My poor ball got a nasty flesh wound. I need help.

Ok- a little bit of a back story. My 1.5 year old ball python initially injured himself one night (a little over a month ago) during a late night escape from his tank - didn't latch all the way apparently and his little body wedged it open to freedom. Anyway, he burned the top of his head of the overhead lamp. His vet gave us silver sulfadiazine cream to treat it until healed. The treatment was working great too.

Well, last night i come home to see that he somehow rubbed his scab partly off his head down to raw flesh. I freaked and immediately pulled him out of the cage to look at it. I am worried and getting very anxious about it (but i have an anxiety disorder so this large, internal reaction is not uncommon) my partner (a decade long snake keeper) said it should heal fine. i put more of that cream on it - which caused a pretty immediate calming reaction in him and how he's slithering away in good spirits. How worried should i be? I'm going to keep cleaning and treating it daily until i can get him into vet next week. Has anyone else had similar wounds in their snakes? Any advice or snake injury success stories would be so helpful. Thanks.

I'm a very worried snake momma. 3 hour long anxiety attack and would love some peace of mind.

I will be adding an image of the injury later. Its still early and my partner is still sleeping.

I don't have any personal experience with BP injuries, but going purely from accounts I've read here, it sounds like it should heal fine. Keep an eye on it to make sure nothing gets infected, of course, and continue with the cream.

I normally keep quiet and let someone with actual experience give the advice, but I saw that no one had replied yet, and thought maybe I could give some small piece of mind. :) Myself and my boyfriend both suffer from anxiety/depression issues, so I know all too well how bad the anxiety can be. A 3 hour panic attack is no joke.

Take care. :)

It's pretty common for wounds to re-open or look nasty when snakes knock scabs off of themselves, or when scabs are lost as they shed. You did the right thing by applying more of the silver sulfadiazine.

thank you so much. everyone seems to agree to just keep up with the treatment and keep an eye on it.
and i'm glad you also understand about the anxiety. so many people just do not think that anxiety is or can be that bad. most people experience mild, situational anxiety and its really hard to put this kind of attack into perspective for them. :)

Yea, it looks less scary now. I think the immediate redness and rawness was just very alarming. I'll keep up the treatment and watch it. Thanks so much for the kind words and reassurance.

You're a good snake mama to be so worried over your BP. Good job!!!


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