| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| frambo |
Posted - 01/01/2013 : 12:45:28
Hi all,
Happy New Year!
Apologies for my lack of posts recently, been very busy.
During my absence I've named my snake Rhoda but still usually refer to her as Madam haha.
Anyway, I doubt you'll remember but a while back she seemed to be salivating or passing some mucus like substance from her mouth. At recommendation I took her to the vet a couple of days later and he did a check and found nothing wrong.
http://www.theroyalpython.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9848
Today I was taking some photos of her and she started doing it again so I immediately tried snapping some pics. You can see it best in the third photo but the fourth photo is there to show the same of the drops before they broke away and you can judge the consistency. Also note that her mouth is slightly open whenever it happens.
The only thing that I can think of is that in both cases, she was in sunlight which she doesn't normally get much of where her viv is. Any ideas? Think a call to the vet is in order? |
| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 02/01/2013 : 14:28:59
Sounds never heard of it before, very interesting |
| frambo |
Posted - 02/01/2013 : 12:52:47
No worries Kelf, thanks anyway.
Took her to the vet this morning- he's very good (done surgery on snakes!) and was pretty thorough in the questions he asked me etc however seeing as everything else is pretty normal, all he could put it down to is that possibly it's something that she just does on occasion.
He said her lungs sounded fine, her mouth looked fine and generally she was very healthy.
Very odd, does anyone have any ideas what could be the cause? He referred to it as hyper-salivation and suggested that next time she does it I could open her mouth and try and work out if it was from the airway or somewhere else. |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 01/01/2013 : 20:59:50
Give me a moment Frambo I'll see if I can get a good quality photo of one of my royals mouths for you to compare with.
Edit: Unfortunately none eligible to do this tonight as I've only got a handful I feel comfortable doing it to for no real reason and they fed yesterday :(
I'll see if I can get one up later. |
| frambo |
Posted - 01/01/2013 : 19:40:08
Thanks for the replies,
Had a look inside but there's wasn't anything of note except a decent amount of saliva, like a human being's mouth.
Is this what it should like?
I'd rather be safe than sorry so I'm going to phone up the vet tomorrow just in case and see if he wants to see her again. If anything I can e-mail him the photos so he can see what I'm on about.
Cheers |
| IncurableFlirt |
Posted - 01/01/2013 : 19:19:35
Frambo, you can also use the center of a Q-tip, if you have them. I have used one to look into a snake's mouth before and it worked like a charm and gives you plenty of room to actually take a good look. I sure hope it's not an RI. :( The only other thing I know of that causes them to salivate like that is when they're eating, because it helps to lubricate the prey item and make it easier to swallow. |
| jbarlow91 |
Posted - 01/01/2013 : 18:59:43
I'd use something long and thin like a knitting needle and nudge it against his top lip to get him to open it. I would do it about half way up the needle tho to make sure there is no chance of him poking himself with the pointy end |
| frambo |
Posted - 01/01/2013 : 17:58:51
Hi Kelf,
Thanks for the reply. That's the thing- last time when I took her it was a day later and she had stopped drooling (it was only for a minute or two as it was today) and all he could do was look inside her mouth, and I think maybe he gave her an x-ray.
He is a rep specialist so I'm not sure. I'm cool to take a look inside her mouth, should I just grasp gently behind her head and nudge a coin or a spoon against her lips to get her to open or should I use something else? |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 01/01/2013 : 13:20:03
If your vet is a reptile specialist I'd definitely go check it out again however if he was unable to find any health problems last time with a drooling snake I imagine he's more used to puppy dogs.
It looks very much like a Respiratory infection however if you're comfortable with doing it then I'd have a look inside the mouth to make sure there is no bleeding or swelling around the teeth, nor any discolour - if you find anything like that then an immediate vet visit would be in order. |
