Hi,
I have a corn snake that I adopted as an adult, but I’ve had him since 2013 so he’s a senior citizen.
Today, I noticed he had some dark brown/black marks around his mouth that I have never seen before. He’s been in a glass enclosure with wood chip substrate (I can’t remember what kind, I’ve had it a long time and it’s not in the original packaging but it’s a reddish bark looking substrate) and a heat pad on one side his whole life. He ate 6 days ago, has pooped since, and seems normal otherwise. No strained breathing sounds or anything like that.
When I noticed, I tried to use a wet cotton swab to see if it would wipe off, and while it didn’t come off right away, I was able to gently rub some spots off which left the Q tip brownish, similar to substrate colour. I did notice last week that he was rubbing his face on some of the items in his enclosure more than usual but haven’t noticed that behavior since.
Does he need to go to the vet? I am worried about mouth rot or other things I’ve read about, but he doesn’t seem to have any obvious swelling or discomfort. He seems normal behavior-wise and didn’t seem agitated when I tried to clean him. I have moved him to warmer room in the meantime to make him more comfortable.