advice please - diamond -stomatitis?

[nickvelez]

I noticed my diamond rubbing his mouth a few days ago while out in the sun and it appears that his mouth will not close properly due to swelling. the side of the head is swollen, making the eye look sunken. clearly there is infection. the mouth is a bit pinky with a few small red spòts but no obvious signs of cheesy necrotic white material. there is only a small amount of excess saliva.
in addition there is a small lump appearing on the snakes backabout 40cm behind the head. the diamond is 6 yrs old
I need to find a vet who has some experience with snakes asap. easier said than done in Spain. but what kind of advice-treatment should I be expecting?

the snake last fed on 9th May,(its summer here now) its refused food since then. At first I thought refusal was due to shedding. After he shed I found mites in his waterbowl which I've treated for and have not seen any since.
His health definitely seems on the decline, I hope this isn't the dreaded DPS.
I have recently been putting the diamonds outside at night to give them the cool of the night (19C). perhaps he'd be better kept without the night time drop.
Any advice appreacicated.

[mindthesole]

Dunno, does this help? http://www.arav.org/Members/Spain.htm

[mindthesole]

hope your DP recovers fast... that eye looks in desperate need of attention.

[jessop]

Definately looks infected mate. am sure you'll find someone in Spain to help you...

[Thor1]

hey this has nothing to do with your diamond but the first pic you have here of him.
he has a yellow scale on the middle of his head.
my coastal also has a yellow scale on its body.
can anyone tell more about it?
why does this happen? etc.

[GARTHNFAY]

Hi Nickevelez,
Hopefully bigguy, shanesaussiepythons or true blue see this thread as they would be more experienced diamond breeders and have a better idea of your problem. Maybe you can pm them and get them to have a look at your thread. Hope everything turns out OK....certainly looks like a vet may be needed.
Congrats on having Diamonds....they are just beauriful, they come from around my area.

[serpenttongue]

I guess the red spots may lead you and i to believe it's the beginning of mouth rot, and it may well be, but the excess of saliva usually doesn't occur with mouth rot. Just going by your pics it looks to me like it has a tumor in it's head which has grown to a size that is now swelling the head. I don't think that the eye is actually sunken, it just appears that way because there's swelling surrounding it. Oral tumors can cause swelling and discolouration of the gums (like they're bruised) and excessive saliva, and tumors are a symptom of DPS and your snake is at that age.

The lump on it's back is a concern, mainly because it has occurred at around the same time as the mouth problem.

Anyway, i am not saying that your snake definately has a tumor, it just looks that way to me. I hope i am wrong and it is just a minor case of mouth rot which gets fixed up quick.

Good luck, Nick.

[serpenttongue]

Originally Posted by Thor1

hey this has nothing to do with your diamond but the first pic you have here of him.
he has a yellow scale on the middle of his head.
my coastal also has a yellow scale on its body.
can anyone tell more about it?
why does this happen? etc.

Co-incidence. Nothing more.

[GARTHNFAY]

I meant to mention serpenttongue as well!!

[serpenttongue]

Nice save there Fay!!

[nickvelez]

thanks for the thoughts.
what kind of treatment would be required for tumours - and mouth rot for that matter?
Biopsy for the tumour? whats the outlook for tumours generally?
presumeably if its tumours then if theres more than one - it could already be spreading fairly aggressively?
would mouth rot then be a secondary sympton? due to weak condition? or possibly environmental stress.
do snakes have a sinus type system?could there be a sinus infection?

[Lurk]

You can see it in his eyes too I hope he gets well soon.It s worrying when they get sick.