Lumpy Snake

Sooooo... a friend of mine had to move suddenly and I was given a corn snake to take care of. This snake is a little over two feet long and 2-3 years old. It has some sort of vertebral desease, whos name my friend couldn't recall. This snake is incredibly lumpy- I mean it practically looks emaciated because it's vertebrae are so swollen, like a long sack of marbles. This friend tells me that she was assured by a vet that the disease causes no discomfort, but she it pretty weak in her grip. I would like to know what the name of this disease is, if it's common, if there's anything I may need to know in general regarding special needs of this snake, etc. My friend was very convinced that there's nothing special I need to know but I wanted to make sure. Any thoughts? -Kevin

Sorry, I have no experience with anything like that, and I can't recall seeing photos or descriptions of it. The only advice I can give is that you should NOT breed the snake. Wouldn't want that defect passed along, if it is hereditary. (I'm sure you already figured that out, but oh well.)

I wish I hadn't packed up my biomedical book on reptiles because I saw something like that. Osteo something or other causing excessive bone growth and fusion. Unfortunately, the ball python that had it eventually fused into a circular position and could no longer move and had to be euthanized. I'm not sure that this is what yours has, but just care for it as normal and see what happens.

Update

thanks for the input guys... I did some more research myself and found a disease called "Osteitis Deformans" that seems to pretty much fit the bill. I can't find much info on it other than general symptoms, tho. What meg is describing sounds degenerative- and my friend insisted that the snake, 'nessie', wont get any worse. "Osteitis Deformans" also sounds painful, which I was promised this problem was not. Sounds like I'll hafta find a local snake expert at the pet store in the next town over or something. There's really not much literature online in regards to this subject. If anyone knows a website that somehow covers reptilian diseases, that would be a good reference point, let me know.

That's the one I was thinking of, but the book did not say it was painful. The snake had been doing fine until the bones finally fused together and it could no longer move. Osteitis is and inflammation of the bone, but maybe it was Osteogenisis something. Darn it! If only I hadn't packed the book away for the move!