Blisters

[jakew]

Can anyone help!!!!!

My coastal has just shed her skin and has now come out in clear fluid filled blisters. She hasn't been burnt because the heat lamp hasn't been on as the temp has been hot enought, and is covered. What could it be from? and what do I do?

 

[serpenttongue]

Blisters are usually due to high humidity. They almost always accompany scale rot but can occur by themselves. Make sure your water bowl isn't too close to the globe and if water is spilt in the cage clean it up ASAP.
Also this can occur when cage heating is supplied soley from above with no thought into heating the cage floor. So many people do this and its something i abhor. Make sure the cage floor is kept warm by using a heat mat or a cage thats underneath your coastals cage.
Many will say dont squeeze the blisters but i have. I find it heals quicker and leaves minimal scarring, but thats your call. Also a dirty cage can cause blisters/scalerot.

 

[instar]

Do you find this happening with pythons that dont spend much time on the floor but habitually remain in logs and on branches etc? Ive not used floor heating yet but im considering it, before winter. Can you get heatmats that have a built in thermostat? how would you set it up in your cage? i.e without damaging the powercord, run the plug through a vent hole?

 

[serpenttongue]

Intstar, in the beginning of 2004 i had myself a little experiment. I put a python in a cage that had heating day and night. The floor was not heated but the python was able to climb off the ground and close to the globes (globes have a wire cage around them). The cage is kept clean, humidity is kept low. For the whole of 2004 everything went fine. Last month i noticed small red patches on its belly. Monday it shed and has the beginnings of scale rot. It took a year but i got the results i was after.

Ive never used heat mats. My cages are one on top of the other. The globe to the cage below heats the floor to the one above.

 

[serpenttongue]

I should also mention that this snake is now back in a cage with a heated floor and should be fine after a shed or 2.

 

[bigguy]

I have no heat pads in any of my ground cages,(nearly 50 of them) and NEVER get scale rot or blisters in any of the pythons in them.

Blisters and Scale rot are mainly caused for three reasons. Cage is kept to dirty(the main reason) Cage is kept to damp(the second main cause) and thirdly the cage is not warm enough. Or a combermation of any of the above.

Before you cure the disease, get rid of the cause. By raising the temp on the snake you can dry out the blisters, but in severe cases you may need antibiotics from the vets.

Strange you got blisters after a shed though. They normally occur prior to shedding and clear up with the shed. Maybe your snake had some trouble shedding, and may have released too much oil under the old skin that caused the blisters.

 

[NCHERPS]

Just to add to what bigguy and ST have already said, blisters and subsequent scale rot can also come about if your snake spends too much time in his water bowl, this usually only happens if they have mites, or in rare occasions if the heat becomes excessive over a prolonged period.
I am sure this wouldn't be applicable to you jakew, but for others who may read this thread, it's for information only, to accompany the above.

Neil

 

[hugsta]

I would ptu breaders choice in your enclosure, if you don't already, as this will help keep your coastal dry and will keep humidity levels down.

 

[Menagerie]

Is there an alternative to breeders choice for substrate that will help keep the bottom dry?

The enclosure that I am setting up is going to be a bit of a centrepiece in the lounge room, and breeders choice isn't that great to look at. Is there anything nicer looking that does as good or better for the health of the python?

 

[Gerry]

can I ask a really stupid question? what is ptu breeders choice? a brand of cat litter Im assuming?

 

[hey_im_sam]

I would ptu breaders choice

He meant 'put breeder's choice' lol You'll learn to deal with huggie in time. And yep, it's a brand of cat litter, available in your supermarket Search past threads, it's quite a topic of discussion...

 

[phantom]

yes it is a cat litter

 

[hugsta]

He meant 'put breeder's choice' lol You'll learn to deal with huggie in time.

Thanks Sam... :lol:

 

[Gerry]

doh!! told you it was a stupid question

 

[farmdog]

doh!! told you it was a stupid question

a question that had to be asked

 

[serpenttongue]

Something i find better than breeders choice is Dr Harrys cat litter. It is still recycled newspaper like B.C. but its in flakes instead of pellets. Its alot better for herps to dig under and rest apon.