My Snake Has a Lump...

[Dvas_Romeo]

Similiar to you, the vet was able to take out a lot of the rock hard urates - but no poop. The lump on Jelly is still showing...but the vet suspects that's soft waste...which should soon move down the tail end towards the cloaca area. The urates they were able to get out basically filled up the whole portion below the lump. So Jelly is back in his enclosure now and I'm leaving him alone tonight. The vet said I should try to swim and soak him tomorrow evening...and also massage the lump downwards towards the tail in even strokes.

The vet said the only thing you can really do to try and prevent these urate buildups is to increase the humidity of the cage and soak the snake a few times a week.

Here's a pic of the mess that came out today. I'm just hoping the remaining lump is indeed soft waste and that it makes its way down Jelly's tail end. When I massage and touch that area...it doesn't feel hard...so that's a good sign. Plus...from eating 4 month's worth of rats there must be some waste in there, right?! Jelly must be pretty relieved those urates are now gone!

Here's the pic!

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...ellyUrates.jpg

[slartibartfast]

Wow, that's a huge amount of urates. Poor little guy!

I'm glad he's getting it taken care of, and hopefully he'll feel much better soon.

[littleindiangirl]

That's really good to hear! It sounds like the vet was unsure about her diagnosis initially, and why she was so insistant that the animal come back for an enema. But congratulations on the pooping, the both of you. Let us know how it goes in the future, if they continue to hold it in regardless, and there are hard build ups of urates.

I'm thinking like Kara said, that fresh (stupidly fresh) water is the way to go.

[Dvas_Romeo]

Thanks guys...at this point I'm just hoping the lump eventually goes away as waste passes through his system. I'm bumping up the humidity up a bit and will change his water daily to see if this helps in encouring him to drink. Also, I'll swim him once every 2 weeks and soak him a few times a week. Let's see how this goes and every so often I'll post an update. Thanks once again all!

[Dvas_Romeo]

Oh, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[Earl]

That's awesome he is doing better Dvas!

[Dvas_Romeo]

Thanks Earl! Hope your little "stranger" comes around too!

All: the vet called to follow-up on Jelly today and I explained that I swam and soaked him last night. The lump remains.

The vet suggested I stop feeding Jelly for the next few weeks and rather continue swimming and soaking him daily to encourage him to defacate and rid himself of that lump of waste before feeding again.

Prior to the vet calling, I was wondering whether the lump of waste would come eventually travel down his tail on its own...or he'd have to be fed in order for "fresh" waste to push down the wate currently forming the lump. What do you guys think of the vet's advice? They'll be calling in a week to follow-up at that point.

[Earl]

Thanks Earl! Hope your little "stranger" comes around too!

He ate a big juicy Rat today so he is all fat and happy.


When you get a chance could you please hook us up with some more pics of that Blood? I love his coloring.

[Dvas_Romeo]

Thanks for the compliment Earl! And I'm glad to hear your guy is resting satisfied with a full tummy right now!

Ask and you shall receive! Here are a few pics I just took of Jelly since he's in the tub soaking right now. You can see the lump is still visible in the pics...I've just massaged it for a good 20 minutes at the beginning of his soak (which was after his 5 minute swim). Still crossing my fingers he defacates soon enough with all this nightly swimming, soaking, and massage sessions!

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...llyBath007.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...llyBath010.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...llyBath012.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...llyBath013.jpg

[littleindiangirl]

He is gonna be a RED daddy when he grows up. How well is he taking all the massaging and stuff? Calm or agitated?