New owner, old mistake, need conformation on advice to give.

Short story, someone came to me with a medical mishap and needs advice. I want to be clear on the advice before I go spouting off something that is incorrect.

Issue: Tape nightmare. BP got tape stuck near it's neck area, seems to be back/side, not belly.

Current advice/steps taken: He's using olive oil to remove the remaining tape, but there is already skin damage done. I told him to rub oil/pour oil over the site rather than soak the entire bp in it. Working slowly and carefully from the opposite tape end of where he can see damage. I also told him to remove all substrate, put down papertowels and triple check that all his temps are correct. (Reason behind the temp check was because sometimes when using a thicker substrate, the temps read good, and then remove said substrate and the temps shoot up. I know to measure the below substrate temp, but I had a feeling he might not. So I wanted to make sure that was clear)

Question for next steps: I have read that a single soak, maybe two in the next few days of a peroxide or betadine solution. What would be the correct solution dilution? For how long? Next step, assuming there is skin damage/tearing, Neosporin (without pain reliever)? Applied how often? Better solution than neo?

Any help is appreciated, I already gave him the run down of this is why tape is a big no no etc.


Edit: and I noticed I misspelled Confirmation...woops. *bonk self*

I've had the same situation. But my mistake was putting my bp on my bed when I was cleaning her cage, completely forgetting I was using duct tape to fix something earlier. There was a small piece of tape on my bed that somehow she managed to get under and it stuck to her neck on the top side.

I took a rag and wet it with warm water, and tried to rub the tape off gently, it was making good progress.. Well I had to go to class and I was going to continue to get the tape off afterwards, but somehow she got it off herself!!!

Other than that I can't be of much help :(

After seeing the picture, I told him Vet, asap. He already called and the vet told him to keep him sterile and use some antibiotic ointment.

*GRAPHIC*























http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/o...psc6bdcb19.jpg

Ouch.


Betadine solution. You want it diluted until its tea colored. If its just a small area, a bath isn't needed. Just take a cotton ball and swab the area once or twice a day.

Neosporin is bad for the scales if used too often. But I suggest once every other day for the first week. Apply after the betadine swab. Then apply only once or twice a week after the first week for 2 weeks. It should be good enough then that it can heal on its own.

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Oh my gosh! That poor guy.

I have no advice, but I just wanted to say I hope for the best for your friend's BP!

Wow! I had no idea that tape would do that much damage. I'm glad I found this place and the warning about tape, which prevented me from making this mistake. I think this pic should go in that thread to reinforce the point. I hope he heals up quickly and without a hitch for you friend. Poor little guy.

So did the tape tear off all the scales leaving raw flesh exposed?

DONT USE PEROXIDES!!!!

They will oxidize and destroy healthy and exposed cells...they oxidize everything good or bad.

if the picture shows what i think it shows, then a vet needs to stitch the skin of the snake back together. i mean, surgical suture.


and i agree, i wouldnt experiment with disinfectants that may be too agressive on the exposed flesh. The vet will know what disinfectant to use.

Betadine is safe. Its just basically diluted iodine.

And I don't think the snake needs sutures. From what I see, its only the subcutaneous layer of skin that is exposed. That will heal fine without stitches.

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Uh, wow. Tell him to call that vet back and make an appointment. The vet clearly doesn't understand the extent of the damage here. :(

Good news everyone! He's healing up very well and has eaten! No vet trip needed. Just quite a bit of tlc

I'm glad he's doing better. Is there a better/updated picture? That picture makes it look like the skin has been clean stripped off the muscle x.x

In a sense it was, but wasn't at the same time, no skin came "off" it was just a stretched from the tape. Once the tape came off it went back over the area and is scabbed, I don't have a picture right now, but lets just say I have learned ALOT about python health/recovery the past two weeks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anatopism

I'm glad he's doing better. Is there a better/updated picture? That picture makes it look like the skin has been clean stripped off the muscle x.x

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I think what it is is that the tape ripped the scales off, leaving the skin underneath exposed. It's a little too pink and uniform-looking to be muscle, imo.

