skin problem help please

[camandal]

can anyone out there offer some advice or suggestions as to what problem my spotted python has and what may be the cause.

I just bought a five year old spotty 2 weeks ago as my first snake. It is very placid and is feeding well so i presume it is not distressed but I have only just started to handle it after letting it settle in and have noticed that it has this scabby looking sore on its belly.

I'm concerned that it may be something serious and as i cant get to the vet for at least three days i was hoping someone could put my mind at ease and offer a suggestion as to what may be the cause of this problem and if there is something i can do to treat it or make things more comfortable for my snake until i can get it to the vet.

any help will be greatly appreciated,

thanks, Cam.

[Chrisreptile]

maybe an old burn?
does the end of its tail look a bit short?

[method]

damn that looks nasty, no idea what it is. Someone else is bound too though but id say just take it to a reptile vet to get it properly checked out as soon as u can

[serpenttongue]

Do you have a wire cage around your heat lamp? Do you use hot rocks or a heat mat within the enclosure?

May be a burn, but looks like scale rot to me. What substrate are you using? Scale rot occurs when the enclosure is too humid, dirty or the temps are incorrect. Scale rot on the belly is usually from the substrate and scale rot on the back is usually from humidity. I advise you to get the animal on newspaper and make sure the enclosure is dry, clean and warm.

Those scales will become scabs which will eventually peel off leaving nasty open sores. Initially these scabs usually dont come off with a skin shed, instead they peel off by themselves in between sheds. After this the sores will heal with each shed. The snake will be permanently scarred and the belly will be sensitive for quite some time until the scars harden up.

A vet will recommend antibiotic injections which isnt really necessary in the early stages of scale rot. An ointment may help once the scabs drop off, but even then it may not be necessary as there's no pus weeping from the sores. Just make sure no debris gets on the belly until a few sheds and once again keep the snake clean, dry and warm on a newspaper substrate and it will heal fine by itself.

[camandal]

Thanks for the quick reply guys,
would you believe that i woke up this morning after posting those photos last night to find she had shed overnight and to my relief virtually all of the scabby skin came off with the shed. The shed came off in a few pieces but it all came off.
It still looks a bit tender but she has just accepted a feed no worries so hopefully that is a good sign.

I still need to figure out the cause of this problem even though it had been as a result of something the previous owners had done wrong because the enclosure is set up exactly the same as they had it.

- 4 foot glass reptile enclosure
- large water bowl near cool end
- small water bowl at heated end
- hides at both cool and warm ends
- heat lamp above hide rock (on 24 hours) in a wire cage
- Heat pad below hide rock (on 24 hours )
- breeders choice as substrate.

It has been in this set up for over 4 years.

The mention of it possibly being a burn had me worried as the heat pad is inside the enclosure without a thermostat and the snake could come into direct contact with it so i have temporarily turned it off. I think it will be safer to rely just on the heat lamp until i can get a thermostat for the heat pad.
Am I right in thinking the heat pad should be under the tank not in it ?

Chris reptile- This is my first snake so not too sure if the tail looks bit short or not but it seems ok to my novice eyes

Any advice as to what i may be doing wrong or right with this set up would be really appreciated,
thanks again, Cam.

[serpenttongue]

Originally Posted by camandal

would you believe that i woke up this morning after posting those photos last night to find she had shed overnight and to my relief virtually all of the scabby skin came off with the shed. ,

You got very lucky there.

The belly will remain tender until it has shed several times and you may see her moving around with her belly lifted from the substrate.

Also, snakes arent too good at feeling temps with their bellies. They can sit on surfaces that are burning them and not even know it. I would lose the heat mat.

[camandal]

can you suggest another heat source that may be more appropriate or is the heat lamp enough on its own?

[GARTHNFAY]

Looks like a burn...I have had that happen to one of mine.....covered the skin with Silverzine cream....

[norris]

Heat lamp by itself should be ok

[mrmikk]

It also looks like a burn to me. I would keep a close eye on it, even though it looks better after the shed.

IMO opinion I would change to newspaper substrate (at least until the wound heals) and keep the enclosure immaculately clean, as soon as the paper is soiled, replace it. Also, make sure you maintain a nice supply of fresh water for your snake to drink.

The heat lamp on its own will be fine without the heat map. Are you running your heat lamp through a thermostat? You say it is on 24 hours a day. If not on a thermostat get it hooked up to one and set it to about 32c.

Good luck and let us know how it progresses.

[reptilegirl_jordan]

yeh just a heat lamp,why do u need 2 water bowls? glad the snake is looking better

[Logan & Allana]

Heat lamp alone will be fine. Looks like either a burn or the snake has been kept on dirty substrate (causing nasty blisters underneath). I've seen both before and sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between the two as they both have redness around them. I would like loose the breeders choice and just use news paper. At least with news paper you can see very clearly when they have soiled and remove it, with things such as breeders choice and other substrates they either let it go to the bottom or soak it in (so you can't see it) leaving the snake on dirty substrate for quite some time (specially as some people don't give there enclosure a full clean weekly). Also check how hot the light cover is, sometimes they get just as hot as the bulb, specially if you are using a high wattage bulb. And also you only really need the one water bowl down the cool end of the enclosure. If you don't have a thermostat get two thermometers and check your cool end and directly under you basking light to make sure your cool end is around 25deg or less and your basking light around 30 - 32 if not you may want to go down to a lower wattage bulb. One of my boys was really badly burnt when I brought him, I used bepanthem on him every so often and it helped him heal up quite quick.

[mungus]

Its definately scale rot - Put some benadine on it twice a day for 10 days and see how she goes.
Should clear.

[MannyM]

Even though it looks like it's healing, i'd still take it to the vet.

[camandal]

thanks again everyone, its fantastic to have access to all of your advice and knowledge to help guide us newbies and i really appreciate you all giving your valued time.

Mr mikk - no thermostat at the moment but will be getting one asap, relying on thermometers at moment .

Reptile girl Jordan - I have the second water bowl up near the heat lamp to try to create some extra humidity to counter act the drying effects of the breeders choice (I was told it might help with shedding) but after reading these replies I think I'll be changing to newspaper anyway.

Logan and Allana - I have some Bepanthem at home that I'll try, Thanks for the tip and advice on the substrate.

Mungus - I'll try the benadine as well , thanks.