I think my Zephyr has scale rot

I could be wrong about the temps. I'm not at home right now. I'm at my boyfriend's house. My reptile vet is awesome! He was the head vet at the Pittsburgh Zoo for over 20 years. Zephyr was taking the baytril for a URI from aspirating some water one time while he was soaking. Scared me half to death! I may use some silver sulfadiazathine on him when I get home. It's more commonly known as silvadene. Great for topical skin infections because it contains a sulfur compound antibiotic. Thanks for all the help guys! I'll keep you all posted, but I had to be sure that what I was dealing with was indeed scale rot. :)

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Originally Posted by VitriolBlue

I keep the cage very clean, and he shares it with two other snakes.

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What size tank do you have? And what other snakes is he sharing it with? Ball pythons really aren't social reptiles, and having to compete with other snakes for warmth and hiding spots can stress them out. They should be housed separately with the exception of small hatchlings and breeding pairs. I'm sure this isn't helping with his recovery and if there are other snakes in with him, they run the risk of contracting anything he might have.

Also, what are you using for heat? Are you using a heat pad, heat light, etc? 79 is fine for the cool/ambient temps, but bps also require a basking spot of 90-92F There is an excellent care sheet here http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet

As for your original question, you can use antibiotic cream, just make sure it doesn't have any "painkiller" type compounds in it. Keeping your snake clean and dry (preferably on newspaper or paper towels) and monitoring the area is the best thing to do. And having him checked by a vet couldn't hurt either :)

He's temporarily being housed with a baby ball and baby rtb. I have a snake rack that he'll be moving to soon, but I know it may sound a little selfish, but I kinda like to have him close to me. Silvadene has no painkiller properties to it, and I'm getting ready to wipe down the area with a tea tree oil cloth. I'm sure that'll help him.

Definitely separate him into his own tank, same with the baby ball and RTB. Different species shouldn't be housed together. You don't find them together in the wild and it shouldn't happen in captivity either. :P

What do you have for heat? Maybe I missed it.. Also what are you warm side temps? And cold side temps?

Why are you keeping all these snakes in the same enclosure? The number of problems that can come from this is huge, especially housing 2 different species

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