SnakeAround
Formerly Blutengel
This is a post to show people that cancer occurs in snakes, and more regularly lately (my reptile vet told me). It might be noticed even more often if more people would have an autopsy executed on it. This could also lead to a better knowledge of cancer in snakes. It might also save a snake with similar symptoms. And of course I just wanted you to know I lost one of my favorite snakes :sobstory:
After eating 2 adult mice without any sign of internal problems (regular poo), my cali king girl had not eaten for about 50 days when I felt a bump about an inch below her stomach. She was also loosing muscle tension and weight so I decided this was not a matter of seasonal refusal. I went to see the vet, which told me too try to lactate her with oil daily fro a week to see if the lump would pass on its own. There was no way of finding out what is was from the outside. She was also put on antibiotics to fight any local infection that might be going on and to prepare her for surgery if lactating would not work. The lactating did not work, so 10 days after the first vet visit my snake was operated on.
I decided to watch it. When the cut through the layers of skin and muscle had been made, the vet told me she saw extremely thickened veins along the bowel that normally would be hardly visible. This made me think the worst.... i know that is surely a sign of something bad going on. And we were right; first it looked like it might be a piece of bowel doubled up 'into itself' but then a horrible looking, almost ping pong ball sized chunk of tissue was exposed from within the bowel. It also looked like the the bowel was quite thick/filled downward, though she had not eaten for 2 months by then. Most probably the cancer had already spread. We decided to euthanize her, the nicest thing to do for her.
Research of the tumor and the body confirmed that the tumor was very aggressive and had spread into the blood and at several places on the veins cells had started to go haywire. Several organs were severely swollen and the bowel had widened almost entirely. Below are two pics of the tumor, I thought people mind find it interesting to see. In a way I did, as was the operation. Great to see how serious and precise my vet prepared and executed the operation, and how she thinks it is completely normal to shed a tear on a snake not making it
Tissue samples were taken from my girl to be used in a Paramyxovirus study by a student, so she might help other snakes survive in the future
After eating 2 adult mice without any sign of internal problems (regular poo), my cali king girl had not eaten for about 50 days when I felt a bump about an inch below her stomach. She was also loosing muscle tension and weight so I decided this was not a matter of seasonal refusal. I went to see the vet, which told me too try to lactate her with oil daily fro a week to see if the lump would pass on its own. There was no way of finding out what is was from the outside. She was also put on antibiotics to fight any local infection that might be going on and to prepare her for surgery if lactating would not work. The lactating did not work, so 10 days after the first vet visit my snake was operated on.
I decided to watch it. When the cut through the layers of skin and muscle had been made, the vet told me she saw extremely thickened veins along the bowel that normally would be hardly visible. This made me think the worst.... i know that is surely a sign of something bad going on. And we were right; first it looked like it might be a piece of bowel doubled up 'into itself' but then a horrible looking, almost ping pong ball sized chunk of tissue was exposed from within the bowel. It also looked like the the bowel was quite thick/filled downward, though she had not eaten for 2 months by then. Most probably the cancer had already spread. We decided to euthanize her, the nicest thing to do for her.
Research of the tumor and the body confirmed that the tumor was very aggressive and had spread into the blood and at several places on the veins cells had started to go haywire. Several organs were severely swollen and the bowel had widened almost entirely. Below are two pics of the tumor, I thought people mind find it interesting to see. In a way I did, as was the operation. Great to see how serious and precise my vet prepared and executed the operation, and how she thinks it is completely normal to shed a tear on a snake not making it
Tissue samples were taken from my girl to be used in a Paramyxovirus study by a student, so she might help other snakes survive in the future
