swelling between eyes and nose

booyah · 07-08-11, 10:12 PM

Hello, I have a boa who is just over a year old, and recently she hasn't looked quite right. I thought she looked slightly bug eyed, I posted some pictures but I was assured that she was fine.

I think it is getting slightly worse, it appears as tho she is starting to swell up between her eyes and nose. I will post some pictures.

Thankyou for any advice. I have been monitoring her closely and it hasn't been getting any worse.

stephanbakir · 07-08-11, 10:16 PM

Cant tell without pictures. Where did you post them?

booyah · 07-09-11, 09:35 AM

Here are some pics.

booyah · 07-09-11, 09:38 AM

stephanbakir · 07-09-11, 09:43 AM

The big dark spot? Cant really tell. Can you increase the lighting, and try angled shots that show us its shape etc.

booyah · 07-09-11, 09:52 AM

Any idea's what would cause this? I know its hard to see, but I'm telling you she is slightly swollen where I drew the arrow to. The shape of her head / face is not quite the same as my other 2 boa's. At first I thought she was perhaps slightly inbred, but now im leaning to believe I may have caused this due to poor husbandry

She was in my 4X2X2 melamine box, with my older male boa. The humidity may have been a little low, around 20-30% for the past few months. My older male is fine, happy as can be, it only affected her. (The humidity was good during the winter, but changed when summer time hit, and I didn't correct it untill now)

I have moved her to my rack unit so I can more closely monitor and adjusts temp / humidity levels. Temps are at 80' ambient temp, with about 50-60% humidity.

Could low humidity have caused nasal congestion of some sort? I have been keeping a close eye on it, and it isn't getting worse, atleast not very quickly. A snake vet is a 3+ hr drive away, I was hoping that by isolating her and raising the humidity that she would go back to normal, but its been about a week, and no change.

She seems healthy and happy, never misses a meal, everything seems regular other than the slight swelling I think I am seeing.

booyah · 07-09-11, 09:54 AM

Its the bridge of her nose. Between her eyes and mouth.

stephanbakir · 07-09-11, 09:55 AM

How does the spot feel to the touch compared to the other side?

booyah · 07-09-11, 09:59 AM

It is not one side or the other, its the whole top of her nose, from here nostrils to her eyes.

booyah · 07-09-11, 09:59 AM

stephanbakir · 07-09-11, 10:01 AM

I can see it now, looks like shes all puffy. Could it be an infection?

booyah · 07-09-11, 10:12 AM

I really dont know what it is, I have only had snakes for a year or two and I haven't had any problems untill now.

How would I check?

stephanbakir · 07-09-11, 10:14 AM

Does it look like a balloon? feel mushy?(puss)
I would take that snake to the vet.

booyah · 07-09-11, 10:17 AM

it feels normal, no puss.

booyah · 07-09-11, 10:44 AM

ok I found out how to check for respritory infection, I just fed her last night so I am going to wait a day maybe two, then open her mouth with a q-tip and check for bubbles / signs of infection.

I was looking on you-tube and I noticed a few home treatment methods, for treating mild respiratory infections.. They involve using a reptile fogger, and some steam activated inhalent "Kaz" (used for people) or else F10 (for reptiles?)

It got good reviews
YouTube - ‪Treating Reptile Respiratory Infections‬&rlm;