My snake has cancer

[infernalis]

My first ever captive snake, Xena the Dekayi that started it all for me has cancer near her cloaca, you can see the tumor in this picture.



I inspect her daily, and it has spread very close to the sensitive tissues inside the vent.

Her quality of life is still great at the moment, but I have to be realistic and come to terms with the fact that she will not be around a whole lot longer.

She has been living in my house 5 years now, and when I have to put her down, it's going to be the toughest thing I can think of to do.

Out of all my snakes, she is the only one that has ever sat in my shirt pocket for extended periods of time, she is the first snake to ever give birth in my home, first everything, so she is extra special to me.

The first sign of blood, and I will have no choice any longer, I care way too much about her to let her suffer until the cancer kills her.

Hanging on that long would be extremely selfish of me, and would only make her live in pain.

My vet said it was too close to her rectum to operate on it.

[Squisher]

Wayne i'm soo sorry. They don't need to be fury to become attached to them. I've never had any snake pass on me that i've had over an extended amount of time.. only sick ones that were taken in by me before i knew they were. It doesn't make it any easier.

[infernalis]

Thanks, I have lost a couple long term snakes.

My Cyclophiops Major died a few weeks ago after 3 years, and it still bugs the heck out of me.

I have been trying desperately to locate another.

[emseeKAY]

that sucks bro, good to know you wont let her suffer though, sorry for the loss as well, i guess these things happen unfortunately, good luck though, spend as much time with her as possible!

[Faequine]

sorry to hear. this is the 2nd time i've heard of cancer in a snake. the first was in a burm they tried to operate on that died on the table. Guess the survival rate isn;t that good with snakes since they don't take radiation well.

[infernalis]

If it was further down her tail could be "docked" (Fancy name for amputation) but it is sitting right on her vent.

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it.

[marvelfreak]

I am so sorry to hear about your snake. I had to put two down years ago. It sucks, but it better than letting her suffer. Also sorry to here about cyclophiops major.

[gonesnakee]

So the vet determined it was actually cancer by doing a biopsy then?
Is it a hard cyst like mass or is it soft & pliable?
If no biopsy was done & it is not hard it could very well be fat deposits.
Snakes when they start to be overweight carry it in & around the vent like that, but it feels soft & fleshy, snakes version of "love handles".
If it is a hard mass it doesn't nessicarily mean its cancer either but could very well be crypto or something else which is far more serious as it can be spread whereas cancer cannot be spread.
If the snake starts becoming thin & lethargic & having weird stools & regurging etc. I would be concerned for any others you may have as it may not actually be cancer.
If the vet did not actually do a biopsy it should potentially be considered & take precautions to protect the rest of your collection as well.
You may want to consider some other bloodwork as well & maybe stoll samples.
Make sure that snake is the last animal dealt with & that nothing from its cage comes into contact with any other animal & you yourself wash throughly & change after dealing with the sick snake. Mark

[Hillsberry]

I am so sorry.

[infernalis]

Hi Mark, My vet is an "intermediate" (probably a fancy way to say limited herp training) but where I live she is all I got, and she has been so helpful over the years, and she saved the life of one of my snakes, so I trust her.

She did not do a biopsy, It was too much money, and she felt uncomfortable taking tissue samples from within her rear end.

The mass is hard, but none of the symptoms you describe are present. The stool samples were "normal" , she is still "herself" meaning active and behaving normally. No signs of any puss or drainage.

She is one of only 4 snakes I keep in the living room, the other herps are all in the reptile room down the hall, The other snakes live in the same tank.

Dekayi can live together with each other or garter snakes without a problem, I have housed multiple Dekayi and Garter snakes for years, and this condition began almost a year ago, the mass has grown slowly since.

None of the other snakes in the group have developed the same condition.

So all in all, I have to believe her when she said "malignant mass" I have to trust her judgment.

[gonesnakee]

Sounds like a cyst then yep which may or may not be cancer than but at least you have some piece of mind in regaurds to the safety of the others as far as crosscontamination goes. As a cyst is a cyst as long as its not caused by anything infectious that could be transferred to others.
Is it an older snake then? Unfortunately they have these issues come up as they age like most animals do.
Hopefully its quality of life will not be affected for quite some time & will continue to thrive for you, Mark

[infernalis]

She was an adult when I found her, I have had her 5 years, so I would say she is a minimum of six years old.

The longest recorded lifespan in captivity is seven years.

The average lifespan is 4 years. less in the wild, so bringing her into the house has given her several more years of life than she would have had outside in the wild.

So I guess in the end, I have done right by her, not that it will make letting go any easier.

Fate works in strange ways, I sold all her babies... One lady shipped hers back when her husband found out she had it.

So I have one of her children.

[gonesnakee]

Seems to be a pretty short lifespan for a snake, whats the source of those stats?
Most snakes live 10-20 years quite easily anyways & there are BPs & Corns that have been documented at well over 30 years even.
Seems to be a relatively short life span for a snake to me anyways, Mark

[infernalis]

Mark, this species is TINY with fast metabolism.

Source, University of Michigan museum of zoology, and many other sources say the same thing.

I have studied this species since the day I found her, so I have read data on these little snakes for half a decade.



In the picture of her eating that pinkie, it's an extra small newborn runt pinkie.

Here is an adult compared to a human hand.

[gonesnakee]

Interesting THX for sharing, Mark