Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Posted by: meretseger at Tue Jun 10 07:54:20 2003 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

I was handling my little blood today and I noticed a hard lump on the bottom side about half an inch in front of the cloaca. It's about the size of a big grape. It's actually visible. Could this be constipation? She hasn't 'gone' since I got her a month and a half ago, but from previous threads I understood this wasn't a cause for worry. I've never had a constipated snake before. Could anyone recommend a course of action?
As a note, she HATES being in water. Goes ballistic. I've just been putting her in a warm wet towel, but it hasn't done the trick.
Thanks for any replies, I'm pretty worried!
I can go to the vet if it's needed.

This can be caused by a bunch of things, including parasites, intestinal blockage, bacterial infections, etc. It would be impossible to diagnose on here. Whatever the cause, it's not normal.

Thanks, I just made an appointment. I'm worried now that something happened to her before we got her. She's still acting pretty happy and alert, though.

The vet took an x-ray, and saw some urate stones and basically a massive back-up. They just sort of squeezed everything out and at some point in the process discovered that 'she' is really a 'he'. There was so much stuff in him that he looked female! He's on a twice a day soaking regimen, and I'm going to raise his humidity quite a bit too (it's 50% right now)
The thing is, they dewormed him with panacur without asking us about it. Without doing a parasite test first. Are worms specifically linked to constipation? If they are, it's great that they did that. If not, I'll be mad at them for giving my animal unecessary medication. He was eating great and everything. They want us to bring him in to be wormed again in two weeks, but I'm not going to do it without evidence of a worm problem.
Thanks!!!!

Well, I can think of two possibilities. Maybe the vet saw something in the stuff he was able to express from the snake, such as adult worms, or maybe he took a sample of it and did a float while you were waiting. It only takes 25 or 30 minutes to do.

Very few vets will administer meds without some reason. Why don't you just ask him "By the way, how did you know he had worms?".

Worms could conceivably cause some blockage if there are enough of them in there, especially hooks or tapes because they attach themselve to the walls of the intestines and are difficult to dislodge and pass while they are still alive. Then, if you got a small lump of uric acid behind that, which accumulated more small lumps of uric acid, then you could end up with major blockage.

I know they didn't do a fecal 'cause they would have charged me. I only saw an actual veterinarian for about 30 seconds, at which point the question didn't occur to my sleepy mind (I think I was reeling in shock at the gender revelation). I guess I'll have to try and have someone call me about it when I make the appointment to bring him back in. I can hope she would have said something if the snake was THAT full of worms, but I can't count on it.

I need a new vet, but I don't think there are any better ones around here.

Yeah, that's a problem in a lot of places (most places, actually). There are very few vets around that are proficient at treating herps, or even want to treat them for that matter. There are a lot more of them now than 20 years ago, believe it or not. Then it was extremely difficult to find a good herp vet anywhere except at a zoological park. I've had to do things to my own animals in the past that you wouldn't believe because of that, such as repairing prolapsed cloacas (drawstring suture), surgically removing bound eggs from a female snake (tricky), removing subcutaneous nematodes (not a big deal, really), etc. It was no problem finding a vet that would supply you with the things you needed to treat your own animals, luckily. Once he (or she) got to know you a little, they knew that you were capable of doing it and they didn't usually have a problem with selling you the supplies, meds, etc. to do the job. It got to a point that they were calling me with husbandry questions, etc. if a client called with a problem. Once a Vet in Dothan, Alabama called me with an injured Great Horned Owl. Someone had shot it in the eye with a pellet rifle and the eye had to be removed. Then they couldn't figure out how to get it to eat or drink. I took that one home with me and rehabilitated it and was finally able to release it. It had to learn to hunt all over again because of the lack of binocular vision and depth perception.

At any rate, all this rambling is intended to say that your best bet is to settle on one Vet and form a good relationship with him. That way, he will learn more about treating reptiles (if he's not already a good herp vet)and will be willing to go the extra mile or two with you when you have problems. Be willing to help him too, if he needs it. Vets are good at treating diseases and injuries, but often have little experience with husbandry and breeding. You have a wealth of practical information here at your fingertips from a lot of people with decades of experience. If you are willing to share that with him it goes a long way.