My poor baby

[Snakewoman]

My lovely 7ft male coastal Samson is going to the vet, he has a rather large lump on his tongue and a biopsy is going to be taken. I noticed this lump not long after I got him, but was told not to worry about it unless it got bigger. There apparently aren't many cases of lumps on snakes tongues. I noticed one day that this lump had in fact got bigger, so into the vet he went. Of course the vet couldn't really get a good look since you can't get a snake to stick out his tongue on command lol. I'm taking him in at around 8:00 Monday. This lump has never stopped him from eating which is good, but he certainly is very gentle with his food. I have only seen him coil around a rat once in the year I've had him, and I've never seen him strike. When I fed him the other day I put the rat down on the rock for him, and he tried to come out of the enclosure, but I gently put the feeding tongs against his nose and guided him back into his home. He didn't care one bit.

When I got him a year ago he weighed 2.1 kg at 7ft long, his previous owner did not take care of him. He dropped the snake off at a local pet shop when he was at death's door. Besides being thin he was also covered in burns (thankfully I never saw those) The staff at the shop didn't expect him to survive, they told me they'd had snakes in there that were in better condition than him that didn't live, but he fought through it and 3 months later I saw him for the first time... love at first sight I bought him for $200, I was very happy with the price, and was excited to have my first big snake.

If this lump turns out to be anything cancerous, his tongue will have to be amputated. Since he doesn't have a very strong feeding response in the first place I'm concerned about whether or not he'll eat again if his tongue is removed. I understand some people force feed snakes, but if he required to be force fed for the rest of his life would the stress of it be too much? I really hope it doesn't come to that, it would be terrible if the snake went through all this hardship and struggled to survive only to have his tongue removed and not feed on his own terms again. Would it be worth force feeding him for the rest of his life, or would it be kinder to put him to sleep? :cry:

 

[Cockney_Red]

That is unusual....good luck girl

 

[Snakewoman]

Thanks, it's a bit scary. I'll be wetting myself come Monday morning.

 

[RHCP1]

Best of luck with him. Always surprises me that snakes can get some many conditiond similar to us.

 

[CrystalMoon]

Aaaawww good luck to you both hunni, will be thinking of you and sending positive energies xxxx
C

 

[damian83]

i remember how excited you were to get him...hope all is well.....for your sake and the python

 

[alrightknight]

Thats horrible poor thing! taking a snakes tongue is like taking a birds wings, would just never be the same.

 

[varanus]

Good luck with him, Tahlia.

 

[pythrulz]

That doesnt look good though all the best hope your coastal will be ok Tahlia

 

[Snakewoman]

Thanks everyone, I'll be sure to keep you all up to date.

 

[longqi]

Tahlia
In the wild a snake probably would not survive without a tongue
Thats because the tongue is their most important hunting tool
In a captive situation it will be ok
Weve got a Burmese here without most of her tongue
Took a little while to get her feeding but scoffs anything put in front of her now

 

[FlippinBirdies]

OMG What a rock and a hard place for you. This story broke my heart. My husband was trying to get my attention ad I shushed him trying to read it.

If theres anything I can do to help babe. I had to make that choice with an epileptic animal ealier last year and nobody would judge you for taking the kinder option. Force feeding may be able to be done without too much stress but ask the vet what she thinks in your case.

Fingers crossed its just a freak anomaly and she is just giving you a scare. You have such a kind heart and its always the animals that have had rough times that deserve loving keepers like you.

Whatever you decide will be the right choice and I hope you know that if you werent a good person you wouldnt be this upset.

xx

 

[Snakewoman]

Tahlia
In the wild a snake probably would not survive without a tongue
Thats because the tongue is their most important hunting tool
In a captive situation it will be ok
Weve got a Burmese here without most of her tongue
Took a little while to get her feeding but scoffs anything put in front of her now

That's good to know Longqi, thanks for that

 

[Smithers]

All the best at the vets lets hope it's nothing to drastic for either of you

 

[Snakewoman]

OMG What a rock and a hard place for you. This story broke my heart. My husband was trying to get my attention ad I shushed him trying to read it.

If theres anything I can do to help babe. I had to make that choice with an epileptic animal ealier last year and nobody would judge you for taking the kinder option. Force feeding may be able to be done without too much stress but ask the vet what she thinks in your case.

Fingers crossed its just a freak anomaly and she is just giving you a scare. You have such a kind heart and its always the animals that have had rough times that deserve loving keepers like you.

Whatever you decide will be the right choice and I hope you know that if you werent a good person you wouldnt be this upset.

xx

Aww, you're lovely! A couple of months ago I was looking back through pics of when I first got him, and it wasn't until then that it really hit me just how terrible he actually looked when I got him. Back then I didn't realise it as much, he was my first big snake and I didn't realise how skinny he was. His spine was showing, and instead of being nice and round his sides dropped down off his spine like a toblerone shape. He went from weighing 2.1 kg when I got him to now weighing 3.5 kg. It's a pretty big weight difference. You can see scars on him from his burns but you have to look, they're not that noticeable. When he was in the shop they said when he shed his skin bits of flesh were coming off the burns and it didn't look good. I'm glad I never saw that, the guy who owned him before me was a cop and should have known better. I don't know how long he was neglected to be that thin, but it must have been a long time. I was told he would probably never shed his skin in one whole piece again due to his scars, but the last few times he's shed it has been in a whole piece. I was also warned that he may have a shorter life span than usual because of his previous mistreatment. The previous owner didn't say how old the snake is. His recovery from near death has been amazing, he's a good fighter. I'll post a pic from when I first got him, and one from Monday when he shed so you can see the weight difference.

 

[lisa5]

Good luck at the vet, hope it turns out okay.

 

[Renenet]

Best wishes for you and Samson.

 

[Ambush]

good luck. hope all goes well

 

[MSD Reptiles]

Best of luck!!! Never nice to have to go through anything like this, even if it turns out to be nothing which we're all hoping it wont.

By the way... nice post on the Herald Sun the other day defending snakes/pythons and thier owners!!!!

 

[Khagan]

I'm sure he'll be fine without a tongue =) people have snakes that were born without a tongue that feed fine.