Ball Python Injury

Hello - First time poster here. Was hoping I could get some advice. I have a baby Less Platinum male who is just over a month old. I came home from work today and his water bowl was tipped over and one of his hides was moved. He was in one of his hides and when I pulled him out I noticed he has a pretty bad open wound on the side of his neck. I don't think it's a burn (there is nothing hot enough in the tank that could even cause a burn). I believe he may have caught himself on a metal hook that the thermostat was hanging on. I have washed the wound, applied neosporin, and replaced his substrate with paper towels as advised by my local reptile shop. Can anyone else maybe give me some advice or check out the pic below and give me their opinion? Not sure if I should take him to a vet or just keep an eye on it. He seems to be acting normally and didn't give me much trouble when I was cleaning it. Thanks in advance.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/55662155/20120718_170511.jpg

I would take to the vet, and it is my understanding the Neo is bad for snakes. Also get the hook out of the enclosure and check to make sure there is nothing sharp in there.


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IMO that's a trip to the vet asap for suture points and probably some appropriate disinfectant and/or anitbiotic. A big open wound like that is likely to get infected or worst, if it was mine I would try to get good herp qualified vet to take care your ball.

x3 vet trip! That looks like the muscle tissue is exposed and cuts like that dont close up on their own. Vet asap!

VET. no questions.

x2 on that hook removal. hooks/tape/sicky stuff----> all bad.

Agree with Andy vet right away


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Oh gosh. Get it to the vet right now.

And get the hook out of the tank!

Neosporin is not a good idea to be using on snakes. It can make their scales mushy. A diluted solution of betadine is better. But a vet visit is still needed.

Vet immediately. No neo. A large open wound like that 1 will not do well with neo anyways 2 neo will only soften the scales leading to more injury, flaking and infection.
Sounds like you already took the best precautions with changing into papertowels. But youll really need to sterilize, and keep the tank hospital Clean. A couple temp tubs "hospital tubs" might be in order. It'll be easy to clean switching back and forth daily from one to the other. Set them up exactly the same. This will be a hell of alot less stressful than having to clean out a tank daily. At least every other day. It'll be some work but he will heal.
I hope you took the hook out too. He probably was trying to climb and he fell tearing his skin. Ouch!


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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

Vet immediately. No neo. A large open wound like that 1 will not do well with neo anyways 2 neo will only soften the scales leading to more injury, flaking and infection.
Sounds like you already took the best precautions with changing into papertowels. But youll really need to sterilize, and keep the tank hospital Clean. A couple temp tubs "hospital tubs" might be in order. It'll be easy to clean switching back and forth daily from one to the other. Set them up exactly the same. This will be a hell of alot less stressful than having to clean out a tank daily. At least every other day. It'll be some work but he will heal.
I hope you took the hook out too. He probably was trying to climb and he fell tearing his skin. Ouch!


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

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Thanks, everyone, for all of your advice. After an hour and a half ride I am sitting at the animal hospital.

Poor baby, I hope he gets back to tip top shape.

I've been told to never use neosporin.

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Originally Posted by Navy

Poor baby, I hope he gets back to tip top shape.

I've been told to never use neosporin.

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Well he's all glued back together. I've been getting mixed reviews on the Neosporin. Some say yes, some say no, some say it's fine as long as it doesn't have pain reliever. Maybe it's ok for some wounds and not others? I'm just gonna go with vet recommendation on this one. Thanks again everyone.

Neosporin should not be used bc it turns the scales to mush.

What did they use to glue him back together? Im just curious

There is such thing as veterinary glue, used to attach lacerations that can't be healed with stitches.

Oh the poor thing! Good for you for doing the right thing and getting him to a vet asap!

You can use Neosporin without painkiller, on small wounds, that only require maybe 3-4 days of treatment. The mistakes that people make with it are: 1) Instead of applying a small dab only on the wound, they overdo it and get Neo smeared all over the healthy scales. 2) People will try to use Neosporin to treat large or severe wounds, instead of going to the vet. Neosporin should only be used on large wounds to help prevent contamination of the wound until the vet visit, not as an alternative for the vet visit...
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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

You can use Neosporin without painkiller, on small wounds, that only require maybe 3-4 days of treatment. The mistakes that people make with it are: 1) Instead of applying a small dab only on the wound, they overdo it and get Neo smeared all over the healthy scales. 2) People will try to use Neosporin to treat large or severe wounds, instead of going to the vet. Neosporin should only be used on large wounds to help prevent contamination of the wound until the vet visit, not as an alternative for the vet visit...
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This is pretty much what the vet told me. She said that the size of the wound warranted stitches, but be a use of the location and the size of the snake, and the fact that all of his skin was still there, she decided to use the tissue glue. He's gonna have to skip his meal this week so he doesn't stretch the wound out. Then maybe bump him down to pinkies for a week or two.

HOLY CRAP that is a big cut man.....glad you took the little one to the vet...I am wondering if that happened and it freaked out, maybe that is why your water dish was tipped and all....sorry to see that though, hope it heals nicely, whether it looks good or not, as long as it heals that's all that matters!!!

Wow, that is a whammy. Glad you got him to the vet and they glued it up. He will be fine skipping a meal, and getting healed. Make sure his tank is sterile clean, and get rid of the hook asap! Did they give you any antibiotics in case of infection?

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Good catch. I am glad he has had vet treatment. Polysporin works in a pinch, it is not the best however. A Silver sulfadiazine cream is 1000 times superior and does not effect the scales. I get Flamazine from my vet. It is a great product I always keep it on hand. (designed for burns and not to effect tissues the way polysporin can) Oddly It is about the same price....

Just as a reference I believe this may be the culprit. It has since been removed. The thermostat is a Zilla. I feel like an idiot for not even thinking about it when I hung the thing on my tank.

http://db.tt/fVSowToH

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- - - Updated - - -

Sorry here's the link

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/55662155/20120719_084718.jpg

Advised to go to the vet... and DID IT?

Congrats on doing the right thing and gl with the recovery!

That's a rough looking wound. Best of luck on a quick and complete heal.

My mojave got the same injury about a year ago but was much smaller than that. I still don't know how she did it. It didn't tear all the scales off (it was like a flap) but you could see the pink underneath. I used Neosporin without pain killer and after a couple of sheds it healed up nicely, can hardly even notice it. Good move though on getting it to the vet, a wound that big should definitely be seen by a doctor :)

Poor baby!!

I'd take him to the vet and get that stitched up.

Good luck =)