Ball Python- Nose Rub Wound

[vvictorialove]

Hello,

We have three ball pythons, Walle, Mo, and Herbie. Recently we had to make a cross country move, so our three kiddos had to stay in temporary enclosures for a couple of weeks (2) while we waited for their normal tanks to arrive. Mo (my sweet girl who tends to be more nervous than her brothers) did fine in the temporary enclosure for the first week and a half, but in the last few days she was in there, wounded her nose (I am guessing from trying to find an escape route).

The wound initially appeared as a raised bump and her face seemed to be a little swollen. I have been monitoring her closely now that she’s back in her normal home. The bump went away completely and the swelling went down, but it seems where the bump was there is now an open wound (?) or an open area (similar to when a scab on a human is torn away and the skin around the damaged area is slightly higher than the wounded area) where the bump once was.

She is behaving like her normal self and does not seem bothered by this. Her temperature is around 80° with the humidity around 60° (FL was much more humid than I had expected- we are working on dehumidifying the house so their tanks go down in humidity as well). As long as I make sure to keep her enclosure clean with the proper husbandry conditions, do I need to be worried about infection? Are there extra precautions I should be taking to help her heal better?

Thank you for the advice in advance.

[Armiyana]

If it's not directly where her tongue flicks, you can try giving her a small soak and letting her swim a little to gently flush the spot (keep her supervised!) And once that's done, a small dab of silver sulfadiazine cream or antibiotic ointment (plain, no painkillers). Keep her on paper towels if you do cause her nose will attract every bit of bedding it can with that stuff. You can soak her a little each day and reapply until it looks less angry. Then cut it back to a few days between soaks.
Hopefully it'll clear up fine in a couple of sheds.

If for some reason it starts to worse, vet asap. Anything like more swelling or weird discharge.

[Bogertophis]

...The wound initially appeared as a raised bump and her face seemed to be a little swollen. I have been monitoring her closely now that she’s back in her normal home. The bump went away completely and the swelling went down, but it seems where the bump was there is now an open wound (?) or an open area (similar to when a scab on a human is torn away and the skin around the damaged area is slightly higher than the wounded area) where the bump once was.....

Sounds like a little abscess was causing the bump & then it broke open (or was rubbed until it opened). When snakes keep pushing they often create an abscess, and they don't normally drain on their own (because snakes form pus that's mostly solid), but it sounds like your snake "took matters into her own hands". I agree with advice already given.