Treating Scale Rot

So i started treating george for scale rot yesterday... took out all the substrate and put in paper towels, bathed him in lukewarm water, rubbed him down with a little anti-bacterial hand soap, wiped him dry with a clean washcloth, and then applied neosporin (no painkiller) along his belly (which is where the rot is)...

Now 24 hours later his belly looks much worse than it did yesterday... He spent all day in his warm hide with the humidity at 50% in the tank... it even looks like it has spread to the top of his head (like between his eyes)... He has been due for a shed and it looks like his eyes may finally be starting to cloud up so i don't know if the belly just looks worse cuz he is going into shed or what... I'll post some pics in a little bit...

Maybe I should just get him to the vet tomorrow if I can?

i cant see it getting that much worse in one night.id take him for sure.good luck!

Yes, if it's that severe - he needs medical attention.

Okidoki george has a vet appt for next tuesday... that gives him a week to clear up with just some soap n water and neosporin... He has still been very active, been in both his hides during the day and moved around quite a bit at night... doin the whole reach up to the top of the cage and such... seems happy to the lay person...

I think he is gonna turn out ok... Now that i have the paper towels and such in there, washed both his hides, water dish, and whole glass cage... have the warm side runnin at 90 with 40% humidity... I took out the 2 excess logs just to be safe (I want to be as sterile as possible). His warm hide is still rough though so should he shed he will be able to get it off...

2 more questions:
When soaking, do I put soap in the water or just soak him then lather him up and rinse him?
Is it ok to feed him while he is fighting this? I have had him for 3.5 weeks and he was just coming off a mediocre shed... Fed him twice and he is up for his 3rd feeding...

Thanks for your guys' help... I think i may have just been over-reacting a bit and i just need to remember that it takes time for him to heal... Sometimes a healing wound looks worse than the actual... I will have a few more questions if he starts shedding, cuz even though i'm familiar with the shedding process (thanks to bpnet), I dunno if it changes at all with scale rot...

I'd use betadine and not soap and water, and then neosporin.
I would not soak.
That he's cruising the cage all over sounds like a stressed snake to me.
Why have you chosen to wait an entire week to see the vet?
I would continue to offer food.
40% humidity is too low and will likely give him a rough shed. Bump to 50-55%.
Make certain you clean the cage immediately after he soils it.

Starmom unfortunately I have to wait a week for the vet to be able to fit him in... The only other time he could have fit him in was when I am in class and unfortunately have tests that inhibit me from skipping... He does move around a fair amount, but he has spent most of last night and most of today in his hide... I didn't want to disturb him to take pics so I waited till he came out for a few (probably why it was hard to get good ones)...

Here is the tank setup... paper towel substrate, and on the cool side I have paper towels covering all but the entrance to the hide because the hide is clear so I figured I would give him some privacy and cover it a bit... He has been in a few times and I just put the hide in yesterday... I filled his water dish a lil higher and put a little sphagnum moss into his warm hide to give him some humidity...

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../p10102552.jpg

Some body shots, 1 with flash and 1 without... This is basically what about half his body looks like... It was a pain to get him to open up for me to get shots of other areas and I didnt wanna force the issue and stress him more.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../p10102672.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...1/p1010264.jpg

Some head shots, with and without flash... are those eyes saying shed coming? If it is then i shouldn't feed... Also I know its kinda blurry but there is a mark on the top of his head (kinda redish) was wondering any ideas?

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...1/p1010263.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../p10102622.jpg

I know the pics are kinda small atm, I don't know how to get em to show up bigger... If you go into my gallery you can see them at full size

Try copying the URL that is not under 'thumbnail'.

If he's a baby, a 20g also might be too stressful.

Gods my eyes are bad :(
I can't even see the pictures!
I understand about the wait. Here's what I would do: PM Becky (satanicintention) and ask her exactly what you ought to be doing in the meanwhile. She is remarkably schooled (literally) in this and would be able to give you excellent instruction. You could also include your pictures for her :gj:

Hi,

Ok thats nuts - I swear I changed those to the full sized pictures last night but when I came back they were thumbnails again. :confused: :confused: :confused:

Have tried changing them again and will see what happens when I come back later.:taz:


dr del

Thanks Derek!!
Okay, the cage...
-Can the snake get to that light? Yowzer!
-Also, those stick on dials that you have half way up the cage? Ditch them. They are not good. Also, you want to be monitoring the temps down where the snake spends most of his time- on the floor!
-Hides- way too big. You need to get much smaller hides that the snake will squish into. They loooove small and tight spaces!!!
-I would cover the sides of the tank to help to increase the snake's sense of security.
-I would fill in all of that empty space with anything: crumpled paper, plastic plants, ANYTHING!!!

And yes~ looks like the snake is going into shed...