Burned himself I think

I took Nanners out today and on one side of him in just a little area he looks like he burnt himself. I do not have any hot rocks or anything else like that but the ding dong "burrowed" under his astroturf and then under the newspaper under that.

I put some antibiotic cream on it I will try to post a pic when I can. It doesn't look to bad but how worried should I be?

If it is a burn then I wouldn't be like quick somebody call 911 LOL. However your doing the best ya can just keep doing what your doing and hopefully he gets better soon. Just keep checking it everyday or 2 cause you don't want to get it dirty and stuff. Other than that the only Really big problem I could see you having is it help him possibly shed that one part of his body when it comes to sheding time. But if its as you say small then you've no really big worries.
Andrew

The only problem is he keeps trying to do it. I just caught him trying to burrow again :evil:. Does anyone else with Kings have this problem?
Maybe I should switch him to a rubbermaid will that decrease his chance of that if he is going to burrow? I would assume the plastic would not get as hot as glass.

Or you could always switch to and overhead heater. Or you could also try lineing the bottom with something like paper towels or something and throwing the substrate on over that cause that would inable him from being able to get on the glass just a few tricks I've picked up.
Andrew

he already did that, andrew.

It's really frustrating because I just got everything set up ok again. I had to move and rearrange both of my guys cages because they are in the basement and we had turned on the AC.

I experimented with a couple different substrates but finally got the best results with "astroturf" over some newspaper. His temps are great 91.6 on the hot side and 78.6 on the cool and everything is great. Then the little stinker decides he needs to burrow under the astroturf.

The burn does not appear to be bad it's about the size (circular) of a eraser tip and it does appear to be just on the surface ( the scales feel rough and appear a little brown). Do they try to burrow their hole lives or is this a baby thing ?

have you considered scalerot as a posibility?

Well scale rot could be another possibity that shouldn't be ruled out. However refering back to MacWin yes usually all the Kingsnakes I've ever seen like to burry themselves in the substrate to hide out and stuff. But the sooner you get some pictures posted then the sooner we'll be able to narrow it down to burn or Scale Rot. I can't fathom how he could just burn himself in one small spot when all his body was with him.
Andrew

thats why i mentioned it. in fact im sure it isn't a burn.

How would a snake get scale rot??

Theres many different ways most common I find are dirty living quarters a.k.a living in there own poop/pee, substrate isn't being changed, tanks not cleaned out properly etc., and enclosures that are damp/wet.
Andrew

I tried taking a picture but he is just to small and my camera will not zoom that close :evil:. I guess I will just keep applying antibiotic and watch how he is doing.

I always keep their cages very clean and his humidity has never been too high. What should I do about scale rot?

Ya thats just the only thing to do since its in the beginning stage and it sounds like scale rot it wouldn't hurt to give the enclosure a good ol' cleaning just to make sure, and I'm talkin' throughy cleaning everything braches, hides, water dish, everything. That would also be a good start. Other than that just keep a close eye on him so it doesn't spred out or anything and keep on the antibiotics but also give it some room to breath.
Andrew

Yeah he is almost OCD about the cleaning the cages clean. Is there any other way to get scalerot?

I will definetly do that then. Man that sucks are kings more prone than Boids? I have never had any problems with Bob.

The only other one I can think of right now is to much moisture in the enclosure. But there are other causes. I'll research them.
Andrew

could it be that new tree you put in with him? just brainstorming?

I find that colubrids are messier than Boids. However it really depends on the person keeping the snake cause its usually unsanitary conditions not that I'm saying you don't care for yor snakes or anything its just sometimes these things just happen.
Andrew

Yes Mr. Nanners is a lot messier!! I am also going to do some research hun and see if I can find anything, I hope work goes okay for you, try not to think about him too much. ;)

Does anyone have any good links about scale rot? I have been trying to find anything and having a hard time finding anything. HELP!! :D

Sorry I don't have any scale rot webpages. But going up to that new tree you guys put in with him bleech it in 5% bleech to water and leave it to soak and air dry in fact do that with everything let it sit in a 5% bleech to water solution that new tree, hides, fake plants if you've got them in there. You should do that about once every 1-2 months.

Thanks for your help. That is what we did last night. Also I looked at it last night and it doesn't look like a burn at all. Hopefully we are catching it early and if it gets any worse we will be at the vet. Thanks again for all of the help.

Your more than welcome if you have anymore questions or anything feel free to PM me or e-mail me my contact is below along with my name LOL. Hope he gets better soon.