Swollen face? Help!

[Coleslaw007]

Was just cleaning everyone and checked on Pseudo Clown and his face is... puffy? His body feels sort of edematous (squishy, fluidy) too. His whole face and head look swollen, especially on the right side. I only got some crappy cell pics.

Everyone else is fine. I'm going to call in to work tomorrow and pray my vet will get me in. Does anyone have any ideas? Ever seen anything like this? He was fine until now...




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[Mike41793]

His lower jaw looks really swollen. :/

[RoseyReps]

Oh no! Poor baby perhaps an abscess or tooth issue? Vet is definitely a priority.

[Coleslaw007]

He's going first appt I can get. Thank heavens for Care Credit. Now I need to figure out what to tell my work :/

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[mebigbadbrat]

When did he eat? Any way you could open his mouth and see if anything is stuck in there?

I will pray for him.
Good luck,
Nichole

[Coleslaw007]

When did he eat? Any way you could open his mouth and see if anything is stuck in there?

I will pray for him.
Good luck,
Nichole

I should've mentioned that. He last ate Friday. He was fine until today. I thought his face looked slightly odd last night but he seemed fine when I picked him up to look at him.

Tried looking in his mouth and everything appears normal. What's weirder, after I looked in his mouth, he looks almost normal like the swelling went down. It's so strange.

Thanks.

I left a message for the vet. Now to text my boss. I'm scared of that part :/

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[Dracoluna]

I've only seen two reasons for this type of swelling in a snake. Both were on other forums and pretty sure they were both pythons of some type. One was due to a rescued snake coming in with almost every bone broken as fluid will surround a break naturally. As this is your baby, I would count that one out.

The second was a less known symptom of an RI. The treatment was to up the temps to around 95, take away the water dish, and treat with antibiotics. The theory was that the RI causes water retention and by removing the water dish and upping the temps, the snake 'sweats' out the extra. I realize snakes don't sweat but it does get the amount of water down in the body to safer levels because of the heat/lack of drinking water. Bloating and swelling like that occur with some RI's so if you're vet seems completely baffled, let them know that. A culture should provide some insight as to what's going on so the antibiotics can be specifically chosen for the strain.

I'll see if I can find the forums I read them on as it's been a few years since I saw them.

Edit: Just like with human water retention, you can massage the areas to move the water through the system, however, with so much, I wouldn't recommend that as it can shock his system for so much fluid to enter the bloodstream as right now, it's in the tissue. That may be why handling his head caused the swelling to go down in that area.

[mebigbadbrat]

Does he seem to be having any issues breathing? I would think water retention as human get really swollen like balloons, but I am not sure about snakes. I don't know if I would try moving up the heat to see if that was the reason or leave him alone for the night.

[Coleslaw007]

I've only seen two reasons for this type of swelling in a snake. Both were on other forums and pretty sure they were both pythons of some type. One was due to a rescued snake coming in with almost every bone broken as fluid will surround a break naturally. As this is your baby, I would count that one out.

The second was a less known symptom of an RI. The treatment was to up the temps to around 95, take away the water dish, and treat with antibiotics. The theory was that the RI causes water retention and by removing the water dish and upping the temps, the snake 'sweats' out the extra. I realize snakes don't sweat but it does get the amount of water down in the body to safer levels because of the heat/lack of drinking water. Bloating and swelling like that occur with some RI's so if you're vet seems completely baffled, let them know that. A culture should provide some insight as to what's going on so the antibiotics can be specifically chosen for the strain.

I'll see if I can find the forums I read them on as it's been a few years since I saw them.

Edit: Just like with human water retention, you can massage the areas to move the water through the system, however, with so much, I wouldn't recommend that as it can shock his system for so much fluid to enter the bloodstream as right now, it's in the tissue. That may be why handling his head caused the swelling to go down in that area.

Thanks.
The RI seems the most likely. His mouth appeared *maybe* slightly mucusy, not what I would expect in an RI but possibly more than normal, though it could've been me holding his head causing his saliva to be more visible, it didn't look too abnormal. I'd think that was the most likely. There's no way he could've gotten broken bones.


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[BHReptiles]

I agree with the idea that he could have an abscess or an infected tooth. Hopefully your vet can get you in tomorrow. As for your boss, I don't know what to tell you. Just let him know you need to take a pet to vet clinic and that's it's an emergency. Truth is always best.