Obviously paper towel substrate ONLY, keep everything squeaky clean and try not to mess with the poor little guy unless absolutely necessary (cleaning the wound/enclosure, etc.). There's not much a vet will be able to do other than give antibiotics and/or painkillers, to be honest. If Betadine and non-painkiller Neosporin aren't working (and I only say use Neosporin VERY SPARINGLY because there are already no scales, and will at least keep the wound clean and sanitized) that's when I would go to the vet. Otherwise all I can see is a lot of stress for very little results.

I would only use Neosporin until it looks like it's "scabbed" over/no longer raw, and not at all if you can get Betadine. Glad to hear the little guy seems to be relatively unfazed! Just tell the person to keep the wound clean and watch for signs of infection, but I think he'll pull through just fine. :)

He's doing very well, and it is in fact just scales that were ripped off, good eye! He's already scabbed over and his first shed since this is probably going to happen tonight. My vet basically told me to only do hydrotherapy 4 times daily for a week. And I followed it religiously and she told me a&d ointment rather than neosporin. I'm trying to find an app that will allow me to post pictures... As much damage as he took he doesn't seem too stressed, and has eaten. Thanks for all the advice guys!

Betadine or chlorhexidine diacetate(diluted down to 1% solution) can be used to clean/irrigate wounds.

I would steer very clear of peroxide as it will destroy healthy tissues as quickly as it does bacteria.

One of mine was crawling around my boys bunk bed and got chewing gum on her, from where one of my sons had parked a piece of chewed gum. I freaked out but luckily it came right off and I had no issues but I learned a valuable lesson about letting my snakes roam.

1.1 pastels, 1.0 lesser, 0.1 het blurry, 0.1 spider, 1.1 norm. 0.1 dinker,

I am glad the snake is healing.

I would not suggest experimenting there are places for a disinfectant over another. For example peroxides are not good for surface wounds but punctures they are very good, introducing oxygen to oxygen free wounds kills the anorerobic bacteria that thrive there. Unlike surface wounds. I would only use polysporin as a last resort, silver sulfadiazne is the go to cream.

Alright. Y'all asked for a pic of his progress. [IMG]http://i1353.photobucket.com/albums/...pseaa3bfe3.jpg[/IMG]

- - - Updated - - -

He just shed and his scab came off. But it looks much better. Here we go for round 2!

Bookmarking this one for the dangers of tape...

about to upload an update!

I am glad to see the improvement.

thank you, i had forgotten about this thread and figured it was well past update time!:)

This happened to my baby rainbow boa today. I stupidly sat on the screen top causing a tear, then stupidly repaired it with some very sticky boxing tape. Two beginner mistakes I won't make again. I didn't think he could work his way into the tape but he did, and I woke up to see his head stuck with his mouth open, then as I tried to dislodge him from the top, he wriggled around and got tape all over the rest of him. I spent over an hour getting the tape off using vegetable oil and cue tip, and he doesn't appear injurred except for a small patch of scales that came off his neck - a smaller surface area than on your BP. But I'm a ilttle worried that his mouth was open and hope to God he hasn't injured his tongue or jaw. He was climbing around fine and didnt' seem overly stressed by the time I dropped him off at the vet this morning. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll recover as well as yours.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by palmbeachrainbowboa

This happened to my baby rainbow boa today. I stupidly sat on the screen top causing a tear, then stupidly repaired it with some very sticky boxing tape. Two beginner mistakes I won't make again. I didn't think he could work his way into the tape but he did, and I woke up to see his head stuck with his mouth open, then as I tried to dislodge him from the top, he wriggled around and got tape all over the rest of him. I spent over an hour getting the tape off using vegetable oil and cue tip, and he doesn't appear injurred except for a small patch of scales that came off his neck - a smaller surface area than on your BP. But I'm a ilttle worried that his mouth was open and hope to God he hasn't injured his tongue or jaw. He was climbing around fine and didnt' seem overly stressed by the time I dropped him off at the vet this morning. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll recover as well as yours.

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im sure he will! with a few friends as vet techs i got him as happy as can be and have learned so much from it. hydrotherapy is definitely something i will never forget.