for 7k. I think the only thing I really took to heart on that was VCA hospitals in my area are overpriced. >_>
It’s difficult to see inside the mouth from these photos, I’m hoping it’s just extra shed skin between the lip and the mouth that’s the problem and not actually open sores and rot.
But definitely a great idea to hit up a vet for her
Kudos to you for calling the vet. She will absolutely need an appointment for an evaluation of this mouth, and possibly right eye issue.
Mouth rot should be always taken seriously and treated by a vet as it has a big risk of spreading much further than what the name suggests if its just left and expected to go away on its own. I reccomend getting her a good shallow lukewarm soak for about 15 minutes, probably enough water to come up 1/3 the height of the thickest part of her body. And do this 2x a day while also gently trying to encourage the stuck shed to come off, it looks like she has multiple layers of stuck shed and eyecaps and she is indeed dehydrated. Its hard to tell if she’s also malnurished or not because her whole body is not in clear view.
Depending on the diagnosis you are still looking at vet and treatment costs at a minimum of $100usd.
Oh and one more note, just because illnesses and diseases are common doesn’t inheritly mean they aren’t serious. For example UTIs in humans and other mammals are fairly common but can become a life-threatening infection with lasting damage if left untreated by antibiotics. I’ve been there and I never want to go through it again.
Hey sorry I forgot to tag you too Christina! 
. I have no experience with situations such as these thank goodness!
Yes, I did leave her in for about 20 minutes. Unfortunately she wasn’t quite ready to shed when I last soaked her, I just wanted to get that hydration tablet in her so I soaked her anyways. Will be sure to work on getting that off though.
Unfortunately while I was examining her it is quite a large red and swollen abscess and does indeed smell. I will have to update as soon as I can get a vet appointment and some more soaks in. I am hoping the rehydration will make this look better than it does now.
You’ve already been given great advice. Vet visit sooner rather than later. Between now and whenever you can get in, if you have access to betadine or chlorhexidine, you can make a dilute mixture and use a cotton swab to gently swab the mouth area.
I believe the dilution for betadine (povidone iodine) is 1%. You can usually get a 10% solution at most pharmacies. Mix one part betadine to ten parts water (1 teaspoon betadine to 3 tablespoons plus one teaspoon of water, for example)
Poor baby. Fingers crossed for her. ;n;
I occasionally have to deal with native rehab snakes or CDFW seizures and rescues. I’ve run into to some pretty severe mouth rot like this. I’m not sure if you’d be ready to handle something like this without guidance and even if you were you need antibiotics you won’t have access to, to clear the infection.
The vet will need to debride (clean out all the scabbing and damaged tissue) the area and administer antibiotics if you stand a chance to get it through this. All the scabs and damaged tissue might have to be picked and scraped out by the vet a couple of times.
ok well I’d recommend giving her another soak and trying to get it off this time, because it does need to come off asap.
What will the betadine help with? swelling and redness? I would like to reduce some of that to prevent deformities or difficulties when closing her mouth. I am assuming it won’t actually start to clear up some of the mouth rot due to it being a bacterial infection.
Betadine is actually an antiseptic and can help kill bacteria, so it may help keep the bacteria levels under control until a vet can get in and debride the mouth.
Okay good to know, it will be a bit before a vet can fit me in so I will use that in the mean time. She is pretty lively and climbing around all over me and the stuck shed on her body is clearing up pretty well. Unfortunately due to her dehydration the skin is loose around her neck and head making that shed very difficult to get off, it will probably take a few more days of soaking. I will keep everyone updated on her progress.
Glad to hear she’s active, always a positive when they still have energy. Just keep with the rehydration soaks, proper hydration is going to be everything when it comes to healing. I know some folks swear by dampening a pillowcase a bit and letting the snake slither around inside to passively remove stuck shed, could try that. Best of luck with her, she’s quite fortunate to have wound up in your care.
Awesome that you are taking this on. Good on you. Unfortunately I do have a bit of experience with this.
Likely, you already know the major cause is dirty habitat and incorrect climate.
Your vet will likely debride the gums and recommend they are betadyne swabbed two or three times a day. Plus, intramuscular injections of baytril.
Keep up the hydration.
Ask your vet to look at the eyes as well. Mouth rot can be stopped if treatment starts in time but it can spread to the eyes and jaw bone. Your pics look bad but there is hope.
Thank you for everything you’re doing @nathan_9171
Aww, poor baby! The snake is lucky to land l have landed with a human who will get it the care it desperately needs. Thank you, @nathan_9171. You’re doing a good thing. It’s very encouraging that the snake feels like being active. We’ll be saying prayers and looking for updates.
In the case this reaches the bone what happens? Is there no hope for her or is that just going to create complications and surgeries? And how do injections work with a snake? Will I need a tube or some sort to do that as I can imagine injections for a snake are complicated. Considering her activeness when taken out I am hoping that is not the case, however she is not eating so that is concerning.