is bulge sign of mouthrot?

[captainmorgan]

I'm not quite sure, I'm still watching it. But I think one of my boas sometimes has a bulge under is head/mouth area. But if I touch it, it goes away. Confused on this but his mouth looks fine, I took a peak last night. Any thoughts?
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[Ravnos]

Bulging in the lip/gum area is a sign, often the gum area will swell when infected, but I'm not sure what area you are referring to.

Rav
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[JuliusSqueezer]

Is this a young snake? I have seen many young boas puff up their chin for no apparent reason....perhaps to look bigger? It didn't fool me and I wasn't planning to eat them anyway. If there is any real swelling of the gum area...it won't go away when you touch it.
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[eddie]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE>Is this a young snake? I have seen many young boas puff up their chin for no apparent reason....perhaps to look bigger? </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

[img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] my argie cross does that a lot.

Sounds like it's trying to intimidate you, but, if in doubt, open it's mouth and look.
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[hisba]

Is this a young or adult snake?
If young, as stated, they sometimes puff up their necks as a threat gesture (more
often seen in snakes like colubrids)
If adult, did it just eat? My large adults get a puffy look to their jaws for a day or two
after eating (like it takes a little bit for the skin to de-stretch) and I also see it in one
of my girls before she sheds, like loose puffy skin around the jaw, bottom of head.
Have you opened the snake's mouth to investigate? my trick is to gently hold the snake's
head with one hand and using a pencil or other slim round object (this is for an adult boa FYI)
hold the pencil at the joining of the lips and gently roll it in cirlces back and forth applying
small pressure towards the mouth and that will get the mouth open. Of course with
anything, if you're really worried, off to the vet for a check-up!
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[captainmorgan]

It's a 3 year old. Not sure if that's adult or teenager in snake years. Hisba, it did just eat. It lasted 3 days and now it's gone. I opened it's mouth and it looked fine, no swelling or redness or anything. It seems to be gone now. I mean it was his first jumbo rat and it was a very big meal for him. Maybe hisba's right. It's not my argie, it's captainmorgan. Thanks again guys for being there....Hey Brett, did you use ketchup.....they taste good with ketchup!!!!
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[Kent K25]

My female BCI also has a bit of a bulge under her mouth after eating, it lasts a few hours, up to a day. Upon close inspection mine is like what Hisba described, the skin is just stretched out and doesnt go back to normal real quickly, my male has no such problem, he looks the exact same after eating, other than the stomach bulge of course. Good luck to ya, hopefully it's something these guys have explained and not anything serious.
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	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.