Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys,

I posted awhile back about a problem my Col Red-tail was having with a small tumor in his mouth. I'm not sure if anyone read it...

Well, he went in today to have it removed and, although the vet originally said he should be able to take it out without damaging his tongue, when he reported in to us after the procedure today he said he had to remove the tongue all together.

The vet doesn't seem to think this is a very big deal...I'm told he can still smell somewhat through his regular nostrils and because he is captive and will not be breeding or hunting in the wild, the lack of smell shouldn't harm him too badly.

Does anyone have any further info/advise on snakes without tongues?

I remember your 1st post and I'm glad you posted a 2nd time. I hope
everything will be ok for your boa. How long does he have to go without eating? and let us know when he does.
Thanks again for posting and best of luck to you and your boa.
Chuck

Thanks for the well wishes - He seems to be alright today still curious and moving about, although he is a bit swollen (understandably...)

The vet said we could try to feed him tomorrow, so I'll probably try that (although I may wait until the swelling goes down a bit more...) Until then we won't know how it has affected his ability to eat.

I'll try to post again when we've tried. Thanks!

Could you see it?
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1.0 Columbian (BCI)
0.1 Suriname (BCC)
0.1 Longicauda (BCL)
0.1 Bolivian (BCA)
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

Yes, the tumor was visible. It was about pea sized in his mouth at the base of his tounge. When we first noticed it his tounge was out the side of his mouth because there was no room due to the tumor. We tried him on antibiotics, which did nothing, and then had it removed yesterday. They just ended up having to take his tounge too...

Here is my surinames mouth, does it look ok? Was the tumor a certain color? She flicks her tongue normally.

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1.0 Columbian (BCI)
0.1 Suriname (BCC)
0.1 Longicauda (BCL)
0.1 Bolivian (BCA)
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

Hey there,

The pic of your snake's mouth is a bit blurry, but it looks more like mouth rot to me than a tumor.

Mine had a very distinct pea sized reddish lump/mass all the way inside his mouth, so unless there is more that I can't see in the picture, it doesn't really look like the same thing,

Have you taken yours to the vet yet to see about mouth rot?

I'm pretty sure she doesn't have mouth rot. The symptoms for that are "salivation and bleeding, pus pockets, and distortion of the mouth. The oral lining becomes inflamed and pus can appear in the mouth." My boa doesn't have any of that.
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1.0 Columbian (BCI)
0.1 Suriname (BCC)
0.1 Longicauda (BCL)
0.1 Bolivian (BCA)
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

I have a jungle carpet/diamond intergrade whose tongue fell off after becoming infected. This happened at about 6-7 months of age. Amazingly, a few years later the tongue regenerated; but the snake had no control of it. It ended up getting bitten during feedings, and and became necrotic...My vet removed it 7-8 yrs ago. She obviously has retained some sense of "smell", because it took me until last year to get her to spontaneously take rats (she was hooked on gerbils for a loooong time)

Thanks for your reply. I'm glad to see you seemed to have luck getting her to eat even without the tounge. We'll see what happen'd with mine when I can offer him something and he's recovered from his surgery.

Thanks again!