Posted by:
Colchicine
at Mon Nov 3 19:08:36 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Colchicine ]
I have a large corn snake I acquired approximately 10 months ago as an adult. The captive care of this animal is unknown before I got it. About six months ago we started to notice the development of several lumps on the lateral surface and posterior end of the snake. The development of more lumps seems to have progressed in the last month or two, traveling farther up the snake. A while back, we had a rather old corn snake that developed the same condition, although not as extreme, as well as what appeared to be calcifications along the dorsal surface of the spine that formed sharp and prominent points. At one time, the veterinarian looked at one of these lumps and determined them to be probable adipose deposits.
The snake is kept in a snake rack with other colubrids. They are fed anywhere from two to four times a month, usually a couple medium-sized mice or 1 medium rat at a time. All of the snakes are fed mice from the same source, and no other snake has exhibited these lumps.
It is my understanding that snakes can develop fat deposits underneath their skin. What concerns me is the relatively rapid development of these lumps. All of the snakes have been prophylactically treated for parasites with metronidazole, and fenbendazole. I am prepared to do something invasive but not until I get other opinions.
Below is a picture that represents three of the lumps I described. There are at least over 1 dozen of these lumps present on the snake.
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)
"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes
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 Corn snake with apparent adipose deposits - Colchicine, Mon Nov 3 19:08:36 2003 
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