Throat Lump

[Simland]

My eastern garter has developed a throat lump on the under side of its throat. I noticed it the day before yesterday but it seems to have doubled in size, now.

Is this cause for concern? Should I rush to a vet, or wait and see how things develop? He doesn't seem bothered by it at all. He's eating normally and maintaining the same level of alertness / activity as before and it doesn't seem to cause him any pain. I touched it when I first noticed it and it was pretty soft, not hard.

I feed him nightcrawlers (nothing that could have wounded it from inside). Bedding is natural top soil without additives and some gravel to help shedding. I've had this snake for a year and a half and never had this problem before.

I read that it could be a respiratory infection due to too much variation in temperature. I don't believe the temperature drops enough for that to be the cause.

I'll try to take pictures and post them soon, but I wanted to fire off this post as quickly as possible.

[Simland]

Here are the pictures.

The good news is that it, somehow got back to the size it was the day before yesterday... it might even be a bit smaller. I don't know why it looked twice the size earlier today. I strongly doubt it was because of a food lump since its meal was clearly much further down its body (but I guess one of the worms could have been stretched out and a bit curled up in its throat.

Anyway, at the moment, the lump is small enough that was actually a bit difficult to take pictures from angles that make it visible. I did manage to take a few, however. (Sorry for the poor quality. I never use my camera in fully automatic mode, so that option didn't even occur to me until after and I had to artificially increase the exposure a lot.)

The first one makes it look worse than it actually looks from that side. In reality, it's pretty much invisible on the right side.

[guidofatherof5]

I think a vet.visit is in order. Could be an abscess, cancer, tumor, etc. Money well spent in my opinion. Keep us posted, please.

[Albert Clark]

Sorry to see this and I agree that it should be evaluated by a herp vet. It's very suspicious bc of the location ( near the airway and esophagus) so it has to interfere with breathing and swallowing. Even though the animal is still eating it must be difficult for him to get his food down normally. This probably will just become more problematic over time sorry to say. Was this guy wild caught or captive bred? Keep us updated. Good luck!

[Simland]

It was wild caught a while ago, for educational purposes. I'm trying to find a vet.

I'll post future developments, but, so far, at least it doesn't seem bothered by it, so hopefully I'll find a vet in time for this to be cured easily.

...should've done that research a long time ago, but I guess I was hoping not to need one...

[d_virginiana]

Hopefully this is something that can be easily dealt with. If he's not showing symptoms of anything, maybe you've caught it before it really becomes a serious issue.

[Simland]

I couldn't find a specialist in my area but I made an appointment with a veterinarian who treats snakes and other reptiles from time to time. She says it's most likely inflammation because it's too soft to be something like an abscess.

No treatment seems to be required for the time being other than giving him baths in case the inflammation is due to dehydration (he doesn't look dehydrated but its substrate was a bit drier than usual last week...)

Bottom line is, she said not to worry as long it doesn't get bigger and he keeps eating and acting normally.

He didn't have much of an appetite this weekend, but, I have my fingers crossed that it's just a normal "I don't feel like eating on schedule" moment.

[guidofatherof5]

Glad you found someone to look into the problem. Please keep us posted.

[Zdravko092368]

I've seen this with a few of my easterns, my big female has had a lump like that for two years and it hasn't impacted her at all. Unfortunately I woulnd't be able to tell you why it's there or what it could be though.

[Albert Clark]

Glad to hear that a professional inspected the swelling and doesn't think it's serious! Congrats.