HELP !!! Skin issue

Is he in a tank with a screen lid? Almost looks like he could have pushed a screen lid up just enough to get his head stuck then scratched like that pulling his head back out.

Thankyou I will do this ! The light isn't actually that hot so it should be ok! Yeah well last night I actually changed his bedding from aspen to newspaper so it wouldn't irritate him! Thankyou


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No but he has a cage round his light which has springs on maybe he got his head stuck in there :(


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whats his hide made of? I worry about this happening on the wood in my tank, but have to remind myself in the wild they deal with these things.

He could of just go stuck shoving himself down the side of something. Did you find the missing scales?

His hide is made of wood. He has 2 wooden ones (made for snakes) yeah that's true actually !
We haven't found the missing scales anywhere or any blood. I'm going to have another proper look when I'm home from work


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one of the first thing my ball python did was sit ontop of his wooden hideand then shove his head right down the back between the hide and glass - could be something like that I guess, Try not to worry, maybe just use kitchen towel as substrate for now and make sure everything is disenfected. He should be fine.

I really think we need to see pics of the setup. Can you post some? There has to be something in there that has hurt the snake. Is the screen locked down? It sort of does look like what someone said above, that he got his head out and hurt it when pulling back in.

For now, that looks like a pretty bad laceration. I can't tell how deep that is, but it might require stitches to heal properly. I would look around for a qualified reptile vet in your area, and give them a call. Even if it does not need stitches you need to be able to keep that clean so it does not get infected and a vet can tell you what kind of solution you should use to clean it.

I've seen snakes heal from some pretty deep lacerations, but if the skin is not aligned well or the area is very large, they can re-open the wound every time they eat / shed. It takes a while for new skin to be as elastic and tough enough to stand up to all the stretching. Since it is right in the area where he needs his skin to stretch to eat, you may have to feed him smaller prey than normal on a more frequent basis so the injury can heal as quickly as possible.

About the light, even if it has a 'cage' around it, I'm not sure why it is even in his tank. I've seen this type of set up for large lizards and tortoises, but usually this is a custom build cage. What kind of tank/cage is he in? Just trying to see if we can help with a safer alternative for the light. If it is a custom build, maybe some of the DIY people can chime in too.

Pics of the tank and light in question?