atherton jungle heip please?

[elapid@]

i have a male atherton jungle and have had him for the past five years and he has been very healthy and well looked after, until my girl friend called me today at work to tell me that the snake had lumps on his back, i asked her is his eyes opake she replyed "yes" then i said he must be due for a shed , when i got home and checked him out he had about 3 lumps on his skin and when i touched them clear fluid came out and then went back to normal. i have never seen this befor on any of my snakes and the thing is he did not burn him self on the light bulb because the bulb has a cover over it pretecting the snake from getting burnt, but what i want to know ... would it be the fluid between his new and old skin and if yes would it be serious. he dosent look like he is in any pain or stress, has any one had this happen to there snake's befor?
cheers steve

[mrsshep77]

How did this all go and have you taken him to the vet? Would love to hear how he's doing and if he shed etc???

Cheers,
Mell

[Colin]

I'm not exactly sure but maybe its a bacterial infection or a parasite. Either way I would at least contact a reptile vet and pose the question to him and take whatever action necessary to clear up the problem.

Some possibilities could be bacterial infection (blisters) cause by too high a humidity in the enclosure for too long a period. If this is the case he needs more heat before the condition spreads and a visit to the vet for some appropriate medication.

Other possibilities could be a parasite such as skin worms, fluke worms, ticks or mite infestation. Again some veterinary advice should be sought to treat the problem before it gets worse or spreads.

[elapid@]

thanks people

[mrsshep77]

So what happened?????

[Pythoninfinite]

I've seen fluid- filled bumps on a snake's skin in the past, but it has usually been associated with mites. These were just a small, raised single scale, and when pressed, clear (but a bit sticky) fluid came out. Is this what you're seeing there? I would put the snake into a clean white (or pale coloured) pillowcase and leave it for about 24 hours, and check to see if there are any mites on the fabric. These are seen as pinhead-sized brown to blackish moving critters, which will leave a smear of blood if you wipe them with your finger. (Ticks can't be crushed by doing this.) If you do find mites, quarantine immediately and undertake eradication measures asap - they can reach plague proportions extremely quickly.

Blister disease caused by excess prolonged humidity is usually first seen on the ventral (belly) surface first - check that there are no reddish lesions or blisters there too.

Had any new additions to your collection recently elapid@ or visited any other collections? If you have collected some mites, that'll be where they came from.

I would keep the snake in a very clean (paper substrate, clean cardboard box shelter) until it sheds, then assess the situation, but do check for mites asap.

Keep us posted and good luck, most skin disorders are due to environmental inadequacies, but if you've had this guy for all that time with no problems, I'd lean towards mites.

Cheers, Jamie.

[elapid@]

thanks jamie
yeah he shed his skin and looking great , there is no missing scale's or blisters of any type. but i will still give your method ago and see if there are any mites etc, after he did shed i did rub a mite solution over his skin so that if there were any , but other then that he is looking great and eating well etc.