Rubbing? Indent on Shayna's snout and raw scales on head?

[dakski]

I have a separate thread for Shayna, but I wanted to post this as its own thread.

A couple of days ago, I noticed some raw scales on Shayna's head (top) and a little (pinhead) black spot around the top of her snout between her two nostrils.

Looked like she had irritated the area, but wanted to see what happened; if it got better or worse.

The top of her head looks the same, but her top of nose snout area looks a little bigger. I have pictures below. I put some antibiotic cream on it.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Aside from the head shyness, she does not seem to be bothered by me touching it or applying the ointment.

I have yet to see her rub, ever. However, that doesn't mean she isn't doing it, and I have seen her push under her hides instead of just using the door.

Two other things. It got pretty warm in the reptile room - 77F and today upped her thermostat 1F (probe temp) as it was barely sending any power to her hot side Heat Tape and RHP (certainly not consistently - wasn't cold enough in the tank). It had dropped to about 84F hot side and is now back to 88-89F. I was in NYC yesterday until late and didn't check temps beyond looking at the thermostat gauges.

Today I checked, per usual, and saw the drop in her and Behira's cages - same thermostat. Not sure if that irritated her, but the coolest spot of the tank was 79F and the ambient temp was still 80-82F.

Finally, humidity has been about 70-75% in my basement and in her tank the past week. I usually keep her around 65% in the summer and 55-60% the rest of the year. Not sure if this was a factor as well.

I imagine and I am hoping it's an overreaction, and it's just a missing scale, etc. However, interested in what other users have to say.

Thank you in advance.

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[Bogertophis]

Looks to me like a rub. That "black spot" is probably not black, but dark red (from her circulating blood) & only looks black because of insufficient light.
(a super-bright flashlight would probably prove this but would hurt his eyes, so I wouldn't recommend doing it)

[dakski]

Looks to me like a rub. That "black spot" is probably not black, but dark red (from her circulating blood) & only looks black because of insufficient light.
(a super-bright flashlight would probably prove this but would hurt his eyes, so I wouldn't recommend doing it)

Thank you. I am going to keep an eye on it.

I've also become pretty friendly with Don Soderberg at South Mountain Reptiles. He's a top notch corn snake breeder, and we got Solana from him, but he's also about the nicest guy in the world and an all around reptile expert. I sent him the pics and discussed with him over the phone.

He said that it's not swollen and doesn't have any discharge and to keep up with antibiotic cream and monitor. Seems like rubbing to him too.

He also said antibiotic cream with VIT D is good, but the VIT D only stays potent for about 6 months. He also said NOT to use antibiotic cream with pain killer in it for reptiles.

I'll keep on eye on her and see what happens. I am glad there is no blood, swelling, or discharge, and that she doesn't seem uncomfortable.

I'll keep everyone in the loop.

[dakski]

The spot was no bigger today and felt dry and a little rough around the edges to the touch. I didn't touch it yesterday, I used a Q-Tip, so I cannot really compare.

Today, I washed my hands thoroughly and gently applied a little antibiotic cream to the spot with my finger. Again, this did not bother her at all.

[dakski]

The spot has seemed to stabilize and she gobbled down a medium rat tonight, so I think everything will be okay.

[dakski]

Shayna's snout is definitely better, but she must have done some rubbing.

I noticed today that it's not just the top of her head that's raw, but her neck on top of her spine too. Hard to see in the pictures, just slightly faded, but feels raw.

Again, she ate, and nothing seems worse, and if anything, is better. I will keep an eye on her, but not too worried.

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