Enflamed upper mouth on retic

[bstein54]

My 8ft retic has had a swollen upper mouth for about 5 months now. I have raised and lowered the humidity as well at the temperature of his enclosure and it has made no difference and brought him to the vet that treats reptiles twice. On the first visit the vet opened his mouth and there was a little white substance where his tooth is located. He scraped it off and attributed it to a broken or loosened tooth which made me recall that around the time I noticed the swelling, my uncle had told me the snake struck at the glass when he walked in my room one day. Could it be a broken bone in his face or broken tooth that is still lodged in his mouth? There were no other signs of a bacterial infection or anything like that so he said to just give it time. He gave me an antibiotic which made the swelling decrease but never fully go away. I went back to the vet maybe 6 weeks later and again he said to try another round of the antibiotic but the result was the same. My retic hasn't lost his appetite at all but every time he eats his mouth swells up a ton and never fully goes away.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated, thanks.

[MDT]

it looks like your retic has "push face"...does he push excessively on the cage surfaces? Mine will do this occasionally, esp if they think i'm being stingy with their food.

[Sublimeballs]

Looks like pushing to me aswell. He does possibly have a broken tooth or a few in there that will work themselves out in their own time. My female jampea has one spot(much smaller) that she always feed mode bashes her face on the glass that's swollen from time to time(used to more often than not). As much as it feels like you should do something, as long as there's no signs of infection and your husbandry is spot on, you don't need to do anything. Retics are masters of damage repair. Feed him and he'll heal. Many a retic have destroyed their face much worse.

As great of a forum as this is, and it really is the best on the web, I suggest you join the Facebook page the retic nation. He best retic people in the world all in one place.

[Sublimeballs]

Oops forgot to add you need to figure out why he's pushing in the first place, if he is, what are your temps, feeding schedule, prey size, snake size, cage size, cage type....

[Tsubaki]

Dont know if it is usefull, but i did experience something more or less the same with a snake i used to own. A yellowhead that pushed/struck at glass. At some point the gums that extend and retract the teeth tore open, a tooth popped out and pricked her upper lip. I had the tooth removed, she got antibiotics. 3 shots during a week, and something i had to spray in her mouth daily (she wasn't allowed to eat during). It got a lot better, noticed no swelling anymore but she did keep the striking up. Since she pushed and struck at the glass only, to get out/get people.. I moved her to a quieter spot, and kept the glass covered + lighting dimmed, she saw no way out anymore and seemed to have stopped. It's something you could try but it's no guarantee, and you wont be able to see your snake.:no:

[bstein54]

The only time he excessively pushes on the cage is after he urinates but other than that he acts very normal and as soon as I change the paper/clean the cage he settles down. If he happens to go at night and then is pushing for hours until I get him out and clean it the next day it definitely increases the swelling. I feel like the face pushing makes it worse but isn't the main cause. One of my other smaller retics does the same thing but she has never had any face swelling. I did notice that the swelling decreased a lot when I didn't feed him for 2 and a half weeks but as soon as I did it swelled right back up. He's on an extra large rat once a week, temps are 77 on the cold side and 91 on the hot. He's in a boaphile 4x2ft but I just got a vision 6x3ft that he'll be moved into by next week when I get the heating taken care of. I'm hoping that since he'll have more room that maybe when he urinates he won't be as desperate to escape and could reduce the face pushing and therefore the swelling.

[reptiledude987]

Im having a very similar issue with my blood python right now. However I know that the issue is from his foul attitude. Every time I get anywhere near his enclosure he strikes repeatedly smacking his face off the glass. I plan to move him into an opaque tub where he cant see out as well as being a softer surface if he does strike the sides. hopefully mine heals on his own as well Ill just be keeping a close eye on him to make sure it stays clean and dosent get infected.

[earr]

Go to the vet asap! Probably it is an stomatitis.

[Tsubaki]

If you would have read, you would have noticed he has been to the vet twice.

[SnoopySnake]

If you would have read, you would have noticed he has been to the vet twice.

I wish we had a like button...lol

[reptiledude987]

I wish we had a like button...lol

Ive been thinking the same thing alot lately lol.

[earr]

If you went to the vet twice you can go a third one. An stomatitis is quite easy to heal. What kind of vet allowed to progress the infection that way?

[MDT]

If you went to the vet twice you can go a third one. An stomatitis is quite easy to heal. What kind of vet allowed to progress the infection that way?

dude....retics do this frequently with NO infection, only swelling. One of mine right now looks like this and there is no infection. the gums are pink and without exudate, he is robust and eats well. he's just a butthole and insists on pushing at times.

[Sublimeballs]

^this, couldn't have said it better myself.

[millertime89]

Increase feeding frequency or add more cover to help the snake feel more secure in it's enclosure. My GC's face looks horrid if I don't feed every 4 days. Drives me crazy.

[bstein54]

Just to update everyone, his swelling has decreased dramatically since moving him into the larger cage. I did however make another vet appointment which I had today and the vet did notice some signs of infection so he gave him a Baytril shot and also gave me Baytril that I will have to squirt down his throat, 2ml a day for 2 weeks, and then I will have a follow up appointment with the vet. Hopefully after these next couple weeks he will be cured and back to normal. The vet also told me that 77 degrees on my cold side was way to low and that it should be in the mid 80's... Any time the cold side temp has gotten to 80 degrees or more in any of my cages the snakes go crazy trying to get out. They seem completely content thermoregulating between the hot and cold side with the temperatures I have now of 76-77 degrees on the cold side and 91-93 on the hot. Do I need to raise my temperatures?

[MDT]

how did your vet "notice" infection? gram stain? culture? has your snake "acted sick"?

not saying the baytril is not needed, but there are way too many medical providers that too readily pull the antibiotic card when it's not needed.

we have a saying in medicine...don't treat the number, treat the patient. if your snakes are healthy (eating vigorously, digesting properly, deficating, drinking, shedding, good tone, etc.) you may already be doing the right things.

however, perhaps 77 is too low and they are sluggish because of a low temp. maybe temps in the 80's allows for a more "warmed" snake? it would seem there may be some more investigation needed?