Does my corn snake have cryptosporidium infection
 

Hi all

So a few months back I have purchase a beautiful female Hypo Plasma corn, the first day I got her I already notice there is something off with her mid section. It looks like a lump but the reptile store employee assured me that it is because she has ate recently, this reptile store is a very reputable one in my area so I trusted them on their words. Anyhow Fiona the snake has been super wonderful and still is BUT the few months she is with me I notice the lump off and on and it's not from eating, I have even brought her to the vet a few times.

Here where I live in France there is not much option in term of reptile vet specialist, the vet I sew is the best one out of the 3 that is available and yet she admit she handle mostly exotic mammals. We can rule out impaction because she only eats in her tub and the only substrate is paper towel plus she have been pooing well normally 2 days after her feed. She had been deworm by the vet.

Her enclosure
Temperature
Cool side 77f
Warm side 84f UTH with pulse thermostat

Humidity 40% - 60% depends on the day

2 Hides and 1 water bowel

She have recently regurgitated her meal then she was well again, then she stop eating for a week then she is well again.

I have push the vet for a poo test, its been well over a week but she has not yet find the price and availability here.

I have attached the photo of the lump and want to see do you guys and girls think its cryptosporidium infection. The photo is taken with an empty stomach, her last feed was 6 days ago and have poo 2x since then.

Super thanks

You mentioned that you noticed the lump on & off...meaning that it actually disappeared at times?

I think crypto is a possibility but because there's an extra lump on one side, it looks more like a tumor to me, ie. possibly stomach cancer. Also, I've never heard of crypto that appears as a mid-body lump that increases & decreases at times...to my knowledge, the swelling would be there all the time, steadily increasing & interfering with digestion & causing a lack of appetite.

It could well be something else entirely too? I have lots of experience with many snakes but I'm not a vet, & it's improper to substitute our guesses here for good veterinary care, so I hope you can find some help there. Sadly, it seems this snake was sick from the start, & this particular issue is one I've never seen personally.

I would also say no. I had a snake pass from crypto, confirmed via necropsy, and during its last few weeks it showed the mid-body lump. The lump was symmetric on both sides and was more of a thickening of the mid-body than a protrusion like your snake has.

You need to find an exotics specialist ASAP.

So the day after she was feed ( right after the photo is taken ) the lump as usual disappeared and there is nothing to see with the vet, I swear if it was not the pictures the vet would think I am being a hypochondriac ... this is the strangest thing. The vet found a place to test for crypto and if it comes back negative we will do a xray. Fingers cross that we find a reason why she is like that. Thank you all for the reply :)

We sure wish you good luck with this poor snake. Something's not right, & I'm glad you're going for an x-ray too...hope you (& vet) can get it figured out & are able to help her, & yeah, good thing you took photos. Do keep us in the loop...

I completely agree this is very weird indeed. If you get Xrays do you think you could post them?
When you described the symptoms it sounded a lot like a problem I had with a litter of Fiji boas some years ago (which I never did get a diagnosis for - I also do do not have access to vet specialists), but your pictures are MUCH stranger. Wishing you the best of luck.

- Update - Fiona have passed away recently.

Since July she have had a stool test ( came back negative ) and an ultrasound ( could not see anything special as well. )

She died from crypto, confirmed via stool from autopsy.

Towards the end of her life I ended up bringing Fiona to a reptile specialist that lectures in universities because literally the few exotic vet I have visited had no clue what was wrong with her. The specialist have sent an official letter to the reptile shop that sold me Fiona about the test result { we know what this means, most likely all the reptiles in that store is contaminated }

I had to throw out all the equipment, housing, container and wipe down any surface I may have touched after handling her stools with hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. Worst of all I don't know when is it safe to have another snake because this bloody parasite can live on surfaces for over 2 years ...

I wish there is more informations on snake Crypto and be made more aware to reptile pet owners :(

Oh, I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your snake, Fiona, after you did your absolute best to get medical help for her. Thank you for letting us all learn from your sad experience here...I've never heard of a case of Crypto like this, where the mid-body swelling was not constant or equally-distributed...this adds to the body of knowledge for all of us...but this wasn't the ending that I envisioned. It's so frustrating when there's nothing you can do, and Crypto is
terrible news for the shop where you got her also...especially since some time has elapsed and who knows how many other reptiles were exposed while there.
You not only lost a pet but because of contamination issues you've lost much more...what rotten luck. :(

Very sorry to hear this, the only upside is that you showed us all something we had not been aware of as crypto before, so you have contributed to our education and knowledge.