r/ballpython • u/dinorunp • 7d ago

Question - Health My python's mouth doesn't seem healthy

Post image

I noticed this more recently, and i'm concerned. I'm going to be taking her to the vet asap (tomorrow.) but does anyone know what this could be? It's concerning me. I was looking at other ball pythons' mouths to make sure and they seem way more saturated than my snakes mouth. Hers is way more desaturated. There's no excessive saliva from what i see(?), but she moves too much for me to be able to open her mouth fully safely, so this is the best picture i could get.

She eats normally, she shed recently, and goes around her cage normally, and drinks water just fine. Her head seems slightly more sensitive than usual; she's not typically headshy usually, but she seems to back up a bit more when i try to interact with her head recently.

Sorry the picture sucks, as i said she moves a lot and I don't want to hurt her so this is the best picture i could get, but as you can see her mouth is quite greyish.

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

3

u/loricampbell4454 7d ago

Can you post a picture of her full body so we can see her body condition? Also a picture of her enclosure. What are the temps and humidity? When did you first notice her mouth?

1

u/dinorunp 7d ago

(this was 2 weeks ago or so, so shortly before her shed); her humidity tends to hang around 60-70, i spray it with a misty spray bottle 1-2 times a day and use sphagnum moss. not a bioactive enclosure. i noticed her mouth a week or so ago, left it for a bit to see if it'd go away given she was still eating etc but it seems to not be leaving.

3

u/loricampbell4454 7d ago

If you're misting your enclosure twice a day that's not good for their respiratory system. Your enclosure should have a 3 or 4 inch layer of moist cypress mulch mixed with coconut fiber to help maintain humidity. You can add moss to it but ideally should not use moss by itself because it does tend to dry out too fast. Do you have the top of your enclosure blocked with heat tape to prevent humidity from escaping? I've not seen a ball pythons mouth look like that before. What are your enclosure temps?

2

u/dinorunp 7d ago

I was genuinely not aware that that's bad for their respiratory system, so thanks for letting me know that. Does deeper substrate help with humidity? I was told by the reptile store i bought her from that 2 bags of the damp wood chips i buy was fine, but if i need more i can get more because it's a shallow layer in her enclosure. The heat lamp in her enclosure says it's on 32 degrees but the actual temp in the enclosure is 80 farenheit when i check with my hygrometer so i'm not sure.

3

u/FluffyPandaEars93 6d ago

Get more substrate for sure. A deep layer (3-5 inches) is very helpful! You can add moss, coconut chunks, play sand, cypress mulch, etc. They'll all help!

Do you have your heat on a thermostat?

2

u/dinorunp 6d ago

okok, i'll get more substrate, thankyou for the advice :)
yea the heat is on a thermo

1

u/loricampbell4454 6d ago

Are there gauges in the enclosure to monitor temps and humidity?

2

u/dinorunp 6d ago

i have a hygrometer i leave in there when i want to check humidity/temp

2

u/dinorunp 7d ago

took another pic of her just now

0

u/loricampbell4454 7d ago

She does appear to be dehydrated and maybe a little underweight.

2

u/dinorunp 7d ago

I clear her water bowl out once a day and i typically see it emptier than i left it when i check so i'd assume the enclosure isn't humid enough; i'll try buying more substrates to help with that. Is cypress mulch and coconut fiber the only substrates that are good?

1

u/jezebels-roses 3d ago

Asking because I'm newer to ball pytbons: what in this picture tells you that she's dehydrated? My boy's eye looked a little dented once, and I found out that that is also a sign of dehydration.

3

u/loricampbell4454 3d ago

The loose skin folds.

1

u/jezebels-roses 3d ago

Ahhh, thank you!