[z11]

Hi - I'm new to the forum and found it because of this post. My garter snake has these same symptoms (including the dark spot). Additionally, he had pretty severe stomatitis and actually looked like his jaw was dislocated. I took him to the vet where they told me the prognosis was guarded at best. We gave him fluids, tube fed him, and started him on Ceftazadime 0.02 ml every 72 hours. (We will continue for a total of 10 doses.) I was instructed to keep him very warm and in a humid environment. The veterinarian told me that his problems far outweigh any risk that might be posed by heavy humidity. It's been about 2 weeks now and he is actually starting to flick his tongue again and is quite active. He's still doing some mouth breathing and staying in the head up posture - but he's actually starting to show interest in minnows again. I think his nares are still blocked and I have not yet figured out a good way to unblock them. The veterinarian did not have any good suggestions for that - except the increased humidity. I wouldn't say my snake is out of the woods yet, but he is significantly better than he was 2 weeks ago. At the recheck the veterinarian told me she was very surprised that he pulled through at all. She didn't think he would make it through the night. Anyway - I hope this helps and I hope your snake is feeling better.