Anyone ever see anything like this before?

[Kinra]

I will start off with, I know a vet visit is in order, I plan on making her an appointment tomorrow. I just have never been to the vet in this area before and I would like to go in to the appointment with an idea of what might be wrong.

Backstory:
This snake is kept in a rack system. She was on repti-bark but is now on paper towels. She eats a f/t small rat once a week. I don't bother her often, maybe only once or twice a week but I did have her out about 2-3 days ago and I didn't notice anything off about her, so this is recent. When I first took her out today I thought she had just taken a huge drink of water and was about to spit it back up on me, but when she didn't I opened her mouth. I have no idea what is causing the swelling.

[OmNomNom]

Kinda looks like this:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-head-help-SVP

Is she due for a shed by any chance? Either that or something infected...?

[Daybreaker]

Poor girl =(

I've heard of snakes getting throat swelling due to getting their throats (interior) scratched by a feeder's nail (both f/t and live) - might be a possibility?

[Kinra]

I meant to update this sooner. I did take her to the vet and we are currently treating it as an abscess. She is on an oral anti-biotic, which as I'm sure you can imagine she HATES.

She seems to be doing fine, but I think she might have gotten a piece of repti-bark stuck in her throat while she was eating. The vet wasn't sure what caused the abscess.

[rafacacho]

Poor girl! Sometimes stuff happens. Wouldnt be easier to give the antibiotic IM, I mean...if the abscess is inside the mouth it sure be very uncomfortable to swallow for her. If you feel you can handle it you can ask your vet how to do it, its really simple, fast and without messing with her mouth. Good luck!

[Norsejeff]

Good job on taking the steps to get her happy and healthy again!