It finally happened. :(

So, one of my boys (3yo norm bp) finally got bit last night. There was no blood. The wound was very small (i know, bacteria.) from what i saw the rats teeth went in about 2-3 milimeters but did not go directly in. it's more like they just seperated a couple of scales from the muscle.

i keep him in a glass tank. i feed in the tank. when he coiled around the rat, i didn't see the the damage. i noticed it when he started to uncoil. so, apart from feeding f/t, how am i supposed to see every angle? i mean i can totally see this same thing happening in a tub. maybe there isn't a solution ofther than f/t or maybe i am just still ticked off that it happened. UGH!

now what are the extenuating circumstances that justify picking up and examining a snake that has just eaten. because i didn't see any blood, and he ate fine after the incident, and i couldn't even locate the spot while he was moving around; i didn't pick him up to see. i always wait 2 days before i even touch them. i did keep checking back and he is in his hide now so there is no way i am going to get a look with out disturbing him. what do you do?

if it's bad, what do i look for? yeah i know foaming, bleeding, pussing, anything that looks weird around the site is bad and it'll be off to the vet.. but what else can happen? any experience will be a plus.

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Originally Posted by Ranegyr

So, one of my boys (3yo norm bp) finally got bit last night. There was no blood. The wound was very small (i know, bacteria.) from what i saw the rats teeth went in about 2-3 milimeters but did not go directly in. it's more like they just seperated a couple of scales from the muscle.

i keep him in a glass tank. i feed in the tank. when he coiled around the rat, i didn't see the the damage. i noticed it when he started to uncoil. so, apart from feeding f/t, how am i supposed to see every angle? i mean i can totally see this same thing happening in a tub. maybe there isn't a solution ofther than f/t or maybe i am just still ticked off that it happened. UGH!

now what are the extenuating circumstances that justify picking up and examining a snake that has just eaten. because i didn't see any blood, and he ate fine after the incident, and i couldn't even locate the spot while he was moving around; i didn't pick him up to see. i always wait 2 days before i even touch them. i did keep checking back and he is in his hide now so there is no way i am going to get a look with out disturbing him. what do you do?

if it's bad, what do i look for? yeah i know foaming, bleeding, pussing, anything that looks weird around the site is bad and it'll be off to the vet.. but what else can happen? any experience will be a plus.

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did you put anything on it? Ive heard neosporin (bad spelling) is safe to use.

Mike~

My spider got bit a few weeks ago - in 2 places. It bled. He finished eating, I picked him up and applied neosporin and put him back in his hide. He feeds in a different container. He is fine. I keep my tongs in hand now when feeding. Last feed, same spider struck from the butt again (that kid is such a bad shot!!!), so I just stuck one end of the tong between the rat's head and the spider's body. By the way, he feeds from a kritter creeper, so I got access to all angles unless the head goes under the snake. This hasn't happened yet. If it does, I'll probably just roll the snake over a bit...

We feed 40 snakes every week, the majority live. Small scratches and superficial nicks do not seem to be detrimental. These are snakes with scales to protect them from those small hazards in life.

If you feel that it is better to err on the safe side, get some neosporin without pain reliever and put it on the wound. If it is a good size scratch, or there is chance for infection, you can clean the wound with betadine, iodine, or alcohol. Then put the neosporin on afterward.

neosporin WITHOUT PAINKILLER is supposedly safe to use, just keeps the snake safe from infection. A little nip isn't anything to worry about unless it gets infected, which is something to watch out for because infections can be really bad, but easily preventable. Luckily I've never had to deal with it(knock on wood) since I've never had a snake that didn't take F/T or P/K(knock on wood again)

When feeding live, bites can happen, don't beat yourself up over it. If the bite was serious you'd be able to tell.

dont use neosporin use polysporin. neosporin has a muscle relaxer in it, polysporin doesn't.

just curious..
shouldn't you use the neosporin with painkiller?

or neosporin at all (Monty)


Thanks,
Mike~

you should try not to worry too much about it. These are still wild animals and they are able to survive through bad feeding bites and scratches in the wild so im sure he will be fine. throw some meds on there and it should be good in a few days :D

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Originally Posted by MikeG

just curious..
shouldn't you use the neosporin with painkiller?

or neosporin at all (Monty)


Thanks,
Mike~

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Painkillers that are safe to use on humans are not necessarily safe for reptiles, and in fact might cause all sorts of health issues.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

Painkillers that are safe to use on humans are not necessarily safe for reptiles, and in fact might cause all sorts of health issues.

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Like what? I have heard other users say not to use Neosporin with painkillers, but never knew why...