burn?? help!

Another problem with my adult female... I decided to draw her so I took her out of her tank and immediately noticed the pale pink hue of her stomach. Not dark, but there. Freaking out, I checked the thermostat- 90. I removed her warm hide to get a look
The temp probe had been knocked off the hot spot some how and she had wiggled her substrate to create a bare patch to glass. I have her now and she's (for her I feel) somewhat lethargic... she's only been on that heat pad a few hours ; she's been staying on her cool side for the past few days since the last time I handled her.
Again, pale pinkish hue, more towards lower portion ,no blisters or cuts. Pictures to come.
In addition her belly has seemed to have a thin and flakey transluscent layer... it's been there a few weeks and have been waiting for her to shed to see if that's different ... just to throw that out there . Humidity at 50, substrate is not damp at all. Let me know if you need anything else... now let me get some pictures .

Please and thank you for you're help. I'm so worried

http://tinypic.com/r/rbzj8g/5

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It seems to have faded considerably except a four or so inch section a couple inches above her tail

Could it be she's just going into shed? If not it looks like you caught it in time and is only a very minor burn that will most likely be gone after her next shed.

Looks like she is about to shed. I would bump up her humidity a bit and leave her be. Are her eyes cloudy or blue? Although if the pink has faded that much you may have missed the really cloudy eyes.

Unless I'm misunderstanding you with the temperature of 90° isn't going to cause a burn. It would have to be hotter then that to cause a burn. I want to say something around 105° would burn you and most likely a first degree, though you'd have to be touching it for awhile. At least that's the case with water when my niece had a burn and I took my sister and her to the doctor and he explained it all.

Ok so we will need a little clarification here. The thermkstat is set to 90, or was it reading 90? The temp probe, is that referring to the thermostat temp probe or a thermometer temp probe? If its the thermostat temp probe I suggest you do not have it in the enclosure for the exact reason you posted. It should be sanwiched between the heat pad and glas. You should also be measuring the temp on the glass, not the top of the substrate as the snake can move the substrate and come in contact with the glass.

If your thermostats probe is inside you should have a fail safe on the heat mat. This will kill the power to the heater if the probe gets moved. I would go so far as to say that only proprtional units be used like this and even farther that only units that have an under temp shut down be used. Probes no matter where they are placed should resist your efforts to move them there should be no way a snake child dog cat be able to.

To me it looks like the beginning of a burn more than shed. Hard to say conclusively. If it is a light burn a shed will follow soon. The first step of a burn to to asses what happened and fix it. The second step is to assess your ambient air temp. The fact a snake will lay on a too hot spot and become burned rather than move off to the cool spot has been hotly debated. The most current theories (my personal guess aligns with this years exotic vet conference in Florida) that low ambient temps are the cause. The drive to thermoregulate over rides the move instinct. It seems snakes use a core temp not skin temp to regulate . Low air temps drop the core and allow the snake to become burned.

Treatment is easy (if it is a burn at all) the surface of the skin is not breached so just keep it clean and dry, replace the substrate with paper towels and keep a close eye out for blisters or other infections or other wise. (if there is a hole, blisters ect. then a vet is needed) It might be worth having a vet look at it IF you have a good reptile vet handy. (personally I would wait I think but nobody from this form can make medical judgements over the internet you need to make the vet call.)

Okay, thank you for your answers! I checked her today, her color is almost back to normal. It's not pink but it is a little off color and seems dry. ambient air temperatures are around mid to upper 70's. She went into the warm hide because I removed her cool hide during feeding because otherwise she usually doesn't notice the rat. when I replaced her cool hide after she swallowed the ride she had already gone into her warm hide.
My thermoSTAT is set to keep the pad at 90; it has a temperature probe on the thermostat for sensing the temp and heating and cooling as needed. The probe got shuffled somehow so it gave the thermostat an inappropriate reading, making it up the temperature in am attempt to meet the required 90.

I have since taped the probe down to the hot spot on the glass and put substrate back over it to prevent future mishaps. Is there anything else I should do? I'm using a Hydrofarm hydrometer as a thermostat . I saw several snake owners recommend it as an affordable temp control when I first switched from heat lamp.to heat pad.

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I have since taped the probe down...

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You need a different method of attachment! One should never ever have tape inside of an enclosure, as snakes very easily get it loose, no matter how secure you think it is! The resulting damage can range from the tape pulling off a few scales to actually ripping the skin off. You can use a dab of hot glue to attach it, or you can sandwich the thermostat probe between the heat mat and the glass on the outside and adjust the thermostat setting as needed to maintain 90 degrees on the glass.

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Originally Posted by Sita

You need a different method of attachment! One should never ever have tape inside of an enclosure, as snakes very easily get it loose, no matter how secure you think it is! The resulting damage can range from the tape pulling off a few scales to actually ripping the skin off. You can use a dab of hot glue to attach it, or you can sandwich the thermostat probe between the heat mat and the glass on the outside and adjust the thermostat setting as needed to maintain 90 degrees on the glass.

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This. Also tape will lossen from the moistute and heat rather quickly. Thermostat probe belongs outside, its your safest best bet to be sure that it does not get moved.

I generally agree out side is better unless it fails to regulate well (mine don't too much room variation) Tape, sticky back anything (stick on velcro ect.) should not be inside the enclosure.

The redness can also be post shed irritation, sometimes an animal will react to substrate (one of mine gets red patches on cyprus)

The method I use to insure safety with interior mounting is fairly easy.

Proportional thermostats only they do not generate the spikes on/off ones do. They also have far greater accuracy.

Firmly fixing the probe it doesn't matter where it is it must never move. I use a good amount of hot melt glue to do this (remove the snake until the glue is cool)

Don't use a high density heat element. I run (no snake present) max output tests on every heater and enclosure. The heater should NEVER get over 100ºF most of mine run maxed out do not produce temps over 98ºF

Failsafes I would never think to use an interior method with out one it prevents a probe pull from causing burns by shutting off the heat. It should be mounted directly on the heat source.

I would recommend the new extra safe thermostats that not only have over temp shut off points but under temp shut offs as well. It adds an extra layer of safety. herpstat is the only brand with the feature at the moment as they are the lower priced proportional it is a double bonus.

With this in place the primary probe would have to get pulled loose at the same time the fail safe broke, while the heater also fails and starts to arc. (and the primary fails if it is a herpstat.) The chance of three events happening at the same time is so low it is silly to think of a non catastrophic event that would trigger all at once. (the house burning down you will not stop to worry that there is something wrong with the temps)

Okay using hot glue. I was going to upgrade to the herpstat 2 once I got my rack system down the line. Will the first herpstat (not herpstat 1 basic/ intro, the small nom rectangular one) work as you prescribe, Kitedemon,or should I just grab herpstat 1?

All herpstats are quite fabulous. All the herpstats have the relay system (low temp shut down) accept the Intro and the Herpstat one basic. They are simply the safest on the market.

Follow the advise about your thermostat.

The good news is, it does seem like it might be a very minor burn, perhaps like a sunburn to you. Sensitive for a day or two, then it's all better. I would say you caught it just in time, because a few more hours like that, and it surely would have blistered.

I've seen some really awful burns, and yours is nothing to worry about.

Gale

She's just gone into the first stages of shed today when I checked on her, and I'm feeling very optimistic about the burn being without a trace after. :) I really appreciate everyone's help here.

I'm actually seriously considering moving her and my young male to tubs and, subsequently, heat tape hooked to a single thermometer... the task sounds extremely daunting to be honest but it's the best long term move (eventually I'll get a tub-rack system). But I'll be using a herpstat :)