Some children in the front yard next door to my house (I didn't see any adults although I presume some were in the house, and none of these children were any I've ever seen before, although I may see at least some of them in the near future, since from the moving vans in the street it looks as if people were moving in...strange since we didn't know the people who lived there before had moved out!) were carrying around a ball python that apparently has belonged to one of them for three years. She was gorgeous in color and very very sweet and docile. However, her snout was very disturbing as there was apparently something really wrong with it. It was lumpy and strange, and simply looked very wrong. I didn't hear any sounds of respiratory distress or anything when I held her, and I didn't see any discharge of any kind, so I don't *think* it could have been an active respiratory infection. I don't know enough about ball pythons or respiratory infections to tell though. Does anyone have any clue what a lumpy snout could mean? Could it be something life threatening? Or is it more likely scarring from a previous problem or a genetic deformity? It just occurred to me to wonder if live prey items could do that to a snake...I didn't think to ask the little boy if she eats live food...darnit....

A man walking by in the neighborhood who says he has experience with snakes thought the snout problem might be from excessive moisture from laying too much in a water bowl, but again, I don't know enough about ball pythons. Could that cause a lumpy snout? The man and I both tried to emphasize the need to take the snake to our local reptile vet, but I don't know if they'll take her.

I can't stop thinking about this beautiful sweet snake... She didn't seem to mind at all being carted around by the boy who owns her, and she didn't mind being handed to me or my husband..she just curled around the hands of whoever had her...is that typical for balls or is that lethargy? Aside from the lumpy snout, I thought she seemed healthy in appearance (her colors were good and she didn't seem underweight). Any opinions would be appreciated.

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~Juliane~

Were the lumps under the skin, did it look like built up shed, did it look like healed sores, like from nose damage??

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MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

Really, without actually being able to see this snake in person, the appearance of the nose could certainly be for a number of reasons, possible injuries, nose rubbing, illness. Really no way to tell over the comp. I do hope that the snake gets some sort of medical attention from its owners, and if not there is really nothing you can do for ignorant animal owners, except report them in some cases of course.

I know there's no way to really tell...I can't even take pictures to post or anything because she's not my snake and I don't know these people... and for all I know the child with the snake may have been there with adults who were just helping the new tenants move in...I may never see the snake again at all...she was just so sweet, and I felt like I needed to express my feelings somehow or it was going to eat me up. She had beautiful eyes...

The whole snout looked lumpy to me, as though it was bone deformity or possibly a lot of scar tissue built up. It didn't look like built up unshed skin to me, but then I've never seen that so I wouldn't really know. The neighbor passing by who says that he breeds snakes thought it was a problem related to spending too much time in her water bowl. Not having ball pythons myself I have no idea if that's a possibility. ...Maybe she had a really bad encounter with a live prey item at some point in her life.

Did you ever lie awake at night and wish you could rescue the world?

Sorry if I've made a pain of myself with a futile post, but thank you so much for listening.

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~Juliane~

I know the feeling Juliane. I just bought a reptile medicine book and there's all kinds of stuff in there I hope I never have to see in person.

As stated, no one can really say what's wrong with that snake but a vet. I don't think the waterbowl idea is particularly plausible, though. If he's thinking of blister disease, it would appear on the body much more than the snout.
My guesses (obviously just out of the blue): it could be caused by excessive rubbing against a screen or rough material or it could be scaring from rodent bites. (My book has some really horrid pics of what can happen to a snake fed live food)

If you see the kid again, ask if he's feeding live... and try to tell him why it's not necessary and not a good idea. Ask him what kind of enclosure he keeps the ball in and if it tends to rub its snout against the walls. Excessive rubbing could also be a sign of mites or other external parasites... If you handle that snake again, wash your hands and change your clothes before going near your own snakes...You don't want to bring anything into your collection!

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Andrea

I must have washed my hands and arms 12 times after we came back in (even though she only touched my hands), and I changed clothes too. Even so, I didn't handle any of my own snakes last night because I was too paranoid about being contaminated with something they might get. I decided to wait to handle my own snakes until I'd had a least a couple of showers! Probably a little overboard, but I didn't want to take any chances!

If I do see the boy again, I plan to ask him those questions you mentioned.

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~Juliane~