Strange wound on head - opinions? Pics included

Hi,

I recently noticed a dark wound on the top of the head of my 9-month-old albino female. I noticed it a couple weeks ago after her last shed. It looks slightly less red, but it hasn't healed as much as I would expect. There's no sign of swelling or discharge, just a scabby-looking hole. Her activity and disposition remain completely normal - lots of nighttime slithering. She has eaten a couple times, but she has also refused a couple times, which is a little unusual for her. Normal pooping and behavior otherwise seems fine.

My question is, what do you think it is? I'm hoping it's not an infection or abscess. I am speculating that she hurt herself trying to shed, although I wouldn't expect a shed wound to be right on top of the head. She eats dead prey, so it's not from a mouse injury. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks for any input.

Brian


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If you could describe your setup that would rule out anything she may be able to hurt herself on inside the enclosure, other than that, I would say it COULD be from rubbing on things in the cage, but it really just depends on what's inside the enclosure.

do you feed live? what are you keeping her in and what are the furnishings like? Not that I have any answers but these questions seem important.

Two questions. First do you feed live? Second look around in the enclosure for anything it might have rubbed on that would cause that. On a side note put some Neosporine (with out the pain killer in it) on it about twice a week.

Do you heat lamps at all?

I received a rescue that had an open sore like that once but about twice the size. Wasn't sure if it was a burn or a bite that got out of hand. She was in bad shape.
We kept her in a sterile tub and cleaned it twice a day with a Betadine solution.

It healed up in about 3 weeks.

I'm not a Vet so listen to the advice of others. You might want to get her checked out. If nothing else maybe talk to a Vet over the phone and see if you can email them a photo.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

She only eats frozen thawed, so it's not a prey injury.

Here's a picture of my set-up. It's 3 feet long by 2 feet deep and 1 foot high in a Boaphiles cage with Boaphiles heating. I use cypress mulch for substrate and the usual assortment of big-box-store of decorations, hides, and driftwood for climbing. The warm side is about 90 and the cool side is 77. She uses both sides. The heating is done with a radiant heat panel and an UTH controlled by a higher-end thermostat. I was wondering if it might be a burn on the heat panel, but even when at full heat, the panel doesn't burn unless you touch it for at least 5-10 seconds... plenty of opportunity to touch it and flinch without any burn.

I'll try the Neosporin, good idea. Any other thoughts?
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I would strip that enclosure down to a smooth hide and water bowl on paper towels until it heals.

take a really close look inside that Gray hide. I've had a snake cut it's eye open before using those. They will have a little bur inside them that the snake rubs on while shedding or eating and it'll cut them up sometimes.

Thanks for the suggestions. The gray hide doesn't seem to have any sharp areas. The burrs and knobs on the inside seem pretty smooth. I suppose there are lots of areas throughout the cage for a snake to get a cut, but I think he'd have to try really hard... that's why I suspect it was an overzealous shedding attempt. I'll try the Neosporin and keep an eye on it.

I think it looks like it will heal well. Just monitor for infection and keep the cage very clean.