Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

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Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby Serpent » Mon Aug 12, 2013 4:12 pm

I have a yearling eyelash viper that has developed massive swelling on its face in front of the eye, her pit is double its size and the fang area of her head/roof of mouth. It seems to be a swelling of the face rather than in the mouth.There seems to be a slight discharge coming from the pit. The swelling is a few days old.

The snake has not been fed lately so I doubt it's been caused from a scratch or a bite from a mouse, or mouth rot.
The snake is alert and well it this point, and would probably eat if I tried her, thought I would wait for the infection to subside.

Any good advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby Jamster » Mon Aug 12, 2013 5:06 pm

Our WDB female had the same issue recently. We have had this with a cobra about 2 years ago aswell. We made a small incision in between the scales over the affected area and allowed the "gunk" to escape. Followed by a thorough cleaning with a dilute f10 solution. Both of the procedures were 100% successful with no scaring or reccurent swelling. I am not recommending that you do this as it requires you getting dangerously close to the sharp end of the snake, just sharing my experiences.
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby Bushviper » Mon Aug 12, 2013 7:01 pm

I would suggest that a vet try to drain the swollen area and send off a sample to determine which antibiotics would work the best.
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby jaroo » Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:26 pm

Could it be due to a damaged or erupting fang, like a tooth root abcess?
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby Serpent » Wed Aug 14, 2013 2:18 pm

Thanks for your comments. There has been no change so I am going to take it to a vet. That is my most aggressive snake, border line insane actually, so this should be a fun outing.
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby Serpent » Thu Aug 15, 2013 5:34 pm

Took the snake to the vet, he gassed it to put it under. It had an abscess / infected venom gland, he managed to squeeze out quite a bit of pus, which came out of the eye socket. The snake looks a bit better already, with the swelling down. It's on a antibiotic, so we now we will have to wait and see if it pulls through.
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby jaroo » Thu Aug 15, 2013 9:57 pm

You know what antibiotic he put it on and what dose?
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby Snakesitter » Fri Aug 16, 2013 3:18 am

Glad to hear it was treatable, and fingers crossed for a good and quick result!
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby Creator » Fri Aug 16, 2013 10:18 am

What vet did you use?
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby Serpent » Fri Aug 16, 2013 12:23 pm

The antibiotic was Amikacin, which is the second time I have used this antibiotic.
The dosage 0.05 Amikacin into 0.9ml saline, and then 0.025ml is the amount of mixture I am to administer on Sunday again... You will have to do the math.
The snake still seems fine, so far so good.
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby jaroo » Wed Aug 21, 2013 11:11 am

Okay thanks! Yes amikacin is an initial dose of 5mg/kg and then 2,5mg/kg every 3 days. So the saline is just to dilute it to get to usable strengths
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby it_bit_me » Wed Aug 21, 2013 11:50 am

That is some great help you are giving it . Well done man
If I'm gonna be an old, lonely man, I'm gonna need a thing, you know, a hook, like that guy on the subway who eats his own face. So I figure I'll be Crazy Man with a Snake, y'know. Crazy Snake Man. And I'll get more snakes, call them my babies, kids won't walk past my place, they will run. "Run away from Crazy Snake Man, " they'll shout!”
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby it_bit_me » Wed Aug 21, 2013 7:13 pm

Do you have some pics of how it started out ??
If I'm gonna be an old, lonely man, I'm gonna need a thing, you know, a hook, like that guy on the subway who eats his own face. So I figure I'll be Crazy Man with a Snake, y'know. Crazy Snake Man. And I'll get more snakes, call them my babies, kids won't walk past my place, they will run. "Run away from Crazy Snake Man, " they'll shout!”
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby Serpent » Wed Aug 21, 2013 9:12 pm

it_bit_me wrote:Do you have some pics of how it started out ??


Sorry bud. The first pics I took were the day after we squeezed all the pus out. I wish I had as it was really swollen!

Image

This is him today.

Image

Looking like he is on the road to recovery now, will try and feed him next week.

Thanks for looking.
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Re: Eyelash Viper - Swollen mouth and pit.

Postby Westley Price » Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:54 pm

Well done man.

He look so much better on the last pic.

Did the vet make an incision before squeezing the gunk out? Looks like the snake sustained quite a bit of damage as if the vet simply squeezed it hoped it popped out somewhere. An incision might have been a better idea.

Anyway, I'm no vet and clearly it turned out well, so that's all that matters.
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