Danaged/Torn Scales - Please Help

Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum

Help Support Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Tobe404

AussiePythons Supporter
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2012
Messages
1,001
Reaction score
121
Location
South Australia
So as some of you may know my female Murray Darling recently shed - This being her first really bad one where I had to help get about 2/3 of it off myself.
I think in the process I may have rubbed a little too hard on a certain area and damaged/tore some of her scales.
I always used a damp/wet cloth and let her soak in a bucket of warm water and most of the excess shed came off without and issue - Apart from the area in the pics below.

Is there anything i should apply to prevent infection or anything along those lines?

Thanks guys.
 

Attachments

  • IMGP0543.jpg
    IMGP0543.jpg
    121 KB · Views: 177
  • IMGP0545.jpg
    IMGP0545.jpg
    75.6 KB · Views: 171
If anything you could dab the area with diluted betadine to stop any possible infection, but providing the animal is in a clean environment it should take care of itself.
 
If anything you could dab the area with diluted betadine to stop any possible infection, but providing the animal is in a clean environment it should take care of itself.

That wont be until the next shed or two though I'm guessing... Or will she speed the process up to help heal the damaged scales?
Just to be on the safe side I reckon I will give her enclosure a good scrub down tomorrow and dab some betadine on the area.
What should the ratio of water/betadine be?

Cheers for the reply.
 
Last edited:
She'll be fine, it doesn't look like a deep wound, same thing happened with one of mine a shed or two ago, I haven't taken any extraordinary measures to clean & disinfect it and he's fine, as stated above as long as her surrounding are clean the next shed will resolve it.
 
You've obviously used a lot of force to remove the old skin, and done more damage than if you'd left it in place. If you want to remove a stubborn shed, place the animal in a tub of water, in a warm place (maybe its encolsure) for 12-24 hours and leave it to soak for that time. It will not harm the snake, and I've never had a shed stick after such a long soak. If it doesn't come off easily, DON'T rub it until it does. All you will do is damage the developing skin underneath, and you may well leave permanent scarring or pigment damage.

Jamie
 
You're most likely right Jamie but honestly I was as gentle (at least it felt like i was) in the small stubborn area as I was when I was getting the rest of the excess shed off and it didn't do any damage.
I never used any force. Just gently rubbed the area with a damp cloth after she'd been in a bucket of warm water and didn't even apply any pressure. I'll just have to make sure I'm extra careful next time.
Hopefully there isn't a need to do any of this next time. She's always had perfect sheds up until now. I just hope it heals itself over time.
 
Maybe the 'rubbing' caused the problem ? (If that is what you were doing)
Once you've soaked the problem area (i usually just spray rather than soak them) then use an old face washer, its rough enough to lift the stuck shed without any great pressure or damage- just stroke the snake in the direction of the scales, don't "rub"
 
I don't know what I'd call it really... All I did was let the cloth glide over her scales to hopefully get the stuck shed off... As I said I didn't apply any pressure onto her scales or body while I was doing this. The exact same way I got the other 2/3 of the left over shed off... With no damage to her new scales.

But maybe the left over shed in this particular area had just dried out too much/was too hard and therefore pulled the new scales off with it. That's really all I can think that has happened.

I just hope it corrects itself the next time she sheds.
 
Keep the cage clean and wait for next shed. When you see the eyes go cloudy lightly spray cage once a day until shed. It will be a clean shed and take away any old shed or small damage.
 
Just thought I would update this...

I gave her enclosure a clean (not that it was dirty to begin with, just to be on the safe side) and put a fairly big water dish in there for her to soak in. Hopefully next time around she will have no problems shedding.
 

Attachments

  • IMGP0552.jpg
    IMGP0552.jpg
    64.1 KB · Views: 42
Last edited:
Can u cover a few sides of your tank give her some peace and keep the heat in
 
She's in the shed and it's quiet the majority of the time.

As far as heat goes, there's an Exoterra heat mat stuck under the tank and it sits between 32-34 all the time. I've gone to check late at night/early morning and it's never dropped below 32. She hasn't moved form her heat mat pretty much the whole of Winter.

I was planning to go to Bunnings tomorrow and get some dowel and a couple of 'hangers', I guess you'd call them, to stick to the sides of the tank to create a perch for her.
 
Last edited:
Used to... But it wasn't the strongest of things and she'd always squash it. Got to work out what I should use or make for a new one.
Just like she used to have a 'perch' but she got too heavy for that. That's why the new one needs some reinforcing. Might have a look for hides at Bunnings tomorrow while I'm there getting the perch.

Even when she was still inside and didn't have a hide for a while she didn't seem stressed at all and would eat fine. So I'm not sure they make much difference to be honest. She's only stopped eating once she got moved out into the shed. Ambient temps and Winter is what's done it I'm guessing.

Probably a good thing that she's off her food over Winter anyway though. She's 1.6kg and 5ft at 19 months old. Which is a lot bigger than most other MDs of her age that I've seen.
 
Last edited:
If you can't find anything else then get a parrot nest box from the pet shop, Umayyad need to open the hole a little
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top