drake is hurt :(

drake, my hog island boa is hurt. his face is so swollen. i just called the vet and he can't see him tonight (it's 4:30pm here) so he wants me to bring him in first thing tomorrow morning. he's over an hour away so it'll be an early morning for me.

the only thing i can think of is... drake had a bad eating experience a while ago... he banged his face on the side of the enclosure when he was trying to tag his rattie. so i wonder if that caused something to get infected?

anyways... i'm learning how to give shots tomorrow... to a snake i'm not comfy handling so this should be interesting. wish me luck. (actually wish me bravery)

here's some pics of his face... and of him. oh and anyone who has seen such a thing before... what do you think this is?

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/swollen.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images...s/swollen1.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images...rakejune07.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images...tailjune07.jpg

Don't worry. He should be ok.

Prob did hit his face.

Just like a human getting hit in the face. Everything has to swell. Ya know?

Poor guy! I hope he is okay.

Wow Aleesha! ***Huggs*** I'm sure that he is going to be fine! Could it be a sinus thing???? :confused:


(((Best wishes to Drake)))

Looks like an infection of some kind. Quite possibly mouth rot but it could have also been from the hitting on the glass. Let us know what the vet says. I am sure he can get Drake fixed right up.

well the hit was awhile ago... and honestly, drake hasn't been out much as my hubby has been so busy working, and with the new puppy etc... we've been swamped.

i'll keep you all posted...

*wondering what mouth rot is*

http://www.peteducation.com/article....articleid=2385

Sending soothing snake-mom thoughts your way....I know how tough it is when you get worried about one of your slithery babies....=P

Slightly off-track, for those that remember, exactly one year ago, Carmen had RI and was not growing at all, stuck at around 120g. One year and MANY rats later, she's now weighing in at nearly 4lbs and pushing 5'! GO SNAKEY GIRL!

:(awwww......pooor drake.....i wish him a speedy recovery!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by N4S

Don't worry. He should be ok.

Prob did hit his face.

Just like a human getting hit in the face. Everything has to swell. Ya know?

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How do you know this? Snake's mouths are are built differently than ours.. it could be stomatitis.. could be something else.
Aleesh, I really hope that your boa is OK.. I am sendhing him my best healing thoughts :)

Just wanted to add my best wishes for him too.

But I also have to say that is one of the coolest t-shirts I have ever seen if ,perhaps, somewhat at odds with the general tide of the thread so far.:oops:


derek

I hope it's nothing serious. Hope he gets well soon

derek,

it sure is different eh? "the sound of no one caring" isn't happening here in this thread, nor in our home.

my 8 yr old daughter is so worried for drake... she says, "it doesn't matter what it is... i just love all the critters we have mom... *big tears welling up in her eyes*" i told her that our vet is amazing and he'll take great care of drake... and everything will be fine.

:hug: thanks everyone!

Aw.. poor guy, that looks nasty. I hope he gets well soon, and that he doesn't give you trouble for the shots (shots aren't really that bad though, most snakes don't seem to care)

I'll move this to the boa forum though. ;)

i wanted to look in his mouth but my hubby didn't want to take a chance at hurting him... so i'll wait for the vet visit tomorrow.

You'll have to open his mouth and check for any foamy saliva; it's most likely an infection.
I'm sure the vet will take care of it, though. :)

Eek, poor little guy! I'm sure he'll be alright, but boy do I know how stressful it is when the critters are ill or injured. :( Here's hoping he's better soon!

I had something like that come up on a female pastel of mine the whole top of her head was swollen up. The vet said it was a Grainual Oma (sp) basically it a swelling of the tissue. I was told to put triple antibiotic ointment on it twice a day and it would sluff off with a shed. But its best to wait till the vet sees it best of luck.

well i got no sleep at all last night. i'm sitting here, with drake in a pillow case waiting to leave for the vet.

i'll post as soon as i get home. but it's only 7am here and my appt is for 9:30... so it'll be awhile.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

well i got no sleep at all last night. i'm sitting here, with drake in a pillow case waiting to leave for the vet.

i'll post as soon as i get home. but it's only 7am here and my appt is for 9:30... so it'll be awhile.

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Deep breath! get some breakfast and watch some cartoons that time will blow by.

Let us know when you get back.!

