Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently purchased this male Hog Island from a guy on kingsnake, the snake seems very healthy other then the fact of this sore on his neck just behind his head.. the sore looks somewhat old but I would like some feedback and opinions.

What would be the rest of the story?
Looks like the results of a failed live feed incident

Here is a pic I just took. Either I just threw 4 rodents in the freezer as Im sure Steve will claim or my name is photoshopped on some elses pic or maybe we are telling the truth about feeding F?T.

I am confused. You have an animal in your care that has a sore on it's neck and you do not know how to treat it? You take him to the Veterinarian of course.
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Jeff Ronne Sr
The Boaphile
Director USARK

Originator of Boaphile Plastics
The Boaphile Boa Site

That looks like he got bitten by a rodent.
That snake did NOT look like that when I sold him to you.
You received that snake from me on June 13th.
I do not like the fact that you are implying I had something to do with that wound.
This is what that snake looked like right before I shipped him to you.

That snake was not injured until you got him.

First off, I do not feed any of my snakes live rodents, so that can't be what it is. Secondly, I am not implying you did anything to this snake, as i stated in the email i sent you yesterday I am only trying to get to the bottom of this. The closest herp vet to me is an hour drive away so I was only trying to find out if this was a previous burn or scar.

You're email said the snake had a sore. I replied saying maybe it was a blister due to the humidity being too high. Now that I have seen a photo, that is not a sore. That is an open wound that needs to be seen by a vet.

And yes, the wording implies you think I had something to do with this.

You posted
"I recently purchased this male Hog Island from a guy on kingsnake, the snake seems very healthy other then the fact of this sore on his neck just behind his head.. the sore looks somewhat old but I would like some feedback and opinions."

That makes it sound like you got it from me with that injury.

Firstly, he did NOT imply anything on your end. I am his roommate and never ONCE did he think it was something YOU did.

As for all the imbiciles saying its definitely a live feed incident... WE DO NOT USE LIVE RODENTS! We buy F/T and ONLY that. We have 12 snakes we care for and we have never had an issue before.

As for Anna who says if we have money for the snake we have money for the vet... Yes we do. Are you going to drive us the 48.6 miles to the vet? If so get your butt up here. If not do not assume we can walk down the road or have a vehicle because we do not. It would be EXTREMELY costly to take a taxi to the vet. We WILL do so if no other choice is available but that is why my roommate was posting for advice here, not a bunch of people looking down their noses and ridiculing him.

Wow, what a bunch of help you all are.

He made it sound like it arrived healthy except for the wounds.
That is a rat bite. If it looks like duck and quacks like a duck.....it's a duck.
GET THAT SNAKE TO A VET!

Ok, now your starting to piss me off. If that is a rat bite then it was bit while in your care, and only got infected while in mine. Unless one of my f/t rats came back to life and bit it then I don't see how he is victim of a rat bite. On that note he is being taken care of.

You email me about what to do for a sore (that is not just a sore by the way) and then post this thread insinuating that this snake arrived in this condition and I'm pissing you off. I don't think so. I didn't even know about this thread until someone asked me if this was the snake I sold to you. That snake had nothing wrong with it while in my care and now look at it. That pisses ME off. Seeing the wounds on that snake made me sick to my stomach. If you don't treat it quickly, it could go septic. That looks just like what a bite from a rodent would look like and is in an area where it would most likely get bitten. It looks like damage that a rodent would cause when being constricted with it's head still free.
Since you seem to have roommates, how do you know one of them didn't drop a live rat in there to see what would happen when you were not home?
Your last email to me stated you were new to keeping snakes. Well, this is one of those situations where experience comes in handy so listen carefully. Empty all of the substrate out of the cage and replace it with newspaper, clean the wound with betadine and then put some neosporin on it (the kind without the pain killer added) and call the vet and let them look at it and decide if anitbiotics are going to be needed.
I hope the snake makes a quick recovery but I am done with this mess.

New to keeping snakes but they have 12? Can't be that new to it

I have a few years experience, but I still consider myself being new.. but in the time I have invested, I have never had problems like this until now.. I have done what the helpful people have told me and I am taking the steps to helping him recover, But I am getting pretty fed up with people throwing accusations towards me..
I came here to get help from someone that is experienced, not to have people sit there on there high horses and make me feel like [bleep], if that is all this community is then I feel sorry for you.

and for you Steve, this last comment was the only thing you have said that was helpful, yet late considering I already did everything you mentioned.. but instead of you insulting and throwing all your wide eyed accusations towards me you could have just said that in the first place and been done with it.. I am done with this post, I will however come back and let everyone know that he is getting better (if it gets better).

Exactly. We have 2 Hogs, 4 Corns, 5 Balls (3 Clowns) and 1 Jungle Carpet. Not to mention a crested gecko, 2 Bearded Dragons, 4 Poison Dart frogs and a Tortoise. Not at all new to this.

Again you have moronic statements...Now I AM starting to think you had something to do with this. You are WAY too defensive about this.

He is NOT new to keeping snakes as he has his main Hognose for about a year. Secondly, being that I am the other roommate I would not drop a live rat in there. A) I dont have any live rats/mice. B) Even if it WERE ok to feed live (which it isnt) I wouldnt do it because I find that cruel to the mouse/rat. As it is, I wont do my own rat/mice farm because I dont have the heart to kill them in the CO2 chamber. However, being that you are soooooo sure its a rat bite (didnt know you were a herp vet) that makes me 100% sure now that I think of it that you did it. If its 100% sure a rat bite and we dont feed live rats, then what else could it be?

