Pharyngeal swelling in boa

[anerybree]

Hi, I haven't been here for awhile, but this is my last hope. I recently acquired a beautiful juvenile Dumeril's boa who was perfectly healthy when I got him in October. A few months later, he developed a swollen throat, so I took him to the vet, who prescribed antibiotics and anti-imflammatories. They helped for awhile, but now he's worse than ever. He doesn't appear to be suffering and ate a mouse last night (I'm giving him smaller meals so as to not agitate the mass in his throat).

The "mass" is actually filled with fluid. The vet took a sample of the fluid, and it's a mixture of unidentifiable cells and bacterial cells. She's never seen it in reptiles before, and she thought it was originally an infected cut, but the antibiotics did not help and it's still growing. In the link below, the second set of pictures has it looking particularly bad, but its shape is different now. It's more concentrated just behind his head with a bit still by the throat, and it isn't as swollen, but has more definition.

I remember a thread here about a year ago that had a California king snake who had to get mouth surgery. I don't remember what the cause was, but I remember the sutures and didn't know if it was something similar. Any experience with this?

Here's the link to my iHerp thread with pictures. One of the only other possibilities is cancer and experimental surgery. I just don't know when to bring him in. His name is Malakai, and he's sweeter than even my nicest of corns.

 

[insomniac101]

I had a Baird's ratsnake with a throat/neck wound of unknown origin last month. After antibiotic injections, and topical treatment, she has healed up very well, and the swelling is gone.

Here is a LINK to that thread.

Another member here had an issue with her Baird's ratsnake as well. He had some sort of growth on his nose. Here is a LINK to that thread.

Another LINK regarding Angela's male Baird's.

It sounds like your snake probably has something different going on if you can see a mass in the back of his mouth. Everyone's financial situation is different, but I would have your vet send out those samples for further identification and sensitivities if at all possible. It's probably not cheap, but your vet should give you those costs up front, so you can make an informed decision. I did have a necropsy done on a green tree python a few years back, and it cost $600, but I had multiple organ tissue samples done, as well as viral, bacterial, and fungal cultures.

Good luck, and please keep us posted.

Kathy

 

[anerybree]

The pictures on the third page of the last link look similar to my boa, both inside and outside of the mouth. A little more defined than Malakai's, and his mass isn't as dark inside of his mouth as Cain's was, but similar. Financially, I've spent about $300 already on medications (Fortaz, Metacam) and vet visits, and I'm willing to put down another couple hundred if needed. I'll be going to college in a year and a half so I'm not exactly rich, but he is important to me and I did take responsibility of him when I got him.

 

[Nanci]

I wonder if it would be helpful to get a second opinion. Rich333 sees someone in Dayton, let me ask him.

 

[rich333]

DAYTON SOUTH VETERINARY CLINIC
3200 Wilmington pike
Kettering, OH 45429

(937) 294-8888



This guy used to keep and breed snakes. He knows his stuff.