You are the best snake mom, getting him to the vet so fast. I hope that it is just something that'll heal up and go away fast.
Boas can be overzealous at feeding time. Apache has struck the glass once or twice, just never had any injuries from it. It's no your fault if that was the cause..

i'm so nervous... the vet told me he'll teach me to give shots today if drake needs them. he told me we can do antibiotics by mouth but i said, "well that's not as effective with snakes... right?" and he said, "yup, you're right... best to go with shots if you can do it aleesha"

and that's thanks to HERE! see... i did learn something LOL

Aawwwww....poor Drake! He looks miserable. I hope it's something with a simple and easily treated. Aleesha...I know you're nervous about giving shots, but just think of the great new skill you'll be able to add to the huge (massive! Ginormous!!) pile of personal skills you already have! :hug:

I had to learn to give my husband shots at home when he was going through cancer treatments several years ago...and then I had to give myself shots a couple years after that for something else. If I can do it...ANYone can! :yes:

well, i'm back from the vet. he has no idea what this is and he wants me to see a breeder in this area before he proceeds. the inside of drake's mouth is perfect... his breathing is perfect... he's 1122 grams... and he was a gem at the vet.

there seems to be no discomfort at all in his nose... and he even held his mouth open for bruce (my vet) - bruce fell in love with him :D

bruce said he can try to remove some fluid (if indeed there is any fluid to be removed) from the swelling... but he doesn't want to do that until he gets a second opinion from someone with lots of experience with boas. so... i'm going to contact a guy online who assisted me last year with drake (a USA breeder) and go in to see this other breeder... and then report back to bruce and we'll proceed from there.

bruce is pleased with drake's health... he said, if it wasn't for these two swellings... he'd say he's in perfect health. hence... the caution on his part.

so.... i'll keep you all posted.

Thats good news I think!!

Good luck with Drake! :)

Im sure everything will be ok with someone like you on his side.

Best of Luck


Mike

here's the pics from today (as i know you are all picture crazy... so my daughter took some great shots!)

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/vet.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/vet1.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/vet2.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/vet3.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/vet4.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/vet5.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/vet6.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/vet7.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/vet8.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/vet9.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 8b8ll

Thats good news I think!!

Good luck with Drake! :)

Im sure everything will be ok with someone like you on his side.

Best of Luck


Mike

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thanks mike!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

thanks mike!

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Anytime.

Thanks for posting the pictures!! What a good little guy. Reminds me of how my Tegu was at the vet yesturday just a little trooper!

:hug: If I could give drake a hug I would!


Mike

i hugged him for you... for all of you. i told him how proud you all would be of him... being such a good snake at the vet!

i just wish i knew what was wrong with him. i am wondering... if his nose got caught when we were closing his enclosure... or if he stuck his nose in trying to get out... and that's what caused the 'damage'???

after all... he is a hog and looooooooves OUT and UP!

Aleesha, have you seen him rubbing in his cage? My BCI used to rub a lot and developed swelling on one side of his nose. His vet didn't know what it was either, but I've been keeping an eye on his rubbing and will open his cage to let him out when I see him start to rub. I also boosted his temps. The swelling eventually went away after a couple of months.

Hopefully Drake will deflate as well. ;)

no i haven't... but that doesn't mean anything as he's housed in my bedroom... away from us so i don't see what he's doing much.

I'm sorry to hear about drake, I'm sure he'll make it through. I agree with lawrence, it is probably just some aggravated swelling from rubbing against the side of his cage. Or maybe he has other plans...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...-i-can-has.jpg

Poor guy, although I'll have to admit he looks cute with his face all swollen

my hubby said, "his face isn't swollen it's just his 'look'. " i just looked at him and told him i've stared at jamie's pic of his beautiful hog island boa enough to know it's not supposed to look like that!!! LOL

Pooooor Drake! :oops: Looks like he was the perfect patient........ He's so pretty Aleesha!

errrr..... handsome!!! he IS a boy afterall. :P

Um... oops! I meant Handsome! :oops:

ya cause we want him to keep his dignity while he's dealing with his deformed face. :P

The why call it deformed? It's UNIQUE ALEESHA!!! UNIQUE!!! :D

ummm.... no

:rofl:




:giggle: i love him no matter what he looks like on the outside!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xdeus

Aleesha, have you seen him rubbing in his cage? My BCI used to rub a lot and developed swelling on one side of his nose.......The swelling eventually went away after a couple of months.

Hopefully Drake will deflate as well. ;)

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I had a similar experience when one of my boas at work named Slick developed a similar lump on one side of her face. After taking her to be checked out, and no infection was found, our vet recommended we move her into a different cage, as she suspected the localized edema was from rubbing. Slick was housed in a 4' neodesha slant-front cage at the time. We moved her into a vision, and the swelling went down over the next few weeks, and never came back. I hope Drake makes a quick and full recovery :sunny: .

-Evan

ah so this is his way of telling me to hurry up and make his new enclosure under the fish tank in the living room eh?

ahhhh sneaky snake!!!

Poor baby. I hope it's just from rubbing and nothing worse.

heard from the local breeder and he said he thinks its from rubbing... and he suggests getting him a larger enclosure...

so i'll get to work on his enclosure tomorrow. tattoo today!!!

Thats good news. I am glad it's nothing more serious!

well the proof will be in the pudding... if it goes down... then it's good. if it gets worse... then back to the vet!

I like pudding... :P

i know you do... but you like cookies better.... riiiiiiiiiiiiGHT!!!

Man... I've used up my kitty picture quota for the month. Can't over-do it ya' know.

But yes aleesha, cookies are da' bomb. Like seriously. Cookies rule.