Mouth and Head Issue

[Dracoluna]

It's been awhile since I've posted on this girl. This is about Sydney, my rescue girl who was in pretty bad shape when I got her. Everything has corrected itself with proper care and feeding except two noticeable issues. She had a spot on her head where she'd rubbed it and had a scab there when I got her. Figured with each shed, it would go away. It hasn't and even tends to bleed a little every time she sheds. Sometimes, that bit doesn't come off and I'm almost relieved when it doesn't because it means it's not opening her up to infection. However, it doesn't seem to be going away either. The second is her mouth. She some scabbing on her lower jaw that I found after a couple weeks of having her that didn't look infected nor did they seem to bother her. I've been keeping an eye on it and though it hasn't gotten any worse, it doesn't seem to be getting any better either. I took another look in her mouth tonight to see if there was any other 'damage' or signs of infection and the inside looks completely healthy pink. No swelling, bleeding, or abnormal coloration. There is no sign of mucus, wheezing, or anything else different than the others. I compared her mouth to the inside of a couple of my others who've been with me since they were little and it looks the same except those spots on her lower jaw. The scabbing is still rough and dry like a scab would be but doesn't seem to be expanding/moving.

Her care/habits are as follows:
Rack system with belly heat on back 1/3rd with a hide and water bowl, all on newspaper. Temp on hot side stays between 90 and 91 consistently. Temp on cool side is between 78 and 82, fluctuating with the room temp. She's feeding like crazy and is my garbage disposal. Eats 1-2 small rats a week. Current weight is 1400 g. on the nose. I got her on March 24th at 548 g. She was hatched in 2010 and the previous owner had her with a heat lamp, no regulation, in a 20 gallon long. Her past issues were low body weight and severe stuck shed. She stays in her warm side hide until the lights go out when she comes out cruising for a meal unless she's in deep blue. Even then, she'll still take a rat or two. Never shows any signs of rubbing even when cruising though it's a possibility, no noticeable swelling on either point of injury/problem, and she's never had any issues eating. She's only ever been on F/T both with her previous owner who got her from Petco and with me so it's not a bite/claw wound. Her sheds are perfect now, consistently giving me full sheds except for the point on the top of her head where it sometimes has a 'hole' where the old scab/scales stayed stuck. If I'm missing anything, feel free to ask. I'm not overly worried about this but curious if maybe some antibiotics would help her heal up or if this is just something she's going to be living with. It doesn't seem to affect her other than looks-wise but she's got a forever home with me either way. Thanks for any advice. Pics are below.



The dark areas about a third of the way down her lower jaw on each side are the ones I'm talking about. They haven't moved since I got her and are rather symmetrical. Her mouth also looks like it's partially open only some of the time. This pic was before I opened her mouth up and after that, looking inside, and setting her back down, it was closed fully again.

[pythontricker]

go to a vet asap! they'll probably give you silver sulfidazine ointment for scale rot and similar conditions. keep the area sanitized for sure in the meanwhile. veterinary assistance is crucial in this sort of situation...

[bcr229]

The head will resolve slowly, it just takes a long time. The mouth should be seen by a vet, that looks like an infection to me.

[Dracoluna]

Thanks, both of you. I'll make an appointment today for her for the mouth issue. They can take a look at the head as well. It should have shed off by now but hasn't changed which is why it concerned me and she's shed about once a month since being rescued. Same with the mouth issue. Hasn't changed for better or worse.