Scale rot? Scales falling off?

[xanthe]

I have a spinnerblast female, she's about three months or so old, she had her second shed the other day while soaking, I went to grab her and because she is a feisty fast little girl, when she shot out of my grip, the skin from her tail sloughed off. I let her continue her shed and just pulled her out today to see the tip of her tail looking like a scaleless bloody mess. the other part of her tail is brown and crusty. I've never had to deal with scale rot with any of my BP's, so I don't know if this is it, or if it's because she had an accidental forced shed on her tail and it ripped scales off. either way she's very sensitive to me touching it and I just would like to know what to do. I heard neosporin could be applied on her if it's pain killer free. is that what I should do?
my snakes are in sterilite tubs, under tank heaters, paper towel bedding. temps on hot side are 90/93 day time hot side, and 79 on cool side. humidity is around 60%. I know it's only the tip of her tail and it's not big. but I don't want her to be in any kind of pain or discomfort or run risk of infections or it spreading. thanks!

[h00blah]

Did she ave any stuck shed on the tip of her tail? I've read about BPs having multiple layers of stuck shed accumulate on their tail tips, cutting off circulation and leading to the tail tip falling off. If it's nit that, you may have accidentally ripped off some tail tip scales. Definitely keep her tub as sterile as possible to prevent infection. If you see any other sores like this on her body, I'd recommend a vet trip.

[dr del]

That looks like she has had some old shed stuck to it which has constricted the tail and caused the damage when it was removed. Basically it is exposed flesh and bone.

When they shed it is important not to leave any stuck shed that completely encircles the body.

Stick to a non-particulate substrate ( which you already have ) and apply either some neosporin ( the type without pain relief ) or some of that silver sulphadine paste that I always get the name wrong - some one will be along shortly who remembers the name of it I'm sure.

Also you mention day time temps - there is no reason to give them a night time drop at that size.

[xanthe]

That looks like she has had some old shed stuck to it which has constricted the tail and caused the damage when it was removed. Basically it is exposed flesh and bone.

When they shed it is important not to leave any stuck shed that completely encircles the body.

Stick to a non-particulate substrate ( which you already have ) and apply either some neosporin ( the type without pain relief ) or some of that silver sulphadine paste that I always get the name wrong - some one will be along shortly who remembers the name of it I'm sure.

Also you mention day time temps - there is no reason to give them a night time drop at that size.

I am having problems keeping my temps to not vary so much. mostly because it's so cold and dry in my house. I'm still trying find what works but im constantly checking temps and my snakes to make sure they are not stressed out from this temp problem.

from what I know, she has only had 2 sheds. the one she had with her breeder and the one she had with me. I did not see any old shed stuck on her tail when I got her so I do think I might have accidentally ripped her scales off. :c I feel terrible if I did. her tail looked a lot better today, not as bloody but still raw looking. I bought the neosporin and Sanitized her tub. but how many times should I be putting it on her?
thank you for the replies by the way, surprisingly with the amount of snakes I've owned and years of having them I've never had any problems before, this would be my first so I'm a little worried and stressed out over it.

[h00blah]

Eh, you shouldn't feel bad about this. It was an accident, and you're taking all the steps to make it right. What more could we ask for lol . What would make you a horribly terrible person is if you told us you did this, and decided to sell the snake or put it on craigslist or something...

Temp and humidity problems are frustrating! I recommend spraying often when the snake is going into shed, and when the tail is healed, find a substrate that holds humidity better, like cypress mulch. I've had to do this during the drier seasons, and I have to do this again this month. I prefer using sani-chips because they clump poop and urine, and it's easier to clean, but they don't seem to hold humidity very well, even after daily sprays.

What else could you tell us about your setup that could help us help you?

[xanthe]

Eh, you shouldn't feel bad about this. It was an accident, and you're taking all the steps to make it right. What more could we ask for lol . What would make you a horribly terrible person is if you told us you did this, and decided to sell the snake or put it on craigslist or something...

