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Lump on my Bairds ratsnake *updated with surgery pictures!*

ratsncorns

ratsncorns

Bird Nerd
I noticed this the other day but didnt think much of it as sometimes he gets an enlarged throat area prior to shedding. But today I got a much better look at it. Its very hard and moveable but attached. I looked in his mouth and you can see the lump pushing into his throat. I dont think abscess as I dont see an area where he injured himself. Guess I will need to find a local herp vet to take a look at him... my poor lumpy boy!

Any suggestions?
 

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Cant be a stone as its not technically in his throat but its definitely under the skin. Do snakes have lymph nodes?
 
I believe snakes do have lymph. If it is moveable I would assume some sort of retained fluid. Could be a salivary glad infection? If he's eating a high fat diet it may be a fat deposit?
 
Maybe salivary gland. Definitely not a fat deposit. Its not squishy, its actually quite hard. He only eats once every three weeks, one adult mouse. No hips either so I dont think thats it. Hopefully its just a gland or something. Hopefully not a lymph node because then that means something else is going on.
 
Salivary gland would make sense. Very unusual as snakes don't often have cancer or this sort of thing.
 
The first thought that came to my mind was the same as Nanci's. Maybe he may have gotten a nail poked in there at a feeding and may have a slight infection in there? Poor thing geez. I am glad you are able to get him in so soon and that they can see what the problem is. That sure cant feel very nice. :( Good luck to you both. :)
 
Poor guy. He looks like he's pretending to be a hamster and pouching stuff. Hopefully it's just salivary gland clog, or something simple.
 
BloodyBaroness said:
Poor guy. He looks like he's pretending to be a hamster and pouching stuff. Hopefully it's just salivary gland clog, or something simple.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was doing some research online and the salivary gland and lymph nodes are close together in snakes but it seems that salivary gland problems are more common. It was mentioned that if its a lymph node, bringing up his temps might help a bit so I moved him higher in the rack where its warmer.
 
And the verdict is...

...an abscess. Which will have to be surgically removed. So much for putting him in brumation!

BTW this vet came very highly recommended to me by the Chicago Herpetological Society. He works with them a lot apparently, and with a local wildlife center that has mostly reptiles. I have never felt so comfortable with a vet before. This guy was amazing! I couldnt be any more confident that my boy will be well taken care of.

Surgery is set for Nov. 28th! Hopefully the vet takes pictures. Which Im sure he will because he took out a very nice camera and took several pictures of Cain for his personal enjoyment, just because he loves snakes and has 10 of his own... all colubrids! He also gave me a discount rate because I was a knowledgeable snake owner (gave me what he called a pet store discount). He had many horror stories of people coming in with reptiles that were absolutely clueless.
 
You should ask if he'll let you sit in and document the surgery for an article!! For CS.com!!
 
I should! Maybe I will send him an email... he was super nice too. We chatted for quite a while and he took many pictures of Cain and asked my permission to put him up on their website.
 
And he was very impressed with Cain's body condition/muscle tone. He says most of the snakes he sees are chubby and what he calls "cage potatoes". That made me feel pretty good :)
 
Sorry to hear about ur boys abscess, but it sounds like ur in good hands!!! Good luck on surgery day!!!
 
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