Subcutanous Lumps

[guidofatherof5]

It's off to the Vet. this morning to get this girl a checkup. This is one of the rescued females that was brought to me during the Summer.
These subcutanous lumps have always been there and nows the time to get them checked. He'll probably lance them open.
They don't feel fluid filled and may contain worms. I've never seen subcutanous worms this near the head. They have always appeared more in the digestive tract.
She's a fine young adult and I hope everything turns out good for her.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Lumps.jpg

[Stefan-A]

Good luck.

[gregmonsta]

Fingers crossed for her.

[guidofatherof5]

Parasite check and cancer check came up negative. Turned out to be enlarged lymph nodes. He removed both. I'll be treating the incisions with silver sulfadiazine cream and she'll be rechecked in a week. This photo is after the first incision. I will post another photo after she's had a day of rest.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/lump1.jpg

[wolfpacksved]

my radix has similar lumps, but in the mid-body area. i keep her dry and stay on top of cage cleaning chores. temperature is mid 70s during the day . mid -sixties at night. i thought bumps like that were associated w/ moisture issues. i keep sirtalis as well, and have never had a problem them. her appetite is good and she is active and alert. i'm baffled :confused:

[guidofatherof5]

*Update*

She's been very restless since I brought her home. The large lump got a couple stitches, the small one was left open.
I've been sleeping on the couch after my shoulder surgery. Now, I have a recovery buddy sleeping next to the couch. I plan on giving her a week out of her enclosure. Then, I'll see about moving her back in with her friends.

My Vet. did everything for $45. Without his help(price adjustments) I would not normally be able to afford some of these procedures. I've double my budget for Vet. services this year. This also includes some medical equipment purchases to aid in keeping my future cost down.
I feel good that these all too forgotten snakes are receiving some much needed help. It also puts me in contact with other specialist that will be able to provide my snakes more services.
One project I'm hoping to start this year is blood screening to try and develop some kind of baseline numbers for a healthy garter snake. Something like a CBC(complete blood count) done on dogs,cats, even people. I've never been able to find any studies done in this area with regards to garter snakes. Considering that garter snakes are one of the most studied snakes, I think these numbers would be helpful and provide an insight to their health. and what keeps them healthy.
One of the big drawbacks I face with this project is the amount of blood needed for the screening. My Vet. is concerned they may not be able to safely supply the volume needed. I won't put them in harm's way.

[ConcinusMan]

I didn't even know snakes had lymph nodes!

Does that mean the cutting wasn't really necessary? I mean, it was necessary to find the cause of the lumps but do swollen nodes require lancing?

Still have to wonder what caused the swollen nodes too.

[drache]

swollen lymph nodes can happen due to an infection somewhere in the body
they're part of the immune system

[ConcinusMan]

Yes I know. I have suffered from that condition myself.(sore, swollen lymph nodes) I'm just saying, nobody cut me open to find the source of the swelling. The soreness was nearly unbearable but the swelling/pain eventually subsides. If it doesn't, and the node continues to be a problem, it can be removed (?) So I'm thinking, since they had to cut, did they remove the swollen nodes from the snake?

[wadih]

I am sure with all of this work done in addition to all the attention she will get from you, she will recover extremely fast and so smoothly.

What I am thinking about here is how different the snake medical care attention between here and Iowa. I am sure you still remember the snake with pimples that I showed some pictures about in the forum during October. I neither found vet who accepts snakes at all (they only work with dogs and cats!!!) nor did the place where I bought it from take any responsibility. Since the shop owner where I bought it from became kind of friend (or at least I was the best client who buys huge amount of fish every month), when I asked him about the problem and how to solve he directly offered me a new snake for free just in a polite way to make me stop talking or change the subject.
I think due to the very low price of Natrix here and the very few numbers of expensive snake owners; neither vets nor shop owners are interested in having any medical center for snakes.

Good luck with your snake recovery process, hope to see soon some pics of her with no open wounds, just small scars :)

[ConcinusMan]

Last time I tried to take a snake to a vet I got pretty much the same treatment. No vets around here know jack ship about snakes. Nothing has changed in the 25+ years since then. There is ONE vet around here that will diagnose/treat big snakes such as boas or pythons and has been doing so since the late 90's but that's it. And that's in a city of 380,000 people.

Steve is lucky to have a good vet at good prices for his snakes. VERY LUCKY.

[drache]

there are very few vets that treat reptiles, even here
I live in probably the most populated area on this continent, and I know of a total of three vets that will see herps, and one of them moved to Pennsyvania
I don't suppose the majority of them thinks of a herp specialization as a good investment; I'm sure for those who went that way, it's not what pays the rent, and they did it because they love the critters

[guidofatherof5]

This girl has started eating again. She downed 4 large night crawlers this morning. I did notice some fresh blood around her stitches after she ate but it wasn't something to worry about. Overall she doing great.

[charles parenteau]

NIce to hear that Steve!

[drache]

that's great news, Steve
they do tend to bounce back amazingly well

[wadih]

Steve that is really excellent news... Hopefully soon she will be back with the group.


Last time I tried to take a snake to a vet I got pretty much the same treatment. No vets around here know jack ship about snakes. Nothing has changed in the 25+ years since then. There is ONE vet around here that will diagnose/treat big snakes such as boas or pythons and has been doing so since the late 90's but that's it. And that's in a city of 380,000 people.

Steve is lucky to have a good vet at good prices for his snakes. VERY LUCKY.

When I said here I was referring to a 4 million citizen country :) For the city where I live, we only have a small pet shop in one of the supermarkets. In addition to some seasonal pets (such as colored chicks during easter or golden fish during summer) that you can find any where you go.
I think it is logical to see large snakes vets due to the high selling price of these pets. I am not sure about the price in your country, but here sometimes an adult python can cost more than a thousand Natrix :eek:

[ConcinusMan]

Nah, depending on the species, boas and pythons are produced by the thousands every year in the U.S. They're pretty cheap. People have a hard time giving away ball (Royal) pythons and adult boa constrictors. A friend of mine purchased an albino ball python with an unusual pattern for just under $300. You can get adult normals for free pretty easily. Same goes for boa constrictors. There's just too dang many of them. Young ball pythons go for about $50 in the pet stores. Many other pythons that can get up to 20 feet long have been outlawed in many U.S. states in recent years so those are hard if not impossible to find locally.

It's just that practically everyone has a dog or cat and is willing to spend the money to take them to a vet. In spite of the huge number of snakes (mostly large boas or pythons) the owners of these snakes usually don't bother with getting them vet care so there's only one vet in my area that is knowledgeable and willing to treat those snakes.