Temp and humidity problems are frustrating! I recommend spraying often when the snake is going into shed, and when the tail is healed, find a substrate that holds humidity better, like cypress mulch. I've had to do this during the drier seasons, and I have to do this again this month. I prefer using sani-chips because they clump poop and urine, and it's easier to clean, but they don't seem to hold humidity very well, even after daily sprays.

What else could you tell us about your setup that could help us help you?

that's why I do daily soaks when my snakes are about to go in shed because I can't most the tubs without the paper towels getting soaked.

I have a make shift snake rack that is currently being heated by zoomed undertake heaters because only two tubs are occupied right now. (I have five morphs that are waiting to be placed into the tubs below but I don't want to put them in until I invest in some heat tape so that's why I'm heating with heat pad) the temp for the heat pad is set to 95 but inside the tub it's 90/92. now two of my tubs are different because I'm trying to play around with what works. it seems the tub my female is in is working with the humidity but not with keeping in heat, there are six holes drilled on the two long sides of her tub. she has a hide (that she pushes around to the cool side during the day and pushes back to the warm side during the night) and a water dish that during shedding, I put right in the middle so the warmth will produce some humidity.
the second tub though where my male is is set up with the same hide and water dish but has three holes on all four sides of the tub. it keeps the heat in really well... too well... there's a constant build up of moisture on the top and sides of the tub that I'm constantly wiping down and replacing paper towel bedding. so I have the male tub which stays warm but has too much humidity and the female tub that isn't as warm with perfect humidity....
I don't know if this helps. if you need any more info or details of anything specific feel free to ask I'll be more than willing to give it to you

[PitOnTheProwl]

Be careful not to soak your snakes too much. There are oils in their skin that you can rinse away and it may cause problems shedding.

Raining in the tub is from too much humidity, you might add a couple more vent holes.

You can either give them a water bowl big enough to soak in OR build them a humid hide with some moss stuffed in it.

[h00blah]

From our caresheet on this site:

Soaking prior to a shed is not necessary and can actually make the shed go poorly. However, if a shed has already gone bad, soaking can be very helpful in removing the retained skin.

This is actually not the first place I've seen this either. When they go into shed, their skin produces oils (which explains the milky color) that helps loosen the skin. Basically when you dry them after the soak, it dries out the oil. That may be the problem, but I've never soaked a snake prior to shed, so I can't say for sure. Another idea is to place some cork or something rough to help the snake rub the shed off. I've witnessed my snakes rubbing their heads and bodies against the side of the tub to get shed off, and it just isn't as effective as having something rough like those half log hides.

You can either give them a water bowl big enough to soak in OR build them a humid hide with some moss stuffed in it.

This is also a good suggestion . My tubs aren't big enough to add, but I have a bunch of sphagnum moss that I stuff inside tubs which does wonders !

[xanthe]

From our caresheet on this site:


This is actually not the first place I've seen this either. When they go into shed, their skin produces oils (which explains the milky color) that helps loosen the skin. Basically when you dry them after the soak, it dries out the oil. That may be the problem, but I've never soaked a snake prior to shed, so I can't say for sure. Another idea is to place some cork or something rough to help the snake rub the shed off. I've witnessed my snakes rubbing their heads and bodies against the side of the tub to get shed off, and it just isn't as effective as having something rough like those half log hides.



This is also a good suggestion . My tubs aren't big enough to add, but I have a bunch of sphagnum moss that I stuff inside tubs which does wonders !

ahhhhhhh. ok! so I'm doing the exact opposite of what I'm supposed to be doing... I started soaking them before their sheds because both of them would get very wrinkly with dents in their eyes. so I'd soak them for ten minutes for two days and usually around the second day they started shedding. so I was taking that as soaking=helping shed. well my male is in shed right now and I've only soaked him once so far. the bowls are big enough for them to soak in but I've never seen them do it.

[xanthe]

let me clarify, that would be two times (this is the third) of soaking and shedding for my male. and one time for my female.