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swelling in neck area

razorback
08-13-2007, 04:25 PM
Has anyone ever experienced the following: One of my Okee's neck buldges when his head is pointed down, as if gravity was pulling liquid into the loose skin around the jaw. When his head is up, the swelling looks almost gone. I've noticed this before with other snakes, but not as bad as this case. Should I worry?


Razorback

desertanimal
08-13-2007, 04:32 PM
I believe they often get puffy throats when they are going into shed, so I wouldn't worry unless you have some other reason to.

razorback
08-13-2007, 05:31 PM
Interseting. I didn't correlate those two things in the past, but it does seem logical. I do know that fluid builds under the skin to seperate the skin about to be shed from the new skin underneath....this is what causes the milky appearance called blue phase. I just haven't seen it so pronounced before. Thanks for the feedback.

Razorback

Tracee
08-14-2007, 05:18 AM
Strange coincidence! My fiancé noticed a pronounced swelling on my snake's neck just the other day, and I couldn't remember for the life of me what it was supposed to signify.

Like yours, this swelling seemed to be so much larger than I'd ever seen it before. Since he only shed about 2-3 weeks ago (and is 8 years old so doesn't shed all that often) I'll be interested to see if it does correlate at all this time.

Hmmmmmmm!

Animal_gal
08-14-2007, 10:06 AM
My snake's neck is a little swollen too.

It used to be really thin but then after he got sick a couple years ago it got a little bigger.
I was a little concerned but I've seen tons of pictures of snakes with thicker, seemingly swollen necks. All hatchlings seem to have extremely thin necks, so I concluded that three possible answers might include that it's just his age, or his neck may be swollen from the endless sneezing or the regurg. Or he's just getting fat. (This occurred to me last night. My snake doesn't eat that much, no more than he always has since he was young. But I've heard a lot about overweight snakes. And then I wondered how can a snake be overweight? Have you ever seen a snake with FAT on it? Snakes always seem like pure muscle.)

Actually I'm still concerned and every day for quite a while, I've considered posting a question and pictures about it. But I haven't gotten around to it, and since there are a ton of other snakes out there whose necks look the same (I was even going through the old corn snake manual just last night, and half the snakes there have big necks too) I'm not sure that it's even a problem.
He still looks completely healthy, his behavior is normal and he hasn't turned down a single mouse since he was sick.

However my snake's throat is not nearly as dramatic as yours seems to be. It's likely not even the same thing.
I guess after saying that, I don't know why I posted this. Maybe someone would know why some snakes look to have slightly swollen necks. I haven't noticed a relevence between shedding and neck size. I guess that could be it but he definitely doesnt look anywhere near shedding.

razorback
08-15-2007, 01:25 PM
Jonas, my male Okee, was going into blue phase, and this appears to be what caused the swelling in the neck area. It looked horrible for a couple of days. I wonder if the underskin secretion is produced by a gland or organ in the neck area, and it gathers there and spreads out as time goes on? Anyone know the answer to this?

Thanks,

Razorback
McFadden For Heisman

luvmycorn
12-24-2007, 06:32 PM
the same thing happens with my snake! her neck gets big when in shed, and afterward looks fine again. consider posting pix.

susang
12-25-2007, 10:05 PM
the same thing happens with my snake! her neck gets big when in shed, and afterward looks fine again. consider posting pix.

How many times have you made this observation with your corn. I thought today was the first time you saw your snake shed, "it was a fast shed and yet it took a while". What I really love about this is you're wanting "pix" where are your "pix". susang

Cegninedorf
12-25-2007, 10:29 PM
You know, my lav is in blue...I'm going to have to see if his neck is swollen. Is this when the snake is in blue, or post-blue? I will try to get neck photos, regardless...

Photos forthcoming (though I didn't really notice any swelling, but maybe it's too early yet, or I'm not looking in the right place...)...

luvmycorn
12-25-2007, 10:35 PM
i TOLD you i just got a camera!!! i am assuming that most OTHER people have a camera, and i made this post AFTER i posted the part about MY snake!!!!!!!!

Cegninedorf
12-25-2007, 10:45 PM
This is ShugaBoog, post-shed, looking as handsome as ever...(taken this past Aug):
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/3627/lateaug07lz2.jpg

And, this is Mr Boog, not really thrilled with my wanting to take his photo:
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/5250/25dec07inblueneckjy4.jpg
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/6319/25dec07inblueneck2tg4.jpg
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/4373/25dec07inblueneck1pb3.jpg

The second shed photo is a bit blurry by the neck, but I guess that might also better show any swelling, if at all. Where would this swelling be, on the side or all around or...? I'm not doubting anyone, I'm just curious for my own good so that I can watch for it on my own snakes.

