Need some advice....

[L.West]

Hi, Im sure some of you will remember last January I had to take my Mojave BP to the vet because when I got him as a pet he had previously suffered a prolapsed hemipene.

As the months went on - the lump near his cloaca continued to grow - not at an alarming rate but it did continue to worsen. I took him to a vet who determined that he had absesses in this lump and proceeded to operate to remove the absess tissue. After the procedure, he healed nicely and got back to being his old self.

Now approx. 10 months later - I see where the lump/absess is returning - I was warned by the vet that this may happen.

I talked to the vet today and he said it is one of two things going on - either the hemipene is pressing against the wall/tissue that has been weakened by first the prolapse and then the surgery - which is allowing this bulge near his cloaca to show up again. Or, the vet said that with absesses - they are sometimes in the bloodstream and can resurface.

The vet said what treatment regimen he currently suggests - he is not equipped to handle but is researching more advanced facilities for me. He suggested an ultrasound to see if there are any other absesses in his bloodstream and if so, then he would need a more involved surgical procedure to take care of this.

Another option - is to let it be and see if it continues to progress. He says the snake would not be in any discomfort at this time from the bulge.

I just don't know what to do - I am not independently wealthy and can't justify dropping thousands on my snake but at the same time - he is my pet and I want to do all I can for him.

My vet is going to make some calls to Michigan State Univ. to see if they have an exotics dept on staff and see what they recommend - he thought I may get the procedures cheaper going thru a university.

I just hate that everything in life comes down to the almighty buck. I would spend any amount to help him but I have my husband to contend with also - and I know I have to be reasonable also.

Sorry for the long post - but I thought you snake lovers here might be able to give me your thoughts or suggestions on how to proceed.

Thanks for reading this long post.

[MorphNick82]

I can definitely understand what you are going through here my friend. I've recently encountered somewhat of the same problem and it basically left me broke as a joke. America... The land of the free but yet it cost so much to live. Your heart says you have to do something but your wallet says you can't. I can't really give you any advise but I will be thinking of you and your precious pet Mojave. Good luck on whatever decision you make!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Abscess are tricky and can comeback, what I would tell you vet also is to contact Dr Stahl who is the BEST herp vet in the country he might also be able to chime some light onto this http://www.seavs.com/aboutseavs/contactus.html

[L.West]

Thanks for your words of support. I guess what bothers me the most is that I bought him knowing he had this prolapse problem but was told by the breeder that since I only wanted a pet it would never be an issue - just a cosmetic thing but it turned out to be much more of a problem.

I learned my lesson in taking on a less than perfect animal healthwise.

I did contact the breeder last year when all this came to light and he said that he would take the snake back, return my money and then basically cull him - well, there was no way I could allow that.

I didn't mind spending the initial $400 to have him taken care of but now I am looking at way more money.

I guess I will wait and see what my vet finds out for me from the phone calls he has volunteered to make on my behalf.

Thanks again for your support.

[L.West]

**JUST AN UPDATE**

I heard back from my vet today on what he thinks I should do about my Mojave.

He consulted with several vets on my behalf and has referred me to an excellent reptile vet here in Michigan.

They feel the best course of action would be to put him under a general anesthsia and clean/out and remove any affected tissue. They will then culture the tissue and see what is the best antibiotic to put him on. The odds with this procedure are much better at getting all of the infected tissue.

The last time he was looked at - he was only given a local anesthetic so they could remove the absess but by doing this it greatly lessons your chances of getting every last bit of infected tissue which is why it ended up returning almost a year later.

Wish me luck on this guys.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Wishing you the best

[Skittles1101]

Good luck!!

[Homegrownscales]

Good luck!!!


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

[L.West]

I just have to scrape together the 1k that it will probably cost to do this new procedure.

My vet did say that if I can get it done by the 1st of the year that there would be not detriment to my snake - he said these things are very slow growing.

There goes my xmas bonus.

This is a good reminder that just affording to buy the snake is the least of it - you just never know what will pop up in vet bills.

[L.West]

**The Latest Upate**

Hi, My Mojave male went in for his 2nd surgery yesterday. It was a long day but he came thru pretty good. They had to keep him over night for observation because the surgery was pretty invasive.

They put him under general anesethisia and removed any capsules of infection they could see, removed one hemipene that had necrotic tissue on it (from the orginal prolapse before I owned him), they had to remove one rib because some of the capsule/infection had already attached to his rib.

That poor little guy having to go thru all this for what was told to me was simply a cosmetic flaw - nothing health related that would ever effect his quality of life. Needless to say I am less than happy with the breeder who sold him to me under false pretenses. All water under the bridge now I guess.

They can not give me a 100% guarantee that it wont return but the vet feels confident that he did as thorough a job that he could do without disrupting some major internal organs. The vet did say that if when he first prolapses - had he been taken care of properly he would never have gotten this full of infection. I was "just" told by the breeder that his hemipene was inflamed for like six months prior to me purchasing him - I could not believe what I was hearing.

I got him supposedly for a good deal of $300 bucks because of the "cosmetic lump" and now have over $1,000 in vet bills on him.

I will drive back up (2 hours) today to go get him - I pray he does well from this point on.

Just wanted you all to know where we were at with this saga.

Thanks