Bad Gash! What to do until vet visit?

Hello everyone. I'm a fairly new caretaker to two wonderful ball pythons. I've never had trouble out of Dino, my bigger boy. But Perry, my baby girl, has had problems from the start. Impaction which we later found out may be calcium build up, trouble eating (she wont eat big mice, only small pinkies), and now, she's in a rough patch again. I noticed today she had a big gash on her side. Its oozing and there are no scales on it. It looks as if she's been scratched by something. I feed her frozen/thawed, and she normally stays under her rock. Its possible Dino bit her, but they've always been inseparable since she first was introduced to him. I don't know what caused it. Below is a picture we took of the wound. Maybe you have ideas of what it is, and what to do for it until the vet visit? There isn't a vet that will see snake until Friday. Or I can drive 2 hours out of my way. Both are fine, but it'll be days before I can do anything. Help?
http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/a...psbf64c561.png

Keep it clean and put a lite coating of Neosporin on it.

any idea of what it is? Bite? Scratch? Its not scale rot or anything?


Edit: I've got bacitracin, its an antibiotic and pain reliever. Will the pain reliever be harmful to her? (that sounds ironic, actually)

If I had to guess is say its a cut either from getting tangled in something in the enclosure or a rodent caught your snake just right.

It doesn't look like a bite to me. I suggest checking your enclosure for exposed tape or sharp edge. Perhaps even use paper towel substrate and just a hide/water dish to keep the set up simple while your girl heals.

And I highly encouraged you to consider housing your snakes individually. Ball pythons are solitary animals and should only be placed together for breeding purposes. While long term cohabitation is doable, it is not recommended for new and/or inexperienced keepers.

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alright, i had to deal with this not too long ago, my male got stuck on a piece of tape and ripped his skin off.

the vet wouldn't even see mine, i emailed them a picture.
they ended up telling me to do hydrotherapy 4 times a day and be VERY frugle on the neosporin, i was told to use the "tripple antibiotic ointment" from Walmart after each hydrotherapy treatment

links below:

old thread : http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...advice-to-give
update: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...lesson-learned

I AM IN NO WAY SAYING DONT GO TO THE VET.( im 100+ miles away from the closest herp vet that would see him.)

I've always heard clean with betadine instead of neosporin,

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Do you have any fake plants in the enclosure? If so, check them to make sure they don't have plastic rings on them. If they do, you need to clip them off.

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You could do Betadine treatments twice a day, and apply neosporin once a day. Dilute the Betadine to a light tea color and soak the spot for about 5 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels, and apply a very small amount of neosporin. Make sure it does NOT have any pain relievers in it, as snakes can have severe reactions to it. Bacitracin by itself isn't a pain reliever, that's something added in, usually Pramoxine, or ending with -caine. You can find Betadine in the first aid section of Walgreens or Walmart, near the hydrogen peroxide. You will also want to clean out the cage thoroughly and use only paper towels as substrate in order to prevent infection.

You don't want to use neosporin for longer than the few days until the vet, as it can soften and damage the scales.

I also highly recommend separating your snakes. You are risking the very LIFE of both of snakes by housing them together, especially the little one. The larger one might one day decide to kill Perry for no reason, and if one gets sick, you're going to be spending twice as much at the vet to treat both animals. Not to mention the fact that if Dino and Perry are definitely male and female, if Perry becomes gravid too soon, she could easily die from complications.

Like Nikki (satomi) said, Ball Pythons are solitary animals, and do not "enjoy" each others company. An argument some people use is that they see them "cuddling", but that is not what they are doing. They are actually competing for the same resources, which is stressful for them, and a stressed snake gets sick much more easily.

Just some things to think about and consider. Keep us updated on the wound and vet visit please! :)

If you use neosporin avoid the one with pain killers in them. Since the chemicals are tailored for humans it tend to not play nice with biochemistry of other species.

Okay here's an update:

It is definitely a scratch, and I've removed the culprit: her favorite plastic tree trunk. I've kept with the treatments but its gotten worse. Her skin is bubbling up with puss and she's warm to touch.

The vet hasn't called back so I'm finding a new vet first thing tomorrow morning, which will probably put the appointment on Wednesday or Thursday.

And I'm in the works of making her a new home away from Dino, in case she's really in danger of being killed. I've never had a problem with them and they're inseparable outside the cage, but you've probably seen them kill each other first hand so I'll have to trust that its for the best. Currently the only place I have to put another snake in is a glass cage with one side falling off, or a plastic tote 1.5 feet deep. I can't figure out how to heat the tote without melting it, as I haven't planned for this and cant afford to buy stuff for her and the vet visit. How big will he and she have to be before they get too territorial?

I honestly can handle this, i know it sounds like i can't. I'm just in a tough spot financially right now.

