My snakes skin lessions got worse, i took her to the vet twice, it looks worse

My snake developed these skin lessions a few months ago, it started off as small dots. Now it looks like dying scales and pimples underneath them. I took her to the vet a few weeks ago twice and he gave her some shots. He said the wounds look like friction burns? its gotten way worse and i cant afford to keep bringing her to the vet. any ideas on what I can do? https://imgur.com/a/wGTWK how she looks right now. Thank you

So from asking a few more experienced buddies of mine, it seems that those could possibly be water blisters and the snake is popping them by rubbing itself against stuff. Can I get a pic of your setup?


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https://imgur.com/a/dKZPx
40gallon breeder, water spritzed daily. 100w bulb temp mid 80s

All I can really say is watch your humidity, make sure it doesn't get too high.


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It may just be the perspective in the picture, but if your snake climbs on that taller piece of driftwood it might be getting close enough to that lamp to get burned.

High humidity should not be an issue in that tank, if anything it will be too dry in there.

What kind of shots did your vet give, and what was your vet's guess as to what was wrong?

How often do you disinfect the enclosure and thoroughly clean the water bowl? That bowl has algae growing in it and if the tank has never been thoroughly disinfected, what ever is causing the infection is still in the tank. I would start by removing the driftwood in case it is causing allergic reaction. Remove all items form the tank and disinfect it properly. Add new items (do not return the old items unless you boil them or wash them through a sanitizing cycle in a dishwasher) and different substrate.

Please post the hot side temperature, cold side temperature, ambient air temperature, humidity, what thermostats you use for regulating heat sources, and how often you sanitize the enclosure.

This looks like a case of an infecting agent (bacteria, viral, fungal, etc) irritating and infecting wounds. Said wounds could be from irritation, allergies, or infection.

You can take the snake to a vet all you want but if you keep reintroducing it back to a contaminated cage, it will keep getting reinfected.

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Originally Posted by lemonpie1

My snake developed these skin lessions a few months ago, it started off as small dots. Now it looks like dying scales and pimples underneath them. I took her to the vet a few weeks ago twice and he gave her some shots. He said the wounds look like friction burns? its gotten way worse and i cant afford to keep bringing her to the vet. any ideas on what I can do? https://imgur.com/a/wGTWK how she looks right now. Thank you

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If the vet said the wounds look like friction burns, the lamp might have burned her. Are you using the lamp only for lighting or for heating also? If it was only for lighting just turn it off, its not necessary. And your enclosure does not look clean. Fresh water must always be provided.

Friction burns are not caused by heat. They're caused by friction, i.e. rubbing on something so fast or so much that it causes a burn. In most snakes, that's a "rub", not small blisters of infection. I would question why a vet would call small blisters under the scales "friction burn" at all.

To me, it looks like "blister disease". I think it's official name is vesicular dermatitis.

You would need to find where the extra dampness is, stop it and clean the entire tank, and the snake and keep everything sanitized(no substrate other than newspaper, no wood, no anything that you cannot sterilize on a near daily basis). The snake also probably needs an antibiotic/antifungal type treatment, although most of what I've read has been the old stand by baytril injections(only from a vet, unfortunately).

Good luck.

When I had my 40B setup, I used a 60watt black light 24/7. It kept ambient at 76 and light was directly over water dish held humidity at 43% after wrapping lid with foil. Sprayed it only when she was in shed mode. Hot spot at 89.

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