Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 3 baby boas in my recent litter born on 6-11-10 that developed abscesses on the tip on their nose. Their noses looked slightly larger than the others and over the last 2 weeks really developed.

Abscesses were removed (hard cheesy pus) and the area was flushed out with diluted Novaslan. No antibiotics have been used yet. Ambient temp in the tub is 82-83 with a hot spot of 92. Every one who had a "gin nose" abscess has been eating fine. I clean the cages twice a week (because they're always spilling their water). Humidity is an average 60%

Anyone have experiences or know of any causes of these types of abscess in neonate boas?

I would guess that it's just the result of a nose rub - boas sometimes keep cruising their enclosure looking for a way out by constantly pushing with their nose against the sides and top of the enclosure. I would watch them - especially at night to see what their behaviour is - see if they are looking for a way out, and if so, try to do something different with their enclosure to make them calm down - maybe give them a different hide spot or a different substrate, change the temps just slightly.. it's just a trial and error process to see if you can make them more satisfied with their enclosure. Usually when I get a boa that is getting nose rub - the first thing I try is to give them a larger enclosure so they can cruise more and have more space to move around.

good luck.