HELP me please!!! BP's scales are sloughing off--not a shed! Pics

Help me, please! I've talked to several breeders and Terry who runs the Dixie Reptile show and several vets and none of them have seen anything like this before. My snake's scales are sloughing off. It's not a shed. I mean her scales themselves are sliding off of her body from the tip of her nose to her tail in patches and I can see the skin underneath. It's only along her spine, not on her sides or belly. She's in pain. She's tense and was hissing when I went to (gently!) clean the substrate off of it. She wasn't striking, just hissing in pain. I've had her for two weeks. She has refused food so far, but otherwise was behaving normally. This wasn't going on a few days ago. She's in a tub. Temps are 90 on the warm side and 83 on the cool side, 60% humidity. No mites. I had her in QT already with a few of the other new guys I'd gotten, but she's now separated from them as well. There are no herp vets in my area. Terry called his vet and he seems to not know what it is, either, and is about 2 hours away. I'm afraid a ride that long would stress her even more, so I don't want to drive 4 hours round trip with her if he's not going to be able to help her. I've called every vet in a 100 mile radius and none of them specialize in reptiles or have any idea what could be wrong. They said it could be bacterial, could be fungal, might be contagious, might not be. I don't know what to do! My first sick snake and it's a mystery illness. :tears:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps83062246.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps70e44cb3.jpg

If you didn't say that you had her in a tub, I would say that it looks like a burn:weirdface. Was she like that when you got her or did it only appear later?

The first thing that you need to do is verify that your husbandry is correct. You will want to provide as close to perfect husbandry as possible until this is over with. I would suggest cleaning out her cage and replacing the substrate with paper towels. This is a much cleaner substrate and will help you keep an eye on her. Then you need to keep the snake's cage hospital clean until this is over. I've never seen anything like this, but I would suggest trying a warm bath in a betadine solution. Do NOT apply Neosporin to the would as that will only make things worse.

Is there anything in the cage that could cut/scrape her like that? I would try giving her as minimalistic of a setup as possible. something like this:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...0.jpg~original

BlueMoon, she wasn't like that when I got her. It's definitely not a burn. She's got belly heat and it's not hot enough (90 degrees with a thermostat). Serpent Merchant, she's in a tub with two identical hides, and a water bowl, nothing else. Temps and humidity are spot on. Her setup is the exact same as the rest and all of my others are fine. I'll get some betadine and switch her to paper towels. There's nothing that could cut or scrape. The inside of the tub is smooth. My hides are different, but my therm/hygro (in addition to thermostat) is the same as yours and the bowl is the same type, but a little bigger.
She was soaking when I got her, but the humidity was low (aquarium setup) and she doesn't have mites. I've checked her water, put her on paper for a few days, and looked all over her just in case and she hasn't soaked at all since I've had her. She hasn't eaten for me yet, but it didn't raise any warning flags because she's new and I've had them take a week or two to eat. She's obviously in pain and it hurts my heart that she's hurting and there's nothing I can do but leave her alone.

Could it be a skin infection?

I'd think a vet should be able to get a swab and try and culture it and at least provide some anti-biotics in the meantime and some of that cream I can never remember ( silver sulphadine or something is it? )

Are you sure there is nothing in the tub she could be rubbing it on and abrading her skin?

What kind of hide is it and is it smooth inside?

Could she have been forcing herself between the lid and something or lifting the lid in the middle?

Just sitting watching it isn't really an option I could face to be honest. :(

ETA- if your vet has no idea it might be worth having him arrange a phone consult with someone like dr Stahl - he could email him pictures and get advice on tests and possible causes?

dr del

Unfortunately there just isn't much effort being put into reptiles in the Veterinary industry. More than there use to be, but still nowhere near enough considering how many pet reptiles there are now. My sister is in school to become a vet, and some of the stuff she has been taught was terrifyingly wrong. (things like bearded dragons don't need UV light etc.)

I think the most important thing right now is trying to find out what caused it. My guess is that she rubbed herself too hard on something, but it could also be an infection of some type. Maybe try pulling everything but the water dish out of the tub and draping a towel or something over it to provide security for the snake.

After showing Terry and some friends the pics, the consensus is rat attack. It was only in with her for about 15 minutes and she had substrate on her when I went to take the rat out, so I didn't notice. My fault completely. :( I feel so bad about this.
Treatment? Terry says Neosporin, TSM says betadine. Which is better for an injury? And should I take her to the vet or treat it at home?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Parysa

After showing Terry and some friends the pics, the consensus is rat attack. It was only in with her for about 15 minutes and she had substrate on her when I went to take the rat out, so I didn't notice. My fault completely. :( I feel so bad about this.
Treatment? Terry says Neosporin, TSM says betadine. Which is better for an injury? And should I take her to the vet or treat it at home?

---

NEVER apply Neosporin to a snake. Neosporin turns snake scales to mush, and will only make your problem so much worse.

Ok. Thank you. With the betadine bath, should I mix it with water or do it straight? Actually soak her or (gently) rub it in?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Parysa

Ok. Thank you. With the betadine bath, should I mix it with water or do it straight? Actually soak her or (gently) rub it in?

---

You need to dilute it with water. I forget the exact ratio (I think it's 1 part betadine to 10 parts warm water) I would actually soak her for about 20-30 minutes in the solution. This will disinfect the wound. After that just keep the cage sterile and keep a close eye on her. If you see any signs of infection you need to get her to a vet for some antibiotics.

Best of luck, I hope she recovers quickly for you.