(And yes, I did taken complete advantage of this moment to show ShugaBoog off because he really is the nicest, sweetest snake -- not of all, but he's just a darling, since day #1...so thanks for letting me have my fun. :cheers: )

luvmycorn
12-25-2007, 10:47 PM
dont worry. your snake will be fine and i dont know. heheh. nice littles butes you got there. i really like the first one ALOT!!!
happy holidays

Cegninedorf
12-25-2007, 10:47 PM
i TOLD you i just got a camera!!! i am assuming that most OTHER people have a camera, and i made this post AFTER i posted the part about MY snake!!!!!!!!

Ok, ok. Relax. :) But now that you have the camera, wouldn't it be fun to take some pictures of your newly shed darling & show her off to the world? ;) (Oh, wait -- she's digesting, right? Ok, then take the next 2 days to learn how to use the camera & report back to us, stat! :) )

susang
12-25-2007, 10:49 PM
Christina, he is glorious even blue. Mr Boog, I love that name, one of my grand-daughters nickname is boog, actually booger but she likes boog better. Great photo, susang

Cegninedorf
12-25-2007, 10:49 PM
dont worry. your snake will be fine and i dont know. heheh. nice littles butes you got there. i really like the first one ALOT!!!
happy holidays

Those photos are all of the same snake, Mr ShugaBoog. :) The first is post-shed from this past Aug, the bottom three are in the midst of blue/prepping-to-shed -- from just a few mins ago. I posted them to see if anyone notices any swelling in his neck area, and if not, where should I be looking to notice it.

Cegninedorf
12-25-2007, 10:56 PM
Christina, he is glorious even blue. Mr Boog, I love that name, one of my grand-daughters nickname is boog, actually booger but she likes boog better. Great photo, susang

Thanks, Susang. :) And I know that I probably just hijacked this thread by posting photos of Mr Boog, but I just want to know & since he's in blue, why not use him as a model? :) (My apologies!)

On the other hand...
:-offtopic Susang, I did come up with an "educated" name for him: Ophion, but it just never stuck because I (for some reason!) had a southern-thang going & I kept saying that he's a cute lil'sugar-booger, but with an accent...and it stuck. ShugaBoog. It's Shuga or Mr Boog, though, usually. :) On the other hand, I had a friend in high school whose little sister was also called Booger, but for nose-picking reasons...I had no idea what her first name was until she started Kindergarten & insisted on being called Kelcie. I think that she felt the pressure of the small town society to conform...:p

susang
12-25-2007, 11:03 PM
I don't think OP will be to worried about hyjacking since the thread was started in August. My Boog has a very well thought out name Mikayla which was shortened to Micky, but after the accident Boog just sort of fit for some reason. I'm not sure why but we just all started calling her Boog. susang

Cegninedorf
12-25-2007, 11:11 PM
I don't think OP will be to worried about hyjacking since the thread was started in August. My Boog has a very well thought out name Mikayla which was shortened to Micky, but after the accident Boog just sort of fit for some reason. I'm not sure why but we just all started calling her Boog. susang

Ooops, count me as another mindless lemming who just follows the rest to the cliff...! :p

Hmmm, I can see why a new nickname would fit, especially after something traumatic -- it's good to start fresh with just the slightest something to feel the process of moving-on begin, I think...I can definitely understand that. :)

beeluvzsnakes
03-27-2011, 01:27 AM
my creamsicle has a really swollen throat as well... she is in blue and i am hoping the sweeling is due to her shedding but i am concerned... i asked someone at my local pet store snd he said she might just be relaxing her jaw but it doesnt look normal at all.

bitsy
03-27-2011, 05:17 AM
A few people have posted about this since 2007 (I've seen one in the past couple of months I think) and all I can tell you is that according to the posts, there's not to my (admittedly dodgy) memory been one of these sudden swellings that was anything other than shed-related.

I'm confident that this will be the case with yours, especially as she's blue now. Keep us posted on how the shed goes. As always, if you're very concerned indeed then a trip to the vet might put your mind at rest if nothing else - sometimes peace of mind is worth the money. However, if I was in your place I wouldn't make the appointment unless the swelling was still there after the shed completes

beeluvzsnakes
03-28-2011, 01:42 PM
ok thank you.