Reptile & Amphibian Forums

6-7 year old female, anyone seen this before? Ideas? Any help appreciated.

no personal experience but looks like it may be fat deposits.
im sure others will be able to help more.

EP
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Occupants not paying rent:
7 balls
2.1.10 corns(candy cane, creamsicle, ghost, 6 normal, 4 anery )
1 pueblan milk
1 everglades rat
1 cal. king
1 gray band king
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
1 fish
1 mouse
3.3 cats

Have seen similar in one of my females, but not that severe. Bit difficult without some background info, but my thoughts are:

- If the lumps have appeared in the last week or two, you could be looking at impaction, blockage, constipation or fast-growing malignant tumour. If it's female and has been with a male it could be egg-binding, but it's a bit late in the year (for Northern hemisphere breeders, anyway).
- If the lumps have appeared over a few months, then they could be benign fat deposits or malignant tumours.

Either way, you need them checked by a vet as thy're potentially life-threatening. Even benign fat lumps can impair organ function when they're in the wrong place and those look pretty severe if it is that.

Mine turned out to be insignificant fat lumps, thankfully, and the affected female lived to a relatively good age of 16.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

Chances are they are fat deposits, especially if they didn't just "show up" one day. They are in the usual place where fat deposits occur. This is caused by overfeeding. The bad news is the lumps never go away (or get absorbed by the snake). The good news is that they are harmless.

Tim

Third Eye

What's the best way to prevent the fat deposits from appearing? Less frequent feeding?
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1 Unsexed but suspected female cornsnake
2 African giant millipedes
2 Texas desert millipedes
2 Dalmatians
2 Cats
1 Little sister

The others who have responded to the post all have good points. Fat deposits are my "best guess," but keep in mind that it is only a guess. Yes, less frequent feedings or feeding smaller meals would help prevent fat deposits from occuring. If you've ever seen and held a wild corn snake, you will note that they are sleek and muscular. In captivity snakes don't get much exercise: they don't have to hunt food and don't have to escape from predators. In addition, in the wild they don't have food on a consistant basis, like most captives do.

Hope this helps,

Tim

>>Chances are they are fat deposits, especially if they didn't just "show up" one day. They are in the usual place where fat deposits occur. This is caused by overfeeding. The bad news is the lumps never go away (or get absorbed by the snake). The good news is that they are harmless.
>>
>>Tim
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>>Third Eye

Hey Tim,
Is that a vanishing stripe amel in that pic?
If not, what is it?
I like it and would like to find out more about it and possible offspring.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

We had a similar occurence in our corn snake. It was only one one side of the snake and on the upper third of it's body. A biopsy was done and analized by Cornell University. It turned out to be fungal in nature, and a simple surgery by a veterinarian in which the tissue was scraped out remedied the problem. We pithed it once and the growth returned. Once it was totally removed it never recurred, and the snake had no further problems. So the key is to make sure it is TOTALLY removed. Cornell had no form of medicine to cure the ailment. If your vet runs into a dead end you might want to suggest this and Good Luck with your snake.

Brian & Cindy
Roamin Reptile

The above replies pretty much sums it all up, but don't assume what it is as obviously some of them are severe. An X-ray would be interestin to look at.

It my be fat deposites as others have suggested, however it could also be neoplasia (cancer), scoliosis, or also cryptosporidia, which causes lumps and swollen areas in snakes. I agree that it is in a fat deposit area (and this is a very common thing in corns), but the only real way to know for sure to take it to your vet and have them do a fine needle aspirate of the lesion. If you don't want to spend the money you will probably be more than safe to just let it go and see what happens. Let us know what happens
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1.1 cresteds
0.1 tibetan frog eyed gecko
0.1 gargoyle
1.1 bubble gum corns
1.2 W. Hognoses
1.1 blue bar ambanjas
0.1 pink bellied swift
2.0 red foots
1.0 sulcata
0.1 leopard tort
Want to know about vet school? go to www.vmth.ucdavis.edu

I have a kingsnake with a fairly small lump in the same area that began to appear when I switched from several mice to one small rat per meal. It's most likely a fat deposit.

I have a 1997 female with 5 knots in her spine. One of the knots is right over her vent. As she got older fatty deposits developed over the knot. Even with a moderate diet and exercise the deposit remains. She is still in good shape and feeds and poops regularly. I would not breed her but she has made a wonderful pet.

Here are two pictures of her vent area. One is before a poop and the other is after.

Before........

After.........