(kinda freaking out. my baby is hurt and getting worse and i feel helpless :( )

Edit: does anyone else think there need to be more qualified vets in areas such as mine? Its way too hard to find a vet in my area that will see a snake, much less catch them on the right day since they work at five different vets offices, and only see exotics on certain days, etc, etc.

You can put her in a plastic tub with a heating pad. Just make sure the heating pad is connected to a thermostat to make it safe. As long as the pad is regulated, it shouldn't melt the plastic. Amazon has the Hydrofarm thermostat for $30. Its not the best, but is a decent tstat on a budget.

Think of it as a hospital tub. Keep it as sterile as possible. Paper towel substrate, a hide, and a water dish.




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I'm having one shipped as i type. I'm low on funds right now, just got my last pay check from my previous job. I'm going into the navy soon, so i'm getting some free time. But it's left me strapped for cash.

Edit: i don't have a way to make smooth holes in the tub. I can drill them, and maybe take a lighter to them?

Go to Wal-mart, buy a cheap soldering iron (I think mine was $7 or something?) You can drill, you just have to be careful not to crack the plastic and also to make sure the edges aren't sharp. Melting holes is much easier and safer, you just have to be careful not to be splattered with hot molten plastic (owie) if you make a lot of holes.

Whereabouts are you?

Maybe we could get some vets recommended by members.

Athens, TN

vet appointment at 12:30 tomorrow. she's doing okay for now, still oozing. since we're going tomorrow i'm stopping the neosporin for now.

Do not put anything with pain killers on a snake. Also, I would split them up asap. Feeding issues are usually caused by stress and housing Bps together can absolutely cause stress.

Also I would only use clean paper towels for substrate while she's healing.



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Hey, so I was creeping the forums and remembered something that Perry did a while back! (two feedings/weeks ago). She was eating her first fuzzy when, after about 15 minutes, I noticed she was struggling around her box. She kept wiggling around, and I noticed blood. She had, in the struggle to get the thing down, latched her bottom jaw onto her own back. She was so stuck I had to hold her and remove her mouth from herself so she could finish eating her meal. It was hilarious at the time, but now that I think about it, that's the exact same spot where she has the infection now. I guarantee either she tore her skin or the struggling she did got the mouse's teeth or claws into her side, causing the wound. How I've not noticed it in holding her or at other feeding sessions, I'm not sure. But if that's not it its a weird co-inky dink. So. Her own fault, poor girl.

Then again, that's been a while. But its a possibility, if its a mouse scratch that went unnoticed/untreated.

To be honest, them eating each other or killing each other is slim. The main issue with housing together is illness. If one gets sick, you can almost bet money that the other will too. There's no way to keep track of whose excrement is whose, which if there's something weird in it you'll have to take both snakes to be checked out. It's just way too much to deal with or worry over, I think. And since you've said you're in a rough patch financially, you want to save yourself as much money as possible. If you're afraid of burning the plastic tub, until the setup you ordered gets here you CAN use a heat lamp (very inexpensive) and just bump up your house temps or use a heater in the room where the snake is. That's a VERY temporary solution but it will work for a short period of time.

Since we are "pack" animals and most of the animals we own as pets are the same, we tend to believe that EVERY animal can be a "pack" animal, and like to give them human emotions like loneliness (or people that say their snakes are a "bonded pair"). There ARE very few exceptions of snakes that DO naturally kind of band together, but the few I can think of are venomous species.




I know you've said you're already getting a separate enclosure so I'm not trying to harp on anyone, just wanted to toss in some knowledge. :)

I have to agree with everyone saying split them up as soon as you can. It may seem like they wont have problems and that's what i thought when i first got my balls. But there is a chance of them wrapping each other up and this is not only extremely stressful on the snakes but on you as well. Its scary having to untangle two of your snakes, especially when they're latched onto each other and trying to suffocate each other.
Speaking from experience of housing two balls in the same enclosure, i would seriously make something for the time being, maybe out of a tub, they are pretty cheap and a heat mat with the thermostat. Its in their best interest.

UPDATE:
So, the trip to the vet was immeasurably expensive for me. 250, which thankfully the roommate paid for. but, the fluid was clear and not stringy, so it was caught early and its healing well. Also, they're giving her antibiotic injections, but are doing a culture to find out if a more specific type is needed, which will be even more expensive. She weighed in at 100 grams, which, for her age is bad, but I can't do much there. Except feed her more often which would be bad also. so. Damned if i do damned if i don't. Other than that, it'll just take time and keeping her happy. They said she'll shed soon and leave a big hole where to wound is, and to not freak out. but i doubt i'm going to be doing anything but freaking out when that happens, as i'm sure it'll be disgusting.