Aquired poorly taken care of adult BP. HELP!

[SaraCVT]

Hi! New to bp.net, but hoping all you snakey people can help me out.

I work at a vet hospital, and a couple weeks ago this guy brought in a bp to be euthanized for "shedding problems". Obviously, we didn't kill him and now he is mine.

So, it appears that he has an inch wide burn all down his back from a heat lamp. It also melted his cage. My exotic specialist vet put him on a 10 day course of Baytril (injectable antibiotic) and daily weak iodine soaks. The infectin has cleared up and the skin under the cracked and burned stuff is healthy and supple, maybe a bit discolored. I've reduced his soaks to every other day because he was getting sick of all the fuss. I have been keeping his enclosure as humid as possible. Any other suggestions? He's got lots of skin hanging off of him that are still very much attached. Keep doing what I'm doing?

Also, I have no idea when he ate last. I try feeding him once a week and he has no interest at all. I have several other snakes, so I'm not completely ignorant on getting snakes to eat. My vet says that if he doesn't start eating in a couple weeks, I'll need to force feed him, which I am very reluctant to do. I know he needs to keep up his strength to heal, but I kinda feel like it may do more harm than good. I've been keeping tabs on his weight (840 grams) and he hasn't lost any. So, again, I'd love to hear any and all feedback.

Thanks a bunch!

[TheSnakeGuy]

If no dramatic weight loss is evident in the coming weeks then don't bother with force feeding. It will just further the stress on him and help to weaken his overall immune response. I would offer a large mouse or small rat every 2 weeks. As for helping the shedding; after your warm soak you could have a warm wet towel on hand and let him run through it several times with your hands outside the towel holding it gently against him to break loose some of the old skin. Just be careful around the burns. Not much else you can do besides the antibiotic regiment and the good husbandry. You are now at the 'wait and see' part of recovery. Good luck, and many kudos to you for saving a life that otherwise would've ended for no good reason.

[shadowsnakes]

When you say lots of skin attached, do you mean stuck shead? if so there are a number of things you can try. Shed Ease, a lukewarm bath and crawl through a pillow case, gently rubbing it off, etc. I would use caution around the injured area, though, and try not to get it wet with Shed Ease. It may irritate bare skin. For the eating issue, was he checked for parasites? If that comes up clean then you may need to wait for his appetite to naturally return. A ose of Jump Start or force feeding may be necessary if he starts losing a lot of weight.

You mentioned owning other snakes so I assume your enclosure setup has good hot/cold sides and humidity. Good on you for taking in an unwanted BP!

[SaraCVT]

Thanks a lot for validating that I've been doing all I can. I'll try the wet towel thing next time I soak him. Great idea! I've grown very attached to this little guy in a short amount of time. Even with all the messing around with him every single day, he still is a lover for sure. I'll be patient.

[SaraCVT]

Shadow...its stuck burned skin. Not shed. And it is clearly painful so I've been leaving it alone. And I did check him for parasites, internal and external. Negative for both.

[SaraCVT]

Oh, and yes. there is a warm side and cooler side and good humidity. And I'm not using a heating lamp. Just an under tank heater thingy. He's in my bedroom where its very warm and quiet.

[Garnet]

If the hanging skin is from burns, I'd just let it be until it sloughs off on its own. It sounds to me like you're already doing all the right things to allow the snake to heal and also that you have provided and nice, warm stress free environment. Kudos to you! I imagine that his appetite will return when he feels better.

[bcr229]

Any updates?

[TexanLady]

Good for you for adopting an abused snake. Too many people just dump them or let them die. Thanks for saving a life.