Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi- I have an eight year old albino corn. About a month ago he got what looked like a large whitehead on his skin. In two weeks it grew to about the size of a nickel and expanded like a big bump. It was white with brown marks and solid and caused no discomfort by touch to my snake. Today the white bump is gone and it looks like grape jelly. It is now soft, dripping, and sensitive to touch. I tried taking pictures but I do not know how to reformat them so that I can post them.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Brian

Where is the bump located?, and are you feeding live?

The reason I ask, is that without knowing this or even seeing the snake, it is tough to know exactly what it is.

Two logical possibilities come to mind

1) it could be a rodent bite that got infected

2) it could be on the underside or lower side area on the snake and be a fungus sore that was caused from being too damp. This is often a brownish to white coloration and the pustule often resembles a nasty infected pimple as well.

In any case though, I would DEFINITELY see if I could quickly squeeze any pus out of it, then continuously pour some hydrogen peroxide or betadine on it for a bit, then apply some Neosporin ointment on it. If it doesn't show signs of getting better within a few days to a week, I would strongly advise a definite reptile vet visit for additional antibiotics to be administered.

This could be very serious if let go.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

NO hydrogen peroxide! NO! You'll drive bacteria deeper into the wound if it's an abscess! Peroxide is only to be used on surface scrapes, not deep or enclosed wounds.

How "deep" can a wound be on a little colubrid snake??

Betadine is great too then. But the snake needs something applied ASAP. A qualified vet would be even better though for some counter-acting antibiotics of course.

I have used peroxide on a guys Boa constrictor many years ago that had maggots crawling out of it's nostrils from such a bad case of mouth-rot years ago, and even that healed up absolutely fine within a week or so with diligent treatments, and started eating again normally too afterwards. I did use a combination of both Betadine and peroxide too on it from time to time during the course of treatment.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

The cut/rash/puss is about 1 foot down from the head of the snake on his topside. He eats only frozen mice so it isn't a bite. The white mass changed after he shed. I will clean tonight and try to post pictures on Monday from work(someone will have to show me how to reformat them).
Thanks!

For your pictures, just down load an early version of photoshop, or other editor. I think photoshop 6 is offered free from Adobe.

Though its only a matter of just cropping an image down, or compressing it into a jpeg format. Plenty of tutorials online to walk you through the process.

As for the bump, it does sound like an abscess...best thing is to get it to a vet asap...as abscesses could be pretty deep, and topical antibiotics may not work, especially if the infection is already systematic. You could try lancing the abscess with a sharp needle (sterilize it first with rubbing alcohol) and letting the abscess drain. I don't recommend squeezing it, as this can force the puss into other areas under the skin. Also, in reptiles, the puss is more solid, so won't drain like it would in most mammals.

Your best bet is go to a vet, they can cut out the infected area and treat with antibiotic injections.
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PHLdyPayne