[adamanteus]

Once upon a time, long ago I had a snake (a large adult Coluber constrictor) which was pretty much covered in tiny subcutaneous lumps. The animal was in a shocking state; grossly under-weight, infected with just about every endo and ecto-parasite you could dream of. It was in such poor condition you could barely identify it to genus, let alone species. I took it to the vets, but this was way back in the days before herpetoculture was socially acceptable, the guy was clueless and couldn't seem to understand why anyone would want to cure a snakes' ailments. He lanced one or two of the lumps but got nothing out.

I kept the snake for some years, about 5 or 6 if I remember right (obviously treating it for mites and worms), and it's general condition improved. It never showed any further signs of ill health in all the time I cared for it. But until the day it died it was an ugly, lumpy beast. God bless it! You must bear in mind though, this was years ago, before anyone (certainly in the UK) knew anything about reptile husbandry.

So really my tale is of no use to you Mark, except that the snakes' lumps never seemed to effect his well-being.

James.