Panamanian Hypo Boa with a lump

Hi, My boa has developed a lump about 5 inches down is body from his head. It is located on the side of body right where his belly meets the upper patterning. The lump is inside his body - no outward signs of anything.

I have a scheduled a vet visit for September and was wondering what I should allow as far as treatment. I assume they will need to xray it??

Just not sure and am a bit worried about him. He acts fine and he is a big boy. He is about 7 years old now and over 6ft in length.

Any suggestions on what I should expect at the vet. I am just leery of exotic vets and don't want a bunch of unnecessary treatments or test.

Thank you

How long have you had this boa?
Any history of injections in that area of the body?
My other thought is possibly cancer, had a boa develop a lump which quickly turned into multiple lumps all over, had to be euthanized.
I hope your vet is able to give you some answers!

edit to add - they may xray, may cut open, may do blood tests

I've had him for 6 years - I believe he was a year old when I got him. I am not aware of any previous injections or even an illness to be honest.

I will keep my fingers crossed for good news on September 8th. When I first noticed it the lump was very small like a pea size but now I've noticed it has gotten bigger like to the size of a single clove of garlic. I'm worried.

Will update this post once I find out what is going on.

Thank you

I do not have much to add except I am thinking of you guys.

Please keep us posted.

He has an appointment on September 8th. I will update you all once I find out what they think it is. I just never have a good feeling about lumps on animals or people. Ugh!!!

Hi, I just got word from the pathology report on the slides they aspirated from the lump on my boa. They said they don't see cancer cells but believe it is a bacterial infection in the lump. Possibly injured from the toenail from a f/t rat while swallowing. I just don't know.

The doctor wants me to give him one injection of Fortaz every 3 days for 7 days. And, one injection of Amicasin (spelling) directly into the lump/mass every 3 days for 7 days.

What do you all think about this. Should I go ahead and proceed.

We did xrays which didn't show much also.

The lump as went from a pea size to the size of an almond slice since February 2020.

The vet said after 37 years of practice she has never been quite so stumped as to what this could be. No outward signs of injury on his body.

Help me make a decision on what to do. I never like having to give my snakes meds but if its needed then I have to.

Thank you

Most courses of antibiotic treatments are prescribed over a period of ~3weeks. Did they explain why they only want you to do 7 days? That’s how you end up with drug resistant bacterial strains.

If they feel it is a bacterial infection I’d ask for a culture to be done so that you can be sure the proper antibiotics are being prescribed.


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It was an injection every 3 days for 7 doses which would be 21 days. Maybe I explained that wrong in my original post.

They already aspirated the lump and sent the contents off to the lab which is where we are at now.

What else is there for me to have them culture??

Thanks

Gotcha, I guess I didn't read that as 7 total injections the first time around. 7 doses over 21 days is correct.

If they already sent a sample of the mass off to the lab did they identify what strain of bacteria is present? If the lump turns out to be puss of some sort it will likely need to be surgically removed. Reptilian puss is unlike mammalian puss in that it is a solid instead of liquid.

Was just double checking that your vet wasn't throwing antibiotics at a problem without knowing for sure that it was a bacterial infection. Many seem to follow the shoot first, ask questions later when treating reptiles unfortunately. Sounds like you're doing everything you should! Keep us posted!

It sounds like they ID'ed the bacteria involved since the vet said to inject the Amikacin at the wound site. The fortaz would help prevent sepsis and stop an opportunistic bacteria from taking over.

Note that both antibiotics are hard on the kidneys so I would hold off feeding again until after the treatment.