Guys...I'm really worried...Scale rot?? Infected burn?? Please help!!

Your local hardware store has everything you need, they carry lamp dimmers that will regulate your mat.
Rheostats take work to dial in and will need to be adjusted during temperature changes so you will still need to monitor very close.
A thermostat would have been the better move because they will adjust themselves.

You said your thermometer probe is on top of the mat. Between the mat and glass OR between the glass and substrate?

There is no scale rot there.
It was a minor burn to start with but you didn't listen and continued using an unregulated UTH source so what would anyone expect to happen?
Your animal now has a long road of healing to do.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psne0gktek.jpg
I got one of mine from someone that thought they didn't need to regulate their source either, then again he told me she was het pastel too. :rolleyes:

Ok so the vet visit went well. He said he had seen burns worse than Matilda's that had healed just fine, so he felt her prognosis was very good. She'll be having a betadine bath every day, along with a light shmear of silver sulfadiazine, plus injections of Fortaz every 72 hours. As mentioned above by several of you, I've been instructed to get her a heat lamp until she's fully healed and after her next shed. So I'll be purchasing that today at the reptile store just as soon as it opens. Any advice on which type/wattage/bulb/whatever I should look for?

I have one of those guys too. The UTH actually caught on fire and she lost part of her tail in an accident with her previous owner. Those things are dangerous. :(

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Glad the vet says she has a good prognosis! Just make sure the bulb is the appropriate wattage for the lamp.

Best advice get a lamp with a dimmable switch not just and on/off one, this way you can adjust output and not be set to whatever the bulb produces at full power, also you may want to look at a heat bulb in either red or the blue... but better then them is a ceramic heat emitter... much more reliable then the light bulbs... but if you get a che you must make sure that the light socket is porcelain... as for bulb wattage a 75 or 100w should be more then enough

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Originally Posted by RaeDee

Ok so the vet visit went well. He said he had seen burns worse than Matilda's that had healed just fine, so he felt her prognosis was very good. She'll be having a betadine bath every day, along with a light shmear of silver sulfadiazine, plus injections of Fortaz every 72 hours. As mentioned above by several of you, I've been instructed to get her a heat lamp until she's fully healed and after her next shed. So I'll be purchasing that today at the reptile store just as soon as it opens. Any advice on which type/wattage/bulb/whatever I should look for?

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100/150 depending on what size cage she's in. (Always match bulb/fixture wattage) Larger isn't going to hurt and will be more efficient so long as it's controlled. Smaller the bulb the more it has to work to heat the same space as a larger one. Ceramic bulbs work well since you can keep them on at all times and won't affect the day/night cycle. And as MPC mentioned get a ceramic fixture for any CHE bulb.

I got a red bulb and fixture adequate for her tank size. And fortunately the fixture I got works with my rheostat so buying the stat wasn't a total waste hah. I also got a infrared temp gun so I can accurately read the temps in her tank. Thanks to everyone for their advice! (and shaming from some lol). This site really is indispensable.

Sometimes some people just dont want the truth and it may hurt but its all for the best of the animals we chose to hold prisoner in our hearts.

Hey, I had my first snake on an unregulated uth as well. All that quickly ended with the resulting burn. It wasn't bad, thank goodness, but it was enough to kick my head into gear! He once he shed it was totally gone, no scarring and he got back on feed, but it sure was scary and I was pretty upset with myself. You live and you learn right? Good luck with the treating of the burn!

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Originally Posted by RaeDee

I got a red bulb and fixture adequate for her tank size. And fortunately the fixture I got works with my rheostat so buying the stat wasn't a total waste hah. I also got a infrared temp gun so I can accurately read the temps in her tank. Thanks to everyone for their advice! (and shaming from some lol). This site really is indispensable.

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Telling you that your failure to listen to people's recommendations made the problem worse isn't shaming, it's reality. Everyone on here really loves these animals and to see one suffer because of stubbornness really gets under a lot of people's skin.

That being said, I'm glad the vet said that she has a good prognosis. In the meantime, I'd suggest saving up for an actual thermostat instead of just a rheostat. They are more reliable, safer, and just generally a better choice. I'm certain there are people on here that can give you all the fine points of difference between them. The rheostat is certainly a step in the right direction, but as with all equipment some types work better than others. I'm no expert on the best thermostat brands so it may be a good idea to start a new thread to get suggestions.