Wow you really are a moron. Unless the rat was able to come back from F/T heaven, its not a bite.

You know, now that I think of it, he WASN'T asking for advice. All he initially asked was what did folks think it was, and that he thinks it looks like it's been there a while, so getting all pissed when people respond with the obvious suggestion of a vet is kind of rude.
How are we supposed to know where your vet is located and whether you drive or not?

I'd personally take it to a good non-herp vet, even, if it's between that and letting it sit there. They can even confer with a herp vet by phone if they're not comfortable with med tables and such.

I wish y'all the best with the snake and hope that you get the situation handled soon.

Anna,

he isnt pissed about the vet suggestion. He is pissed at the morons claiming its a live feed when it obviously isnt. Ill post a pic of what we feed in a moment.

well it might NOT be a rat bite, but it SURE looks like one.

good luck, I hope the boa heals up good.
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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

>>I recently purchased this male Hog Island from a guy on kingsnake, the snake seems very healthy other then the fact of this sore on his neck just behind his head.. the sore looks somewhat old but I would like some feedback and opinions.
>>
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>>Your purchase was apparently six weeks ago, you mentioned nothing to the seller until a few days ago. I think it is a live feeding injury, and it sure doesn't look six weeks old. My feedback is if you must feed live, keep your snake's best interests in mind and you can avoid these sorts of injuries.
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Dans les champs de l'observation le hasard ne favorise que l' esprits prepares. Louis Pasteur

I just want to clerify that I Do Not feed live rodents, only frozen thawed. I am going to get some antibiotics on it until I can get him into the vet.

If you can pay for a Hog, and pay to have it shipped to you, you can pay for a vet visit.

Kind of looks like a sore/open blister from being in wet conditions. I've seen BPs with very similar marks that were kept in cages better suited for a blood or rainbow boa.

I would get it to a vet. If it's not possible to see a vet, get some antibiotic ointment on it asap and keep it's cage as clean as possible. Also make sure your heating/ thermal gradient is spot on... when snakes are sick or injured they NEED proper temps even more so than when they are healthy.

Also, did the snake arrive at your house with this sore? your post makes it appear as though it arrived in this condition. If it did not arrive in this condition, you should clarify.

n/p

It did not arrive in the condition it is in now, alot of people are saying it looks like a live feeding gone wrong, I DO NOT feed live, only frozen thawed. The reason I posted this here was to get an idea on what could have caused this, the closest vet is a one hour drive away and I work 6 days a week so it's hard to get down to him. I am going to remove his Aspen and replace with newspaper, apply antibiotics and remove his water bowl for the time being.

No matter how it happened, and regardless of the distance to the vet, you have a wounded animal that you need to take to the vet.

I realize it is very hard to see what may have caused this...but to me it looks like 1 or 2 things happened....first is it does appear to be a burn....maybe a light is on your cage and he got too close to it...but the wound tissue does resemble a burn. It also appears to be a tear...similar to if he squeezed his head through some wire mesh and realized his error and then pulled back in retreat to get free only to get tore in the process. Whatever the case, you should always talk directly to the person you got him from and allow them to work with you on this. Pointing this out and implying you had nothing to do with this since the 13th when it arrived only implies you are not respectful of those you buy from. I would say that not many people here may ever sell you any animal for fear of this abuse. You should have thought this through. On a good note...I am sure that some plain neosporin applied to wound once per day will correct the problem it should heal fine if kept clean...that is your job.
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ajfreptiles.com

See, that is what I thought too, but he does not have any lights and he's inside a PVC cage so there's nothing for his head to get stuck in. I cleaned and applied antibiotic ointment on the wounds yesterday, and removed all Aspen and replaced with newspaper. Thanks.

Looks like a rip from cage furniture or maybe a burn. Does have two impact areas so I see why it could be a bite but looks pretty superficial to that end. I would just purchase some betadine(its like iodine but less damaging to tissue) and swab the area w cotton. If it starts to seal up and then abscesses(puss under the scar, I would then take it to the vet. Since it looks pretty open I dont think it will get that bad but could take a year to heal up.
Good Luck-
Matt Schubarth
508 Central Ave
Great Falls, Montana

Well first off how is the Boa doing?

I know this thread is three months old but had to post what I found as it's very revealing
I really wish I had seen this earlier!

To the OP HogIsland85 and your roommate nloesco I don't question the fact that you feed only F/T rodents I do happen to believe you. Not because I think you both are being completely honest in fact I think just the opposite. I also think the main reason why you posted this thread was to gain support and shed bad light on to the seller. And instead of being a responsible keeper and taking care of this health issue you would rather try and blame the seller for a possible compensation or another snake. But since it didn't work in your favor right from the start I believe you abandoned your original agenda. The playing victim, saying things like I only came here for advice to help the snake and not to blame the seller is BS and you know it!!
It's not a rat bite I knew that before I saw your previous thread posted in the Herp Health & Breeding forum on July 1st that really sheds some light onto this.

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1987413,1987413

Posted July 1st

About a month later you posted this here-

Of course it looks like it's an old sore you did nothing for it a month ago and now look at it!
Now why didn't you mention this info here on this thread? If you really were looking for a solution to help the snake don't you think all the info should be put out on the table to get the best advice ? I think our posts speak for themselves hopefully previous posters will be able to see this at least.
continued in 2nd reply-
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Charles Koutris