Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a large corn snake I acquired approximately 10 months ago as an adult. The captive care of this animal is unknown before I got it. About six months ago we started to notice the development of several lumps on the lateral surface and posterior end of the snake. The development of more lumps seems to have progressed in the last month or two, traveling farther up the snake. A while back, we had a rather old corn snake that developed the same condition, although not as extreme, as well as what appeared to be calcifications along the dorsal surface of the spine that formed sharp and prominent points. At one time, the veterinarian looked at one of these lumps and determined them to be probable adipose deposits.

The snake is kept in a snake rack with other colubrids. They are fed anywhere from two to four times a month, usually a couple medium-sized mice or 1 medium rat at a time. All of the snakes are fed mice from the same source, and no other snake has exhibited these lumps.

It is my understanding that snakes can develop fat deposits underneath their skin. What concerns me is the relatively rapid development of these lumps. All of the snakes have been prophylactically treated for parasites with metronidazole, and fenbendazole. I am prepared to do something invasive but not until I get other opinions.

Below is a picture that represents three of the lumps I described. There are at least over 1 dozen of these lumps present on the snake.

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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes

Hmm... A snake recently came into my care that had bumps along the sides on it's posterior half too, and I took it to the vet. The vet lanced one of them and performed a cytosis... no parasites, no signs of infection... the vet said they instead appeared to be symptoms of an allergic reaction. Right now I have the snake on paper towel and in quarrantine for observation to see whether they'll go away, change, or what.

Have you made any changes in the substrate or substrate supplier (or rodent supplier) six months ago?
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"You keep WHAT in your freezer?"
"Mice. And rats. If that bothers you, I can call them 'cows' instead."

It looks like the "ripple" of a snake who just ate another snake.

>>It looks like the "ripple" of a snake who just ate another snake.
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes

These lipomas are QUITE common in captive bred corn snakes, or in some strains of captive bred corn snakes. I’ve always assumed it was genetic, but who knows? Perhaps feeding too heavily at a certain period of their lives starts the process off. It helps somewhat to feed these snakes only in moderation, but, regardless, these benign fatty tumors will never go away. The overgrowths on the spine you describe are something entirely unrelated, I think.

One of my old corn snakes surprised me with a clutch of 27 infertile eggs in August (I don’t think she’s ever been with a male during her lifetime). Although she lost one third of her body weight and looked gaunt, the lipoma near her tail was still obvious, though a little shrunken in size.

-Joan

Thank you very much for this information. I'll do a little more research on lipomas. It is nice to finally have an answer.

PS Apparently there was a presentation given on lipomas in corn stakes at the amphibian and Reptile veterinarians conference last month, sure would be nice to get ahold of that research!
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes