Bredli Head Injury

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Focus

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Hello everyone,

Last night at about 2.30am I decided to check in on the snakes since I was annoyingly still awake for unknown reasons but it turns out it was good thing. I found that my bredli had managed to get its head stuck in the hole on the top of its terracotta hide. How it managed this I have no idea, as its head is significantly larger than the hole, but it did. That’s my fault for not realising that that was a possibility.

I smashed the hide to free the snake, but it had unfortunately been attempting to pull its head backwards through the hole for long enough to cause damage already. I’m attaching a couple of pics to show the damage to both sides of its head, and I’m hoping that someone knowledgeable can advise me on whether I need to take the snake to a vet, which I’m happy to do, or if keeping it hot and safe will heal the injuries over a few sheds. Or any antibiotics I should apply.

The wounds are not bleeding, and the snake is as mobile as it ever is, tongue flicking and general head movement don’t appear to be affected at all. When I picked it up this morning for the pictures, it was as calm as it always is and the heavy hissing was no longer present. I’ve put it in a smaller tub with more access to heat, where it is curled up on the hot side.

I’ve put two pictures, the overhead shot is to give an impression of the depth of the injury as the side head shot makes it look like wounds are deeper than they are. It has a similar wound on the other side of its head.

Thank you for any advice.
 

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If there are no open wounds then it is probably just scale damage and should be right after a couple sheds.
 
You could put some betadine on it just in case. Not sure if this is the case but it kind of looks like it was bleeding at some point, if it was an open wound it doesn't hurt to put some sort of antiseptic on it, and i would keep a close eye the snake and if it starts to swell or look infected take it to a vet.
 
Thanks mate. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it, and I'll grab some betadine tomorrow.
 
ANd keep it dry. If water gets into wounds it can cause infection underneath. So until the wound has completely healed over, I would take his large water container out of his enclosure, if he has one, and replace it with something small that he can drink from but not get into. Or just give him his water bowl every few days for a couple hours while he is mobile, then take it out again. It is important to keep it dry.
 
Yup, I've removed the water bowl, and as mentioned put him in a smaller tub with lots of access to heat which he's been soaking up. No infection for the moment, fingers crossed it stays that way.

Thanks for the help.
 
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