Burnt Python

[Jessica_lee]

Hi All,

Thought i would share pics of a little guy as part of my wildlife caring with my local group.
The car he was in was giving off smoke for a few days and when the bonnet was opened they saw his tail in something.
Anyway his tail is very crispy and the vet says that it will drop off.
He smelt pretty bad too.
I have some reptile burn aid for him but ANY TIPS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
The vet suggested I feed him but should I feed him a wild lizard (obviously i wouldnt do this to one of my own, but he is a wild snake).
He seems to be defectaing ok but there is some swelling and redness at his cloaca. He also seems a bit disfigured in his body (as if he has swelling or a break), the good news is he is using all of his body (not his tail).

Cheers
Jess

 

[webcol]

Thats sad to see the little fella in a bad way. Goodluck with it, i hope he has a full recovery

 

[redbellybite]

I cant believe the Vet didnt amputate that part of the tail ..its dead and is a major risk of getting an infection ..the cloaca is very swollen and doesnt look good either ...is there another vet you can get a second opinion from?

 

[arbok]

I would see another vet asap, i had a snake develop an infection of the tail alot less serious then that and my vet cut it straight off.

edit: hehe woops should of read what redbelly said, she beat me to it

 

[Londos1990]

Thats very sad to see, good luck with his recovery and im with the rest see a second vet... asap

 

[Jessica_lee]

tthanks for the opinions. I have a follow up in a few days so I might see what he says then. I think we are limited for reptile vets up here but I will definately ring around.
Either way he is a resilient little bugger.
Thansk for the tip.
Any feedig tips?

 

[redbellybite]

I wouldnt feed him ,he is a wild snake and he is in poor condition needing major help ...even if your vet is not a so called rep vet ,surely he can ring around and talk to someone that would be able to guide him and get the info on how to treat this snake ...for the moment keep him dry and very clean ...as he is in a high high risk of getting an infection ,if he doesnt already have one .

 

[Jessica_lee]

the two vets i rang suggested this particualr vet so i doubt there will be any more experienced in town (not that i wont look).
i am keeping him dry apart from a water dish in his enclosure. he did have an antibiotic injection and is now having repti eound healing aid.
has anyone tried betadine on their reps?
thanks for your tips redbelly its sad snakes dont receive as much help as 'cuddly" creatures.

 

[redbellybite]

the two vets i rang suggested this particualr vet so i doubt there will be any more experienced in town (not that i wont look).
i am keeping him dry apart from a water dish in his enclosure. he did have an antibiotic injection and is now having repti eound healing aid.
has anyone tried betadine on their reps?
thanks for your tips redbelly its sad snakes dont receive as much help as 'cuddly" creatures.

I have no doubt you have been doing your best and I take my hat off to you Jess,I am just a bit dumb founded that the 3rd degree burn at the end of the tail is still on ...I cant help but think this vet has made a big mistake in leaving it on ..it would have been much better if it was removed back to at least living tissue and even if a few stitches were needed it would have healed alot better and with anti biotics and good care ,should have had a real good chance in recovering ..fingers crossed but my gut feeling is this poor snake is still suffering and not in a good way ..I just hope I am wrong :cry:

 

[webcol]

the two vets i rang suggested this particualr vet so i doubt there will be any more experienced in town (not that i wont look).
i am keeping him dry apart from a water dish in his enclosure. he did have an antibiotic injection and is now having repti eound healing aid.
has anyone tried betadine on their reps?
thanks for your tips redbelly its sad snakes dont receive as much help as 'cuddly" creatures.

I have used betadine on my pythons, but only for very superficial wounds.
Im unsure about the dead part of the tail, but it should be in an anti biotic treatment ASAP! Even if it heals, infection can spread throughout the body and later affect the snake- EG infection could later in life impact the organs

 

[Jessica_lee]

I have used betadine on my pythons, but only for very superficial wounds.
Im unsure about the dead part of the tail, but it should be in an anti biotic treatment ASAP!

he has had an injection and i was told to put "medihoney" on it.

i forgot to mention he is missing part of his tongue, it isnt forked so im not sure if he can smell or not.

He is quite lively considering and shows no agression only when given his injection.

 

[phatt01]

Hi Jess,id you try David
Just wondering wot vet you took him too. David Lemon at Ninderoo? I have only taken one snake to a vet and it was him, and he was really good.
Probably get shot down in flames here, but if it was me I would just go down to the pet superstore at Greenfeilds and buy a live mouse for him, since he is wild.
Hope it all works out for you, and the patient.....

 

[webcol]

he has had an injection and i was told to put "medihoney" on it.

i forgot to mention he is missing part of his tongue, it isnt forked so im not sure if he can smell or not.

He is quite lively considering and shows no agression only when given his injection.

Is the tongue missing, or are the forks just joined?

 

[Jessica_lee]

Is the tongue missing, or are the forks just joined?

interesting question.

there is a tong but it is hard to distinguish if it has been shortened to the point where the forks meet or it is joined.
Are there many cases of snakes with joined tongues?

 

[Jessica_lee]

Hi Jess,id you try David
Just wondering wot vet you took him too. David Lemon at Ninderoo? I have only taken one snake to a vet and it was him, and he was really good.
Probably get shot down in flames here, but if it was me I would just go down to the pet superstore at Greenfeilds and buy a live mouse for him, since he is wild.
Hope it all works out for you, and the patient.....

i will definately ring there tomorrow.
im not quite sure i could get a live mouse small enougb for him but i have considered teeny frogs and lizards. but im in no rush to feed him as him defecating to me indicates he has not too long fed.
i am more concerened that he wont be able to hunt though so if he heals up nicely i will definately have a try.

 

[webcol]

I think i read that a joined tongue fork, might mean mouth infection? I am a bit hazey on that though

 

[Casey]

Don't attempt to feed him until the swelling in the cloaca is gone, because if he even does eat (I doubt he would at the moment anyway) you don't want to risk causing anymore pressure in that area.
Is he dehydrated at all? that is another reason that the tongue might not have a fork, and also could cause the cloacal swelling. I would say that making sure he is getting fluids is more important than feeding him right now.
I'm with everyone else though and think its very strange that the vet left the burnt part of the tail on, has the vet given you antibiotics to use at home.

 

[whcasual79]

I think i read that a joined tongue fork, might mean mouth infection? I am a bit hazey on that though

yea i've heard that one before too ... poor snake, hope he/she gets better soon .... keep us posted yea

 

[Mayhem]

I have used betadine on my pythons, but only for very superficial wounds.
Im unsure about the dead part of the tail, but it should be in an anti biotic treatment ASAP! Even if it heals, infection can spread throughout the body and later affect the snake- EG infection could later in life impact the organs

I've used betadine for some pretty seriouse wounds on juvie pythons successfully too - back in the days of essentially no such thing as a reptile vet (in south east qld at least) and a case where a juvie python had a tangle with an automatic garage door and its rollers (the rails it slides on), it had broken ribs, deep cuts in several areas and it diddnt look good at all. Being a juvie made a bad situation worse and the only real option was to keep it as clean and dry as possible and apply betadine a few times a day. Snake recovered beautifully with nothing more than a few scars and a bit of a spinal kink from the broken ribs to show for it.

 

[redbellybite]

the difference is these are burns ..some are 3rd degree, betadine ,although great ,wont be enough for this snake ...