Amazon Tree Boa - Lump

[Jason&Sam]

Hi All,

After returning from a week's holiday in Kruger, we noticed our female Amazon Tree Boa has a lump on the side of her mouth/head.

Has anyone ever experienced this before, or is anyone able to help identify what it could be? She had no problems with her apetite this evening and ate one mouse.











Thanks!

Jason and Sam

[Spider]

Do you feed her live mice?

[Jason&Sam]

Hi

She does usually have live mice, although has had frozen in the past...

[Spider]

That is the problem with live mice or rats, they bite!! That might be what happened but I could be wrong.

[Jason&Sam]

Hi

Thanks for the info, we did think about that but Jason always stands with tongs ready to part them if a mouse bites and we havent seen a bite yet. Another visit to the vet may be in order.

Thanks again!

[Blet]

You need to check inside her mouth and, while the mouth is open, apply gentle pressure on the lump. Most likely the start of an abscess and still in its inflammatory stage. Pay particular attention to foreign material in the corner of the mouth (substrate etc) and to any discharges. Of course, simply remove splinters of matrial and, if any discharge is noted, get her seen by a vet tomorrow. Recently saw this same lesion in a blood python kept on bark chips and fed in its enclosure...scooped up debris during a strike and this lodged in the mucosa of the mouth causing a foreign body reaction...simply removed and never looked back...no medication used in this particular case.

[Jason&Sam]

Hi

Thank you very much for the information, we will try it when we are home this evening.

Lets hope its something small!

Thank you
Sam and Jason

[Jason&Sam]

Hi All,

Just an update...

Well, we took our girl to the vet and after a few days there she is back home. Turned out to be a tooth which had come out and become lodged somewhere it shouldnt have!

The abcess was aspirated and she is now on Antibiotics for a while.

Thank you so much to Blet for all the information you gave, we really appreciate it.

Jason and Sam

[Phunk]

Hi J&S

This is great news, your girl must have been in pain and it's always great to hear a positive outcome.
Well done to Blet also with the correct diagnosis.

[Blet]

Great news. Generally, once the offending object has been removed, these cases heal 100%. She seems to be a bit of a rough feeder!!!

[Jason&Sam]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for your comments.

@Phunk - it is great news thanks, although I must admit it didnt seem to bother her at all. She wasnt out of character and even when pressed she didnt flinch . Quite happy about that!

@Blet - She is a great girl, both of them are really inquisitive and head straight for the front of the case as if looking for food the minute the doors are opened. Saying that, she doesnt always eat when we offer her. We bought both of them from Richard and John at Creatures and Critters, and as usual with their stock, they are beautiful and healthy. She also has never tagged us, which I am happy about!

We love them to bits, as with all of our animals, and really hope that they will produce some interesting offspring.

Thanks again for your help!