Eaten Scales,...

[Cheshire_queen]

my local petstore had a forgetfull employee tonight,... the employee in charge of feeding the snakes left an adolescent mouse in one of the cages, when the owner found the bp about 1/2 its scales had been eaten. right as i got there they had brought the bp up to the front of the store to decide what to do, the owner then called the employee and fired her. i offered to bring it home and see what i could do for it i figure it deserves a chance at life so they gave me some directions and i wanted to check if there were things i could do in addition to try to help it

the snake is about 8-12 inches long and in my opinion should be only eating two mice pinkies per feeding not an adolescent, none of his belly scales have been punctured, they suggested that i put him in normal tap water for about ten mins to wash the blood off then like a five min soak in betadine for the bacteria, the other herp person that works there recomended zoo meds repti wound-healing aid because it has a mild pain killer in it the owner also recomended using neosporin on it but i wanted to get a few other opinions i will have at least one pic up soon i cant promise quality because i cant pick him up except to treat him i dont want to risk infection,...

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P.S. I have purchased animals from this store for the last ten years and its hit the point that if they have something sick or injured come in they will offer it to me these are sweet people and the owner had a look of total heartbreak when he saw the snake so i know this wasnt an intentional thing on his part,... any and all help is appriciated thanks to all

[jbean7916]

Poor thing! I'd say hit up a vet.

sent from my EVO

[mommanessy247]

aww the poor snake! so glad that employee was fired.
will those scales ever grow back or will that all become scar tissue?
such a shame...

[ballpythonluvr]

Awww! That poor little baby! I would second the opinion for a vet visit.

[TheWinWizard]

Vet time for sure.

[fredanthony]

It's extremely import you get it to a vet the skin protects a snake from a lot of things among other things. It may have a long road ahead buy glad you stepped up. Good luck and keep us posted!

[zina10]

argh, it pains me to look at this

I too would say, IF you want to do something, please take it to the vet. Rodents have nasties in their mouth and you will need antibiotics asap

You would need to wash and also sanitize the poor thing. But I shudder to think of the pain it may go through, I would first find out what can safely be used on such an extensive wound. Many sanitizing agents can be either painful or even hard on regenerating tissue.

Man, this poor little thing

[mechnut450]

yes vet big time I also will remind no neosporin unless it with out pain killer.( the pain med in i bad for snakes I believe what i was told)
as for the scale they gone the snake will most like have scare scales/tissue and it will be all black prolly.

glad you stepped up to save the little guy I also see if the pet shop will offset some cost/supplies while it in your care since you do so much for them.
I wish I had more reptile related pet shops aroud me. only 2 true pet shops in my area cause most others are mainly supplies only or a fly by night as you don't know when they will close.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I know this is not gonna be the popular answer here however you are dealing with extensive damage on a VERY young animal and if I were you I would consider putting the animal down now to end it's suffering.

If you don't do that than you MUST take him to a vet that will likely prescribe anti-biotics to prevent infection but let's face it given the size of the animal the recovery chances are low.

The animal would take a long time to recover (if it did) and would not eat during that process and could likely end up starving to death given it's size if the rest doesn't kill it.

PS: Fuzzie mice are nit appropriate size food for BP, the right food was offered just not fed responsibly that's all.

[fredanthony]

I know this is not gonna be the popular answer here however you are dealing with extensive damage on a VERY young animal and if I were you I would consider putting the animal down now to end it's suffering.

If you don't do that than you MUST take him to a vet that will likely prescribe anti-biotics to prevent infection but let's face it given the size of the animal the recovery chances are low.

The animal would take a long time to recover (if it did) and would not eat during that process and could likely end up starving to death given it's size if the rest doesn't kill it.

PS: Fuzzie mice are nit appropriate size food for BP, the right food was offered just not fed responsibly that's all.

This is very true. But if you get it appropriate help it has a chance, you may have to force feed and it's likely it may not make it. Then there is the pain factor to consider, it will be in a lot of pain. See what the vet says.