Stomach/scale rot

I believe one of my snakes has a mild case of scale rot but I'm not 100% sure.I was just curious what is the best way to go about treating it.I'll snap some pics and get them up asap. I just wanted to get some type of treatment going.

Sometimes Betadine and Neosporin without painkiller can help, but if it doesn't get better or continues to get worse, a vet trip would be in order. I was reading something a while back that was talking about some scale rot that can be caused by an internal infection, in which case antibiotics would definitely be needed. Hopefully someone who knows more about this will chime in...

I recently adopted 2 very very sick bps with terrible scale rot. I mean, when I held the thing for the first time my gag reflex was kicking in strong.
The first thing I did was put them in tubs with paper towel as substrate, which I changed very regularly, and did not give them water enough to soak in. I used polysporin on them twice a day until their first shed, which was in about 2-3 weeks, then once a day until they shed again, which was very quickly after that, maybe 1-2 weeks. (I can't remember if both of them shed the second time....) I am guessing that not all cases are like this, but that is how it went for these two lucky serpents. After that, I kept an eye on them and they have not exhibited any signs of it returning.
If the substrate is too wet and it is not changed every month or so, it is possible that it is scale rot. It may also be possible that the belly is red because of a burn, or humidity that is too low (I think). Some bps have red bellies right before they shed too. You could post pictures of it so that people could give you a better idea.

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

Sometimes Betadine and Neosporin without painkiller can help, but if it doesn't get better or continues to get worse, a vet trip would be in order. I was reading something a while back that was talking about some scale rot that can be caused by an internal infection, in which case antibiotics would definitely be needed. Hopefully someone who knows more about this will chime in...

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Can't access my information at the moment, but I know exactly what you are talking about. This form of "belly rot" is actually a sign of when the animal's blood goes septic from a bacterial infection inside the body (usually a rodent bite or some invasive injury is the cause) In this case, the brown around the edges of the white belly scales resembles the beginning to belly rot but is actually the end stages of the progress of the illness of the snake. They do not live long after the brown shows up.

Will post more info, if no one else does, later tonight.

When we have had that, Due to over wet cypress mulch.

We change the bedding to something dry
Clean the animals and soak for 15-30 seconds in chlorhexidine. Do not dry them off (air dry). The animal will go into shed soon and then might go into a second shed soon after. This is their way of getting rid os the toxins out of their system.
If the animal is septic it can ge saved. See a vet, we give baytril and soak in chlorhexidine.

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Originally Posted by broadude

Can't access my information at the moment, but I know exactly what you are talking about. This form of "belly rot" is actually a sign of when the animal's blood goes septic from a bacterial infection inside the body (usually a rodent bite or some invasive injury is the cause) In this case, the brown around the edges of the white belly scales resembles the beginning to belly rot but is actually the end stages of the progress of the illness of the snake. They do not live long after the brown shows up.

Will post more info, if no one else does, later tonight.

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Here is the info: http://www.rcreptiles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3449 While scale rot is the more common snake skin issue..care should be taken to KNOW exactly what you have. A Vet visit is needed in the situation below.

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http://www.snakegetters.com/slides/22petechiation.html


http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...1/Scalerot.jpg

"Scale rot" or septaecemia?

Hobbyists commonly refer to any lesions seen on a snake's integument as "scale rot", whether the cause is bacterial, fungal, viral or neoplastic. It can be hard to differentiate between the symptoms of necrotizing dermatitis and hemmhorrhagic petechiations that indicate a generalized septaecemia from massive systemic infection.

This cottonmouth was severely septic and died in short order despite our efforts with antibiotics. These lesions on its ventral scales are the result of a massive bacterial infection in its bloodstream and its internal organs.

The appearance of this animal is similar to that of necrotizing dermatitis, a superficial bacterial condition caused by wet or unsanitary conditions in the cage. Necrotizing dermatitis is easily treatable; septaecemia is much more serious and potentially fatal if allowed to progress.

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Good luck!