Can snakes get tooth abcesses?

tuper · 05-11-06, 07:40 AM

And if so, what in the world causes them? We took our ball out last night to feed him and noticed a slight bulge on the side of his mouth. It is very small, we only noticed it from the underside. I’m not even sure if he has a tooth there.

He is our fist snake, but we’ve tried very hard to take god care of him. He is about 2.5 years old, and about 2.5 feet long. He was given to us by a lady who had lost interest in him. We’ve had him about 6 or 7 months. We keep him in his tank, he has a warm side (85-95 depending on time of day) and a cool side (75-80.) His humidity probably could be a tad higher, as it ranges between 50-65%. He was constipated pretty bad when we first got him, but the vet helped us get it worked out. That was last summer/fall. He hibernated a bit over the winter, but has come out of it and was eating well. He is kept on newspaper and has a large bowl of water at all times. He is not a very good shedder, the lady we got him from said he never has been. He has never shed in one piece, and usually retains some on his head and sometimes an eye. He gets bathtub soaks occasionally and has a humidity box but never goes in it.

We ended up not feeding him last night because my husband thinks the rat I got is too big for him to eat. (It was a small rat, but a little bit bigger than the one he had before.) We were arguing about that when I noticed the abcess, so we didn’t even try to feed him. I am going back to the store today to get a few small mice instead.

I do plan on taking him to the vet if it doesn’t get better by tmorrow, but I wanted someone’s opinion who had more experience with snakes. I tried to get a picture of it last night, but it didn’t turn out. It probably only sticks out 1/16th of an inch from his face, but it is different from the other side.

Thanks for your suggestions and advice.

ReptiZone · 05-11-06, 10:21 AM

Tooth abcesses can form if the snake bites someone and rips a tooth out or if it is feeding live prey and the prey fights back too much and pulls a tooth out. Also if it was on a loose substrate and got some in the mouth, and was not cleaned out properly, in that case it would have been there for a while and you are just noticing it now. This is not as un common as you may think. Judging by your post, you are not familiar with reptile veterinary care. That is ok, just book an appointment and ask to be shown how to properly check and clean your snakes mouth in the event of this happening again. Ask them in person, if they say no walk out and find a better vet.

The reason I say this, is if they do not want to show you a simple thing as proper oral hygiene then they are going to have a hard time finding the difference from their butt and a hole in the ground.

MD Reptiles

tuper · 05-11-06, 11:05 AM

Thanks for the quick reply....

I was worried about it and i checked him again this morning. It has gone away. I think I was maybe being a bit paranoid, or maybe he did have somethig stuck in his mouth. My hubby soaked him long and good last night, maybe that helped. I don't know. Anyway, it will definitely be monitored.

I have no problems taking him to the vet....I had to when I first got him when he was constipated so bad. We have gotten quite attached to the little buggar!

Thanks again!

Edmond Y · 05-11-06, 07:50 PM

If he is two and half years old, then two and half feet is a little at the small size. but a small rat is perfectly fine for him to take. If you feed alive, then you may not want to feed anywhere over one month old small rat. If he doesn't shed good, you can always mist the tank a little while he is shedding. As for the teeth abcesses, it does happened to my snakes once and is not a big deal. But a trip to vet is a good idea.

Edmond

daver676 · 05-15-06, 10:54 AM

I just want to post a small tip when feeding live. If you feed something too small, the snake may have a hard time getting properly coiled around it, or may not coil it properly. This can of course lead to a higher chance of injury to the snake if the prey is alive too long. I find that feeding something the same size the snake is at it's thickest point, then the snake has a thicker body (the prey's) to coil around, making constriction easier, and death faster.