Thermal Burn?? Please Help!

I've had this baby ball python for a month. Got him through a successful shed and he's eaten once. But today when i was bathing him I noticed his belly was a little brown and concerning. My immediate thought was that it's a burn. I thought there was a enough separation from him and the bottom of the tank but I'm more than sure this is a thermal burn and not scale rot or anything. He has an appointment with the vet tomorrow afternoon and in the mean time I wiped him with a diluted iodine solution. What does this look like to you? Was the iodine the right move? (Also heating pad is not in use anymore and paper towels were changed)
Pictures:

http://imgur.com/Z1U2jDj

http://i.imgur.com/rCYG7KK.jpg

Yes it could be a burn. :(

How was the UTH being controlled?

The vet should be able to give you some topical treatment and possibly some anti-bios to reduce the chance of infection.

Fingers crossed for the little guy. :please:

Your statement, "I thought there was a enough separation from him and the bottom of the tank." makes me think you were relying on the substrate to protect the snake. Unfortunately no substrate can keep heat loving BP's from a too hot UTH.

If that is what you are doing, then yes your snake is probably burned

Do you have a thermostat for your UTH?

If not, you need to get one before the UTH is plugged back in.

I hope the Vet can help you, and that the burn is not too bad.

Best of luck.

Keep us posted. We are all pulling for your snake.

David

Well it's good that you found it before it got any worse! That does look like a severe burn because of the tbs or(total body surface) involved. It looks like it covers about 1/2 to 2/3 of the ventral scales. IMO, yes the iodine solution is a help but the bp will need supplemental medication to stave off a systemic secondary infection. The vet will take care of that hopefully. Are you sure he is a herp vet specializing in treatment of reptiles? That burn looks painful though. At least he is on his way to healing at this point. Stay in peace and not pieces. :gj:

Get some Silvadene. Alternate that every other day with Chlorhxadie Glucanate. He will heel up. Keep him on moist newspaper only and watch temps.

One day Silvadene, next day Chlorhexadine

So I guess I was just being really paranoid... The vet (whom I trust and has a lot of years of experience with snakes) said he's just going through a shed and happens to be dry. He doesn't believe it's a thermal burn at all but to watch him and call in 72 hours because he should shed by then. I set him up with a moist hide like I do my leopard geckos and he's loving it. I guess I just didn't expect him to shed so soon and that brown colour seemed really off. Thank you all for your help! I'll keep you guys updated to make sure it's just him shedding and not anything else.

Enjoying the moist hide
http://i.imgur.com/28HSMJp.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zecon44

So I guess I was just being really paranoid... The vet (whom I trust and has a lot of years of experience with snakes) said he's just going through a shed and happens to be dry. He doesn't believe it's a thermal burn at all but to watch him and call in 72 hours because he should shed by then. I set him up with a moist hide like I do my leopard geckos and he's loving it. I guess I just didn't expect him to shed so soon and that brown colour seemed really off. Thank you all for your help! I'll keep you guys updated to make sure it's just him shedding and not anything else.

Enjoying the moist hide
http://i.imgur.com/28HSMJp.jpg

---

Ok, cool. You had us worried. Good move getting to the vet asap! :gj: Don't forget to donate to USARK and the lawsuit against USFWS. Peace:gj:

I also think it sounds like you have a uth without a thermostat. Is this the case? If so it will not be long before you are dealing with a real burn.

I can't remember any of my snakes belly looking like that during a shed. Pink, blue, clear, shed.

Okay, pink belly is a shed........... brown and dry not so much.
I really hope for your snakes sake that the vet you trust is right.

Until then I will assume you don't regulate your heat source as the question has been asked but not answered.
Good burns take a long time to heal.

I don't have a thermostat for the UTH (which is still unplugged) but I plan on turning it on and getting a temperature reading from it later.

It didn't look like shed to me either, hence the vet visit... but the guy seems really trusted by the community and even a few of his assistants are reptile owners themselves. So I'm just going to keep his tank clean with the moist hide and hope the shed is healthy.

Can the moist hide cause scale rot if he sits in it too long? My geckos are usually very active and never sit in their moist hide for very long but my snake of course will. I'm just wondering since Google can give me mixed answers at times.