Lump in gut of checkered

[OregonHerpaholic]

Hi all. I have an 2 year old albino male checkered that is not doing well. There is a round lump on the underside of belly..near where the stomach should be.

I have been treating it for mites since December. It went from a 20 long tank to a plastic shoebox..He has refused any and all food since. He has lost weight, looks like . He is very thin but doesn't look starving..the sunken gut look.

I have contacted a vet, but will not get an appointment until mites are cleared.

Not eating is NOT normal for this snake. He is the only garter I know that is blood thirsty..have MANY bite marks from him. So something is going on.

Thanks in advance,

Billie

[drache]

this is very likely a sequela of the mites
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I am not hopeful for your snake
you need to knock out the mites asap, and talk your vet into seeing the snake right away, but I kind of think it's too late.

[guidofatherof5]

Best of luck. Mites can cause other issue by introducing infection at the bite locations. That Vet. visit is imperative.
Please keep us informed, any photos would be great.

[Mommy2many]

Keeping fingers crossed for your friend.

[mustang]

as for lump could it be somthing like a (systems back-up) or trama checker had trama and i didnt see that on lists of snake problems online.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

could it be his heart is swollen?! I know this sounds bizarre.... but I just lost a small male albino redsided garter to something weird. His heart was swollen!

[OregonHerpaholic]

could it be his heart is swollen?! I know this sounds bizarre.... but I just lost a small male albino redsided garter to something weird. His heart was swollen!

Definately not the heart..too far down the belly.

An infection could be.. I didn't notice the mites right off since they were in brumation and didn't even think there COULD be a problem. I did a full inspection before putting them in the closet..so these poor snakes more than likely dealt with the mites for a month or two before I noticed.. I will get the snake to vet this week...even if I must find new one!

Billie

[gregmonsta]

Fingers crossed.

[OregonHerpaholic]

sad to say, the garter didn't make it to the vet. I have a friend who can do a necropsy so maybe I will find out what happened. I did note that the lump was more of a mass than 1st thought..I am thinking tumor over infection, only time will tell.

[drache]

I am so sorry about your loss
mites run down a snake's immune system, and leave them much more vulnerable to whatever else comes along