I haven't been able to get to a Vet in person as yet but I have been e-mailing a man who is on the Faculty of the local Vet School. I dealt with him previously re: disease in snakes and he was helpful. It's my experience (although fortunately limited) that vets who are intersted in snake diseases aren't all that common. In any case, he made an interesting suggestion - he said that he had some doubts about the idea of tumors (as I did) because of their persistence and wondered if the swelling could be due to a temporary fluid build-up (edema). The idea is appealing because this is something that can certainly appear and disappear within a few days. I checked the female yesterday morning and found that the swelling didn't seem to be as pronounced behind the neck but it was more so immediately behind the jaw. I also noted that the snake is pre-shed. I have looked for detailed information about the process of shedding but haven't been able to find anything as yet. I was under the impression that it involves some fluid that separates the older skin from the newer (the cause of the "blueing over the eyes etc.). In any case, I checked my records around the times that this swelling occurred previously and there just may be a pattern:



4-16-04: Swelling in female noted. 4-23-04: female noted as pre-shed

5-28-04: Swelling noted in both female and male. 5-28-04: Female pre-shed. 6-17-04: Male pre-shed (male did not eat on 6-10 indicating that it may have been pre-shed earlier. Pre-shedding condition is not as easy to see in this species as in others).



Perhaps this whole thing is a pre-shedding problem triggered by some factor in their environment.

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