My male retic rubbed his nose pretty good a few months ago. It’s been healing nicely but over the past couple weeks he’s developed a bump where he rubbed. It was very slight initially but has grown somewhat. Could this be a forming abscess?
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Take him to a herp vet, the vet might drain it to see what comes out and how it forms. It could be anything from an infection to a cyst. Keep track of how it changes, take a picture once or twice a week to compare how it grows and changes over time.
Personally, with my boa that pushes often, the bump forms after he has rubbed, and the swelling goes down over time, and the scab or damaged scales come off with next shed.
But, of course take your animal to the vet, it doesn’t hurt to see if there is something wrong, or developing into some worse
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I got him in earlier today and they didn’t seem too worried about it. They gave him an antibiotic shot and said to watch it, so hopefully it turns out to be just a part of the healing process.
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That’s good, keep us updated with how it heals.
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Both of my retics got that bump when they were juveniles and ready for bigger enclosures. If you warm up the hot spot a couple of degrees and increase it’s food intake that should clear it up within one shed cycle. Obviously you have to stop the rubbing too.
Retics, even big females will climb and use high shelves if you give them the space. I have a 8wx3dx2h glass slide front I built for my larger retic and he’s constantly exploring the ceiling especially in the middle of the night. When a friend of mine moved his reptile store we built 10x4x6.5 cages for his retics with multiple shelves and you’ll frequently find them up high. Especially his adult female Lav who used to chronically rub her nose until it was damaged in a 10x3x3. They don’t all do it, but it seems like a fair portion of them will rub their nose in space efficient enclosures.
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Both my retics are dwarves and are 4 years old and about 8 feet. They are currently in 8x2x2 enclosures with multiple hides and natural branches to climb on. Their warm hides also double as a basking platform. He actually stopped rubbing a while ago once he figured out his escape route had been rectified, but before when he kept trying that same spot is how he rubbed it raw.
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Retics are notorious for getting those “rhino horns” I wouldn’t worry. Usually its an environmental issue that they are unhappy with. I would go through your enclosure and make a few tweaks to see if that calms the animal down. While doing that, keep feeding so it stays full and a few shed cycles should make that disappear.
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Yeah like I said he hasn’t rubbed in months now. He got out once and was trying to get out the same way but since I fixed the flaw he kept trying for a while.
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