I'm posting this just as a general reference for future "swollen eye" incidents. I apologize that I did not take any pictures.....
About three days ago, my male black-headed python began acting a bit funny. He was extremely restless and for the first time since I got him (23 months ago) he refused a feeding. He was interested in the food and even was caudal luring, but when presented with prey, he began head bobbing as if he was trying to get a better angle on the rat.
I checked his temps, his abdomen and looked inside his mouth. Nothing out of the ordinary. He had recently shed and did not retain any of. His stools have been regular and firm.
This morning, I noticed that his right eye was noticeably swollen and the area between the cornea and the lens was filling with clear fluid. When removed from his enclosure he was showing obvious signs of being startled when approached from the right side. I made an appointment with the vet.
The vet saw him this evening and could see nothing untoward in his mouth - no stomatitis and no redness indicating any infections. No obvious abscesses around the orbital socket, etc, etc. While opening his mouth for a wider look, she spotted a clump of fur and a bit of shredded aspen lodged between his top gum line and against his lacrimal duct. Upon removal, a large amount of fluid leaked out and the swelling went immediately down.
He is on Gentamicin eye drops as a precaution against any infections for the next 14 days.
I have seen a couple of swollen eye threads over the years on various forums and few of them have never been updated after the vet visit. My vet said that she sees a good number of blocked lacrimal ducts - usually from substrate lodged between the gum line and the duct or as a secondary infection from stomatitis.
Today's visit cost me $55.00 including medication. The vet informed me that another couple of days and the antibiotic treatment would have been more intense. Additionally, a severely swollen eye coupled with an infected duct would most likely have needed surgical attention to relieve the fluid build-up. Her estimate for a one month course of antibiotic injections and surgery - in excess of $575.00 (less if the injections were done at home).
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