first aid help

I had to go to another town for a couple of days and I left my ball python Jellybean in my brother's care because I thought he would be a good caretaker. He didn't do a very good job though because I came back yesterday and her enclosure was pretty wet and she seems to have developed a minor case of scale rot :mad: her stomach is pink, kind of like she's about to shed but less consistent. I'm going to treat her and i've heard that betadine is the best stuff to use in this situation, but there's a pretty large snow storm happening where I live and it's not safe to go to the drug store to get some. My step-father had his leg amputated last year and we have some stuff we used on him but I want to make sure it's alright to use and not too harsh. Also, if any of these are safe then how would I go about applying it?

The first option I have is povidone-iodine 10%. I know it'll probably turn her orange for a bit but that's alright.
I also have basic peroxide but I feel like that is too harsh
I've got some basic walgreens first-aid antiseptic and anesthetic stuff and it says compare to Bactine active ingredients
And I've got some pink stuff called Hibiclens chlorhexidine gluconate solution 4.0%

I have more but I'm 90% sure they would be FAR too harsh considering we used them to treat some extreme gangrene

Are you sure it is rot? I have one ball that gets patchy pink on her belly right before shed. First time I saw it I was concerned but she gets patchy pink right before every shed so now it doesn't concern me

I would not use any of those on a reptile. Wait until its safe to go out. Maybe post a picture so we can get a look at it?

i've been looking at some pictures and now i'm not sure... it looked like he didn't clean her enclosure the entire time i was gone (a week and a half) but the pictures of scale rot i've seen are either really bad or are only a couple of scales. usually her entire stomach turns pink when she's about to shed though. would it hurt to treat it just in case?

Personally I wouldn't treat anything unless I was confident it was a problem. Others may disagree though.

the pictures are bad because she kept wanting to turn over and i don't want to handle her too much since she ate last night, sorry. it looks better than it did yesterday and she ate perfectly fine so maybe it is a false alarm? if it is i'm going to feel really stupid. i got scared when i heard "rot" because my step-father died due to gangrene. maybe her stomach is irritated because of the dirty enclosure she was in?

http://i.imgur.com/DSFj0I8.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/IGfCsae.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EFoXO8n.jpg

Personally, I don't see anything wrong. As long as the tank/tub is clean now, then just let it be. Sometimes treating when there isn't anything wrong can be worse than a delay in something there. Make sense?

If the husbandry was off, then maybe it's going to be a crappy shed. So its patchy. Just try to relax a bit. These guys are tougher than that. How many rescue stories have you seen where it was a very long time of less than good conditions, and it all works out. Just let her digest her meal, and wait out the storm.

Be confident!!

Bumping above the mess

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kokorobosoi

Personally, I don't see anything wrong. As long as the tank/tub is clean now, then just let it be. Sometimes treating when there isn't anything wrong can be worse than a delay in something there. Make sense?

If the husbandry was off, then maybe it's going to be a crappy shed. So its patchy. Just try to relax a bit. These guys are tougher than that. How many rescue stories have you seen where it was a very long time of less than good conditions, and it all works out. Just let her digest her meal, and wait out the storm.

Be confident!!

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thank you so much! you made me feel 200% better. i can definitely deal with a bad shed. i feel like a mother hen. if it is scale rot then when the storm is over i'll put some betadine on it but if it's not then i'll know by then. i thought scale rot moved a lot faster than it does so i'm glad i came here.

Betadine is povidine-iodine (just like Tylenol is acetaminophen), so if needed in the future you're good there.

Hibiclens is an antibacterial soap, and somewhat harsh - we've got some in the house from pre-surgical cleaning and washing hands before administering drugs through a PICC line.


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