IJ with swollen head

[Clementine_3]

It is the area right before his nostrils, on the top of his head, over his mouth. I can't get a good picture of it, he is not happy and not cooperating.

He (3 year old IJ) shed on the 12th and a day or so before that I noticed he looked 'puffy', but I figured it was from the impending shed, he does get very dry and flaky. I fed him a medium rat on the 13th, he hid for a few days and looked fine after. I offered him dinner on the 25th and he refused, he never refuses, and thought his snout looked a tad swollen again. Yesterday it was noticeably more swollen and today it is very swollen.

I called the vet and he is going in tomorrow morning but I was hoping you guys could perhaps take a stab at what might be going on. I noticed nothing out of the ordinary going on in his mouth (got a good look as he yawned). He has not been yawning more than usual, no popping, no wheezing, no discharge.

I trust my vet but this is the first real, true health concern I have had with him. Any insight or ideas would be appreciated.

[Clementine_3]

Just thought I'd update after his trip to the vet.
Poor little Ira has an infection of unknown origin and will be getting Baytril shots every other day for 2 weeks. It is a localized infection and the vet felt it may be a tooth or a rat nail puncture type thing.
He is not a happy snake and won't be for 2 weeks but he should be on the road to recovery at least.

[Jaydizzl05]

Any update on the lil guy?

[Clementine_3]

He's great! He just shed on Saturday and is back to his perfect self. He had a little tiny bump left on his nose after he finished the meds, just a wee tiny one. It went away about a week later and the only way to tell that anything had even been there was a slightly bumpy/raised scale. Now that he shed he is 100% puff and bump free. I'm feeding him tonight, perhaps I'll snap a picture of him.

Thanks for asking about him

[Warocker's Wife]

glad to hear it!!! we need to see pics of the little fellow!

[Wh00h0069]

That's great news!

[Colin Vestrand]

i had this happen to a yearling coastal one time and it went away on it's own as well.... did your vet say what they thought it was? some sort of adema from an abscessed tooth is what i was guessing on mine...

[Clementine_3]

He guessed it was either a tooth or rat nail/tooth/scratch of some sort, he couldn't tell for sure.
I'm just glad he was a good patient and that my kid was home to be my injection assistant!
I posted a picture of his freshly shed and well healed self the other day, he looks good as new.