Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just emailed my vet with this photo to get in ASAP but I was wondering if anyone has ever seen anything like this bump on his head before?
I am not sure if it is a tumor or abcess. He just shed and it is big. He takes f/t so it is not related to a rodent bite. The only bite he could have had was maybe when he was placed with a female for breeding but I didn't see any agression or injury the time they were together.
Any help would be great.
Thanks.

My first assumptions would be the same as yours, abcess or tumor. Seems like the vet is definitely the best way to go with this one. Obviously a tumor would be worst case scenario. I had a yellow rat snake when I was like 9 or 10 that got a really bad abcess from being bitten by a garter snake he had been temporarily housed with. The vet drained it and gave me antibiotic injections, but he still ended up dying a few weeks later. You asked if anyone had ever seen it before. That's really the last time I can remember having to deal with something that looked (exactly) like that. Good luck, hope it doesn't end up being too serious. Maybe it'll end up being a new late-developing unicorn morph. Just kidding.

Have to say the same thing, abscess or tumor...but it could be a broken or infected swollen jaw.

In cases like this, vet visit is your best option.
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PHLdyPayne

Looks like an abscess. I had an adult dumerils with an abscess almost in that exact location. She got it from rubbing her head while attempting to escape her enclosure. It is pretty easy to get rid of once the vet excises it!
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Thanks,
Amy

My Boids

It looks a lot like a problem I had several years ago. We lost the snake and never did figure out what caused the illness.
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