Ok let's start over: Looking for good, clean, gentle advice on burn healing process

Good idea!! We have humidity a-plenty down here hah

I soaked a sponge with steaming hot water and put it in a plastic baggie with a ton of holes punched in it and nestled it in the very corner of her tank on the hot side. Watching the humidity climb from 40 to 55% right now. Yay!!

When I put Matilda in for her betadine bath tonight, some of her normal unburnt belly scales were floating in the water and when I took her out, I noticed some of them flaking off. Is this from the betadine soaks? From the sulfadene? What could be causing that? Her temps and humidity is up to par and her paper towel bedding is dry. Any ideas?

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Originally Posted by RaeDee

When I put Matilda in for her betadine bath tonight, some of her normal unburnt belly scales were floating in the water and when I took her out, I noticed some of them flaking off. Is this from the betadine soaks? From the sulfadene? What could be causing that? Her temps and humidity is up to par and her paper towel bedding is dry. Any ideas?

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It's an expected side effect of the treatments. Not sure of the mechanics of it, but any oily or creamy treatment can cause the scales to flake off one by one. It won't hurt the snake, it's just messy. Once she goes through her first shed after treatments have been completed, then you shouldn't see any more of those individual scales. But before then, you may see a lot more of them.

Unless the burn was so bad that sepsis was an immediate concern, I would forego the betadine soaks. Silver sulfadiazine cream is the topical of choice. You need a prescription for it. It is used in human burn victims as well.

The idea should be to keep it clean, keep it dry and minimize stress as much as possible. The silver sulfa cream applied twice a day, along with a paper towel substrate and moderate humidity is the best course of action until the animal heals.

She's doing so much better! She had her third injection this morning and she took it like a champ :) I've cut the betadine baths to every other day since her burn is showing real improvement. But I am continuing the silver sulfa cream every day. It helps so much. I know how effective it is on burns (as I mentioned earlier in the thread about my girlfriends motorcycle burn) and it's amazing how quickly its helping. The length of the burn and the general severity is easily 40-50% improved. She's under a heat lamp now, only 50 watt infrared with a rheostat (I went a little light on the wattage because I'm soooooo afraid of burning her again or her burning herself somehow) but the temps are up to par, her humidity is right at 50 so she's doing really really well I'd say. Just a little update for ya guys!

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

Unless the burn was so bad that sepsis was an immediate concern, I would forego the betadine soaks. Silver sulfadiazine cream is the topical of choice. You need a prescription for it.

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Actually http://mountainside-medical.com/ will sell it without a prescription. A small tube isn't expensive and would be a good addition to any snake owner's first-aid kit.

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

Unless the burn was so bad that sepsis was an immediate concern, I would forego the betadine soaks. Silver sulfadiazine cream is the topical of choice. You need a prescription for it. It is used in human burn victims as well.

The idea should be to keep it clean, keep it dry and minimize stress as much as possible. The silver sulfa cream applied twice a day, along with a paper towel substrate and moderate humidity is the best course of action until the animal heals.

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Well its the synergistic principle that is important here. That is the combination of all three treatments is better than any one treatment alone. The betadine soaks to inhibit the germs and promote sloughing of dead tissue and scales. The silver sulfadiazine also specific to heal burned tissue. And lastly the Fortaz for the bacterial infection and sepsis that can ensue in any burn tradgedy. So doing all is better than just one or two. :gj: You cant wait for the sepsis to occur or worsen you have to treat any burn aggressively.

Will a snake shed its skin a second time in a short period if it can feel it has an injury? May be a dumb question, I don't know. But is that possible? Can they go into shed-mode simply in an attempt to rid themselves of injured skin?

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Originally Posted by RaeDee

Will a snake shed its skin a second time in a short period if it can feel it has an injury? May be a dumb question, I don't know. But is that possible? Can they go into shed-mode simply in an attempt to rid themselves of injured skin?

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IDK. Definitely heard that before and it makes sense. Overall snakes heal slowly due to the inherent metabolic rate that they have. You should check with the vet before you decrease or stop any treatments and get his approval.:)