Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a wild caught black rat snake... he lives in my neighborhood & every now & then i get a call to come get a big black snake out of the neighbor's yard....

...i have caught him several times, and i sometimes keep him for a few days...the last time i saw him was 5 days ago when i had a reptile education show and i brought him to teach some kids...

...after the show i let him go in the woods. today i got a call to come get him out of the neighbors's yard, but i noticed when i picked him up he had a buldge on his side...

at first i thought he had broken a rib...a lot of his scales are torn up and it looked like he had a tiny puncture wound opposite the buldge...

my question is...what do you think it is, and is there anything i can do about it?

my theories are:

he accidentally swallowed a stink/stone/foreign object...
he got beat up by a human/animal
he was punctured by something while slithering and it's now infected
its a tumor
broke a rib
...or it could be something else...

any ideas?

he seems to be moving alright, but thats not always a good indication of whether there is pain or not...espically in animals

i will try to get some pics up later on tonight...

thanks
jessica
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0.1.0 Hogg Island Boa
0.1.0 Albino Columbian Boa
0.0.1 Red Albino Cornsnake
0.0.1 Aberrant California Kingsnake
1.0.0 Greek Tortoise
1.0.0 Normal Leopard Gecko
0.1.0 Argentine Black & White Tegu
1.0.0 Leopard Toad
0.1.0 Wolf Spider
1.2.0 Dogs
1.2.0 Cats
2.0.0 Rats
1.0.0 Rabbit
1.0.0 Gerbil
0.0.1 Golden Snail

sounds like he got into a confrontation with a hawk that tried to grab him and failed to keep him. The bulge is most likely an abscess/infection due to the puncture wound. The snake should be taken to a vet and have the wound cleaned up/drained and put on antibiotics before letting it go again.
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PHWyvern

>>I agree with PHWyvern
sounds like an abscessed wound to me.
needs attention
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

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i checked him over today & i couldnt find the 'abscess' to save my life....could it have been something he ate?

im really confused as to what to do now...but i do want to keep him a few days to make sure he is okay...
-----
0.1.0 Hogg Island Boa
0.1.0 Albino Columbian Boa
0.0.1 Red Albino Cornsnake
0.0.1 Aberrant California Kingsnake
1.0.0 Greek Tortoise
1.0.0 Normal Leopard Gecko
0.1.0 Argentine Black & White Tegu
1.0.0 Leopard Toad
0.1.0 Wolf Spider
1.2.0 Dogs
1.2.0 Cats
2.0.0 Rats
1.0.0 Rabbit
1.0.0 Gerbil
0.0.1 Golden Snail

>>i checked him over today & i couldnt find the 'abscess' to save my life....could it have been something he ate?
>>
>>im really confused as to what to do now...but i do want to keep him a few days to make sure he is okay...
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so, there is no lump or swollen area now?
It must have been a meal in it but it would seem to odd to be noticeable one day and not the next. It usually takes longer.
keep an eye on it and if all seems well let it go again.
Do you just like having it in the neighborhood or have you thought about moving it to maybe a less populated area?
Someone might be more apt to kill first and call later.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

_____

i usually take him much further out than i did the last time...

i dont know why i didn't take him as far...

last summer i took him out in a field bordering some woods...
i dont want to take him too far out of his territory, most of the people in the neighborhood know that the black rats frequent the area & call me, but i am very concerned something will happen to him or the female that comes around now & then....

i consider them my "pets" even though they are wild... the people in the neighborhood have begged me to keep them so that they dont have to encounter them...

but i just dont have the heart to take their freedom away...they are gorgeous specimens...the male is at least 5 ft, and the female must be pushing 6...although that is an assumption, i havent seen the female yet this summer...

i've named them, Marcus (currently in my care) and Milly.

i am stumped as to the origin of the bump on marcus... it was about 1/3 down his body, but today i didnt see anything...

i had him in my care on wednesday the 20th & thats the same day i let him go...and then the neighbor called yesterday (monday the 25)...

it seems odd that a bump would appear & disappear within 5 days.

the bump was about the size of a small marble, but somewhat oblong...it moved up and down, im assuming with the motion of his body/muscles.... it felt fleshy but firm...

and today it has vanished...im going to check him over again in the morning to make sure everything is okay.

how long do you think i should keep him to make sure everything is okay? should i feed him at all?

i have had luck giving him f/t small rats if i wiggle them in dim light...i just dont want him to get too used to easy meals...haha

thanks
jessica

heres a pic of the black rats from summer 2006

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0.1.0 Hogg Island Boa
0.1.0 Albino Columbian Boa
0.0.1 Red Albino Cornsnake
0.0.1 Aberrant California Kingsnake
1.0.0 Greek Tortoise
1.0.0 Normal Leopard Gecko
0.1.0 Argentine Black & White Tegu
1.0.0 Leopard Toad
0.1.0 Wolf Spider
1.2.0 Dogs
1.2.0 Cats
2.0.0 Rats
1.0.0 Rabbit
1.0.0 Gerbil
0.0.1 Golden Snail

I have no vet background but is it possible that it came to a head/drained last night?

Sort of like a ingrown hair on mamals? I've seen that go from 2/3 a small marble size down to nothing in a matter of minutes once it came to a head and the pressure relieved.

Sean.