Problem with my BP

[Nukegm426]

I went to feed my snakes today and noticed that the male of the two seems to be missing the bottom scales from about midpoint tailward. he's in the middle of a shed and is always bad about shedding, the whole area is moist and covered in the substate i keep them in(ground english walnut shells) he's sluggish but that is normal for him, and i can tell by the way he moves it bothers him. so the question i have is this, do i rinse the substate off and keep him in a plastic container until he hopefully heals or just leave him as is and keep an eye on him. i know i should take him to a vet but fankly i can't afford to right now since this lovely economy has me unemployed at the moment. thanks for your help.

[Kaorte]

How is he just missing scales? This doesn't just happen without you noticing something first or something significant happening.

I would suggest rinsing the area off and applying some neosporin or polysporin (the kind withOUT pain killer). Switch your substrate to paper towels to prevent infection.

[littleindiangirl]

Pics would help. Rinse his belly, pat dry carefully w/ paper towels, and take pictures to show the damage.

Re-evaluate your set up. If it's a burn or scale rot, he will need treatment from a vet for medication (anti-biotics) and creams.

[Nukegm426]

How is he just missing scales? This doesn't just happen without you noticing something first or something significant happening.

I would suggest rinsing the area off and applying some neosporin or polysporin (the kind withOUT pain killer). Switch your substrate to paper towels to prevent infection.

honestly not sure what happened, they've both been in this cage for about 4 months without a problem, and the cage before that had the same decorations as far as rock and heater and substrate. i'll hit the store and find a container to keep him in while in the cage, because of the size of the cage it's not practical to change the substrate till he's better, and i don't have another place to securely keep him. my best guess is he started to shed and got the skin caught on something and it wasn't ready to come off yet... looks like a bigger version of something that happened to him when i first got him, only that time was caused by me peeling the shed off him....i know better than to do that now.

[cinderbird]

based on your second post... are you housing them together? If so, i strongly recommend separating them as soon as possible. He may have a serious problem like scale rot or an infection.

I also agree with the two posters above me.. Vet appointment should be in the works. They don't just lose scales for no reason.

Could you give us more information? ALL enclosure info, temps, how you're measuring them, thermometer type, thermostat type, humidity, etc. It may help.

[CTReptileRescue]

I agree, some more info would help with our opinions. A vet visit sounds in order. Even if you can phone consult your regular herp vet. Maybe they can do a payment plan etc. I know times are rough.
This doesn't just sound like a bad shed. This could easily be scale rot or another type of infection. If this happend before maybe he / she has had it for a while. Time to call the vet.
Try and post a picture if you can.
Definalty seperate the two snakes.
Keep the snake with the open wounds / sores on dry unprinted newspaper or unprinted paper towels. But I would try and rinse the "stuck" bedding. It would just lead to more bacteria in the wounds.
If you're having trouble seperating them due to enclosure issues try and get a sweater box / tote.
I'm sure folks here can chime in on how big the tote and how to set it up.
Hope he / she does ok, keep us updated
Rusty

[frankykeno]

honestly not sure what happened, they've both been in this cage for about 4 months without a problem, and the cage before that had the same decorations as far as rock and heater and substrate. i'll hit the store and find a container to keep him in while in the cage, because of the size of the cage it's not practical to change the substrate till he's better, and i don't have another place to securely keep him. my best guess is he started to shed and got the skin caught on something and it wasn't ready to come off yet... looks like a bigger version of something that happened to him when i first got him, only that time was caused by me peeling the shed off him....i know better than to do that now.

"rock"??? Do you mean a regular rock or a heat rock?

Why is it "not practical" to change a substrate no matter what size the enclosure is?

Even if times are tight it's not at all expensive to set up a simple tub enclosure to both get him away from the other snake and give him a place to heal up. We can help you with that. Please do post some pictures of the snake and this enclosure though or at least describe them very well so the members here can get a clearer idea of what's going on. Remember though, no one here is a vet or can diagnose online so you may have to contact a vet that has herp experience and see if you can work out a payment plan.