cottonmouth help

[mikem]

i received 4 cottonmouths today in a trade, all WC. one is near perfect, very pretty. another is in good shape, just a little thin. i'll fatten her up, no problem. the other two though, i'm concerned about. the biggest has two or three lumps on him. possible infections? i don't know, looking for input. the other cottomouth has a redish blister-like lump on her mouth and a couple of red areas underneath her jaw. the picture posted of her isn't good at all, but you can see the bump on the right, and the red areas on her as well. any idea what this could be and what i can do to doctor them back to health? i've never had experience with wc snakes, just cb and ltc, but i'm assuming most wc snakes have a lot of problems, including parasites. well, i appreciate any feedback! thanks.
.
took this pic before moving them out of rubbermaid i transported them in. they made a mess!
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3325cottontail.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3325cottonmouthsore.jpg

[reptile boi]

Hey mike,

Im not sure about the red bumps, but the lump on the tail in the first pic could either be muscle tissue or a parasite. Either way, youd have to get the lumps operated on.




Thanks,
Ben

[BWSmith]

Just a guess, but I would say subcu parasites and mouth rot/bacterial infection. Needs a vet.

[snakehunter]

I caught a nerodia sipideon that had a humongous lump near the tail, but it felt more like a cancerous tumor b/c you could hold the lump and pull it up, like it was in the skin, not under.

[SCReptiles]

It appears these guys have been too moist. Dry them out! make sure the cage has lots of ventilation and only keep a very small amount of drinking water in with them. If you notice they are soaking in it, take it out and offer it to them like twice a week, then remove it. These skin infections a HARD to treat. Make sure you separate them.

[BWSmith]

With such poor pics and unidentified problems, I would not venture to recommend a treatment.

[herpetological]

I've seen it many times... Akistrodon are big amphibian eaters... Passing on Nematodes and protozoans. These are nematodes under the skin.(Not proper host) You can physically remove them by gently cutting just under a scale... use a pair of tweezers to get a hold of the worm gently pull.(Do not break the worm) Treat with topical anitibiotic. You may want to see if you can find a Vet or another experienced herper to help. A local shot to numb the area is helpful but, the operation does not seem to disturb them much. (SMALL CUT!) Use of ivermevtin will also affect them but they will still have to be removed. Use Flagell or Metronidazole for protozoans. ST 37 for the mouthrot topical/oral.

[JuliusSqueezer]

careful with the ivermectin...It is fairly common for pitvipers to have a reaction from the stuff. Usually not the first time it is injected or sprayed but on a follow up dose and there again...not all of them will have any problem at all...but some will and especially with babies or animals weak from other illness...it can be deadly. I found this out the hard way after killing a copperhead I was rather fond of. I wish I could remember the zoo and/or the vet staffed there that ended up answering my emails...I'm pretty bad at not keeping up with stuff. :) Hard to tell from the photos exactly what that is...but a little lance and squirt and some good antibiotic ointment couldn't hurt anything...perhaps a few shots of Baytril too...Stomatitis (mouthrot) usually occurs as a secondary infection....meaning some other infection somewhere has lowered the animal's immuno system and allowed it to take root. Good Luck! A vet would be a good thing if you can find one that will treat hots.

[herpetological]

Actually that's true... We use Paraciticide for worm parasites. Combination of Fenbendazol. Sorry about the spelling in last post! LOL's

[MsTT]

If you're anywhere near Central Florida I'll do what I can for the little guys, but I need to see them. There are many possible causes of what you are describing and I would not venture to diagnose them without an examination.

Possible causes:

1: Bacterial, "blister disease", environmental cause. Clean the cage daily with bleach, soak the snakes daily in dilute chlorhexadine or Betadine, put them on oral Baytril or IM Ceftaz for systemic support.

2. Parasitical. Treat with Droncit injectable and surgical removal/debriedment of subcutaneous parasites. Antibiotic support also as above.

3. Fungal. Treat with Itraconozole or Miconozole, orally and topically. Clean and soak as in #1, but no antibiotics.

4. Neoplasia (cancer). Surgical removal of masses.

5. Generalized systemic septicaemia. Look for petechiations (small brown spots) on the belly scales. Massive doses of systemic antibiotics IMMEDIATELY, such as intracoelomic Ceftazidine. Fluid therapy and intensive veterinary support care.

6. Abscess subsequent to physical trauma, such as prey bites. Systemic antibiotics, surgical debriedment. I really doubt this one since the appearance and distribution of the lumps even in this low resolution photo suggests a systemic problem and not local trauma.

So there are the possibilities I would look for. If I had these guys in my hands, I'd be doing some cytology on the lumps to look for the different types of cells, bacteria chains, fungal hyphae, etc. Maybe send out a culture and sensitivity test to a lab to find out what bacteria or fungus was present inside those lumps. Definitely a fecal and tracheal wash to look for parasites. I'd also be surgically debrieding the masses and examining what was inside, with some help from my vet who would prescribe and/or administer appropriate anesthetics and pain medication. That's the only part I have to pay the vet for; I do all the rest at home unless the animal needs major surgery that has to be done in the clinic for practical or legal reasons. You probably can't do most of this stuff at home, so you will definitely need to see a vet.

First and most important thing you can do at home is to separate these animals and put them in meticulously clean cages on newspaper which is changed daily. Soaking in a dilute chlorhexadine or Betadine solution couldn't hurt - buy povidone iodine from Wal Mart, dilute it to the color of weak iced tea, and soak the snakes for 10-15 minutes once a day. Make sure that debilitated snakes aren't allowed to drown, and that the soak box is left open to the air rather than closed with minimal ventilation. Basically the soak should be supervised.

You could take a guess and go ahead and put them on oral (NOT injectable) Baytril or better yet Fortaz aka Ceftaz or ceftazadime, but systemic antibiotics do not penetrate abscesses unless you debriede manually and flush them.

This is only basic support care; these snakes will probably need a lot more than that to recover. See www.snakegetters.com for some more veterinary information on restraining and treating venomous snakes, and on finding a veterinarian who will treat the animals.