Corn with possible belly rot? Need help!
I currently work at a small pet store that sells specialty dog foods and reptiles. We have a corn snake that is about a year and a half old, and about two weeks ago i moved her into a larger enclosure with a large enough water dish for her to soak in. I also sexed her at this time and she looked very healthy overall. She has been on aspen snake bedding since she has been at the pet store (which is about a year). Today i was holding her and felt something hard under her tail, and found what looked like belly rot on the bottom of her tail just past the cloaca. About an inch of it is a brown, crusty color and another quarter of an inch of it is an open wound. I thouroughly checked the rest of her belly and she is showing no beginning signs of belly rot anywhere else, so I'm not sure if thats actually what it is. I moved her back into her smaller enclosure on some newspaper and I used a small, heavy waterdish that she wont be able to tip over.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what else I can do? Some websites said to try neosporin for belly rot that isnt too bad, but this looks pretty bad. I will try to get a picture updated on Sunday. If it was my own snake I would have already scheduled a vet appointment, but since its not I want to be able to treat her the best I can, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Corn with possible belly rot? Need help!
Oh and just as a side note, I havnt seen any signs of mites and she is still eating like a pig (as usual)
Re: Corn with possible belly rot? Need help!
You can try gently cleaning the area with chlorhexidine and trying your best to keep it dry and debris free... but if there is already an open wound I think you are past the point of being able to treat on your own.
Re: Corn with possible belly rot? Need help!
Kay thanks guys. I have been doing to chlorhexidine wash and then applying neosporin, and the open wound part of it has actually healed up. I wont be able to get ahold of my manager until wednesday, but i will most defanitely talk to him if she isnt getting any better.
Re: Corn with possible belly rot? Need help!
I am glad the chlorhex is helping out - that stuff is the bomb!
I would alert the manager regardless of whether or not you continue to see improvement. Having them aware of the snake's medical history is a plus, and you are in a tricky state right now where it can either heal up or flare back twice as bad. Just my $.02!
:)