My BP has blisters on her belly

I need help.. I just opened my BP's tank, and I saw she went to the bathroom, so I picked her up, and looked on her underside to see if she was dirty.. she wasn't, but I saw that a section of her belly scales were swelled up with some sort of clear liquid.

As I said, she went to the bathroom.. she ate on saturday, so I hadn't looked at her up close between then and now. She shed a few days before she ate..

I've had her in that setup for a few months now, so I don't think it was the under tank heater burning her.. so I have no idea what it is. What should I do?

Sounds like your snake was burned by the UTH.

Ok.. then why did it take this long (months) for blisters to show up?

What should I do to help her? Would soaking help? I have nolvasan.. how about that? I just disinfected her cage.. if it's the UTH, then that didn't do anything, but it doesn't hurt either..

Do you have any pictures? How long was the snake in with the p00? Have you seen any signs of parasites ( mites, ticks )?


The first thing i would do is clean the cage completely, change the substrate, and give her fresh water. Then .. if you do suspect a burn try to figure out how it could have happened. Also, a trip to the vet might not be a bad idea.

I have no digital camera.. one's on it's way though, I'm expecting it in the next couple days.

the poo (actually it was only urates and urine, no solids) just showed up today.

When I first got her, I removed two or three ticks from her. I have seen nothing else.

I already did everything you mentioned for cleaning the cage.

I would seriously advise you to take your snake to the vet. UTH can develope hot spots, even human heat pads.

The first time she shed for me (she's only shed twice with me) she was kind of stinky in one section of her belly. She was a little wet, she probably soaked herself as she was shedding.. but I wonder if it was an infection, or belly rot or something? I wonder if this is connected... though she was all better after that first shed.. I feel bad now.. poor thing.

I put my hand on the UTH.. it didn't seem hot to me.. but snakes may be more sensitive.

Shelby- yes your snake is more sensitive than you. And please please please take your snake to the vet. In your last post you said her belly was kinda stinky after a shed, and wet..... maybe there is a connection. Take her to the vet!

I do have a reptile vet.. I'll take her.

In the meantime, what can I do for my poor snake?

Not sure what to advise you to do in the meantime. I would not want to tell ya to do one thing and have it be wrong, especially cause we have no idea what is wrong, could be belly/scale rot, could be burn. But, I would keep her warm, and as dry as possible and get her in IMMEDIATELY.

Ok.. I'm kinda scared as to what the vet's going to charge me. I admit I've never taken a reptile to the vet before. I just know one vet (not mine) was going to charge $50 to probe a snake. yikes. It's not that I don't care about my snake, I'm just not rich.. that's for sure. I know they charge through the nose for routine dog/cat stuff.

Well, anytime you get into "exotics" you are gonna have higher vet bills. No way around that. But good luck anyhow!

Hmmm thats true, im sure it aint gonna be cheap.

Wow, you guys are reassuring. lol

I just put a piece of rather thick cardboard over the UTH now so it's more insulated. If it is a burn, that'll prevent it from happening again.

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Wow, you guys are reassuring. lol

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lol sorry !

But if they charge 50 bucks just to get a snake probed im pretty sure its gonna be alot more to treat whatever you Bp has.Good luck.

The one that charged $50 wasn't my vet.. so I'm hoping. My vet is real sweet too. She has several snakes of her own.

Sorry we are not very re-assuring. But we are telling it to ya straight and not pulling your chain. I know I would rather have someone be truthful about stuff rather than skirt the truth, so I do the same for others. Dont stress about it too much, just know that you got to get your snake in to the vet, and once the vet tells ya what it is, you will be able to correct whatever is causing this problem if you are able to and treat the injury, then you wont have to worry again. Take it as an expensive lesson learned. Part of having exotics.

Oh yeah- in no way am I saying you did anything wrong, just telling ya the reality of this. But I am glad you did ask here on the forum and hope to see pics of your critters soon!

Oh ok then.

Do you know her personally, maybe she could probe them for you at her house (if she even has probes).

my vet charges me 45.00 for a complete checkup and that inculdes the probing so the 50.00 might be the same

Well, thanks for the help guys.

My vet charges me $25 (for the 1st animal)for the visit (nothing for office visit on anyother animal as long as its same office visit for multiple animals) then extra for meds (but have not had need for any yet), probing is $15 for first animal and $10 for any other after that on same day visit. But they may just do that for me cause I do tend to see the same vet for all my animals, send them lots of reptile business and other business, and I do tend to take my critters in for regular visits, snakes included minimum of once a year for health checkup.

Sounds like you have a good vet.

Yeah I do. I am lucky. I chose them because of all the good things I heard when I moved to this area, and chose for the main reason that I needed a vet with lots of experience in reptiles, when I go vet shopping, I ask questions of the receptionist and all, how many yeaars exp.., what experience had been gained species specific, etc. I am really PICKY on who cares for my critters medically. After I saw him a few times, and decided I liked him, he answered questions thoroughly and explained what I needed explaining, showed by example, etc.. I took the rest of my other critters there cause I knew I could trust him.

My vet charges 75.00 for a visit. He is a reptile vet, Dr Stahl in Va.
sounds like a burn or belly rot. The fact it is stinky would lead in the direction of an infection.
I know 50-75 is a lot of change but if you don't get vet treatment it more than likely will or could cost you your bp's life.

I'm just guessing but that 50$ for a snake probing might have been another vet who wanted to knock out the snake first. Good luck with your ball.

it could be too high humidity that caused the blisters but like everyone says, go to the vet!

The vet I went to..and will probably not go back to, charged me 36$ overall, for fecal and general exam. The fecal was 10$.

I won't go back for several reasons, one being that I sat around for approx an hour after my scheduled appointment before she got in to see me. It's also on the other side of the town...I'll try somebody else and see if I like them better. It's too bad the vet place where I take my cat doesn't do reptiles...

Just for some price perspective I recently had my Cat get his shots (just the typical feline aids/leukemia blood work, the rabies and heart stuff shots and the feline aids/leuk vaccine) and get some ear mites out and my bill for that was 85 bucks plus tax so I always expect a bill around 80-90 bucks whenever I take any animal to the vet. It may seem pricey but it's less than you paid for your snake and can you really put a price on knowing that your herp is healthy? :)

I expected the bill to be around 50 for the general exam for the snake. I know I dropped about 300$ on Nebula when I frst got her, for shots, spay/front declaw, and her antibotics to get rid of her RI.'

Edit: excuse me for getting slightly offtopic.

Let us know what the vet says :)

is your snake's substrate that kinda carpet thing? If it is problaly(sp?) she was movin around then the substrate made her get blisters on her stomach and i agree take her 2 the vet.

I just wanted to post an update. I took her to the vet. She confirmed what I thought and said it was blister disease. She told me to keep putting peroxide and betadine on it 2x daily, and she showed me how to give her the antibiotics via injection. So I'll give her Baytril injections every day for ten days.. she should be feeling better then.

On another note, I got a digital camera. Once I figure out how to get it hooked up to the computer, I'll post some pics of my snakes.