Thermal Burn?? Please Help!

I've had this baby ball python for a month. Got him through a successful shed and he's eaten once. But today when i was bathing him I noticed his belly was a little brown and concerning. My immediate thought was that it's a burn. I thought there was a enough separation from him and the bottom of the tank but I'm more than sure this is a thermal burn and not scale rot or anything. He has an appointment with the vet tomorrow afternoon and in the mean time I wiped him with a diluted iodine solution. What does this look like to you? Was the iodine the right move? (Also heating pad is not in use anymore and paper towels were changed)
Pictures:

http://imgur.com/Z1U2jDj

http://i.imgur.com/rCYG7KK.jpg

Yes it could be a burn. :(

How was the UTH being controlled?

The vet should be able to give you some topical treatment and possibly some anti-bios to reduce the chance of infection.

Fingers crossed for the little guy. :please:

Your statement, "I thought there was a enough separation from him and the bottom of the tank." makes me think you were relying on the substrate to protect the snake. Unfortunately no substrate can keep heat loving BP's from a too hot UTH.

If that is what you are doing, then yes your snake is probably burned

Do you have a thermostat for your UTH?

If not, you need to get one before the UTH is plugged back in.

I hope the Vet can help you, and that the burn is not too bad.

Best of luck.

Keep us posted. We are all pulling for your snake.

David

Well it's good that you found it before it got any worse! That does look like a severe burn because of the tbs or(total body surface) involved. It looks like it covers about 1/2 to 2/3 of the ventral scales. IMO, yes the iodine solution is a help but the bp will need supplemental medication to stave off a systemic secondary infection. The vet will take care of that hopefully. Are you sure he is a herp vet specializing in treatment of reptiles? That burn looks painful though. At least he is on his way to healing at this point. Stay in peace and not pieces. :gj:

Get some Silvadene. Alternate that every other day with Chlorhxadie Glucanate. He will heel up. Keep him on moist newspaper only and watch temps.

One day Silvadene, next day Chlorhexadine

So I guess I was just being really paranoid... The vet (whom I trust and has a lot of years of experience with snakes) said he's just going through a shed and happens to be dry. He doesn't believe it's a thermal burn at all but to watch him and call in 72 hours because he should shed by then. I set him up with a moist hide like I do my leopard geckos and he's loving it. I guess I just didn't expect him to shed so soon and that brown colour seemed really off. Thank you all for your help! I'll keep you guys updated to make sure it's just him shedding and not anything else.

Enjoying the moist hide
http://i.imgur.com/28HSMJp.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zecon44

So I guess I was just being really paranoid... The vet (whom I trust and has a lot of years of experience with snakes) said he's just going through a shed and happens to be dry. He doesn't believe it's a thermal burn at all but to watch him and call in 72 hours because he should shed by then. I set him up with a moist hide like I do my leopard geckos and he's loving it. I guess I just didn't expect him to shed so soon and that brown colour seemed really off. Thank you all for your help! I'll keep you guys updated to make sure it's just him shedding and not anything else.

Enjoying the moist hide
http://i.imgur.com/28HSMJp.jpg

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Ok, cool. You had us worried. Good move getting to the vet asap! :gj: Don't forget to donate to USARK and the lawsuit against USFWS. Peace:gj:

I also think it sounds like you have a uth without a thermostat. Is this the case? If so it will not be long before you are dealing with a real burn.

I can't remember any of my snakes belly looking like that during a shed. Pink, blue, clear, shed.

Okay, pink belly is a shed........... brown and dry not so much.
I really hope for your snakes sake that the vet you trust is right.

Until then I will assume you don't regulate your heat source as the question has been asked but not answered.
Good burns take a long time to heal.

I don't have a thermostat for the UTH (which is still unplugged) but I plan on turning it on and getting a temperature reading from it later.

It didn't look like shed to me either, hence the vet visit... but the guy seems really trusted by the community and even a few of his assistants are reptile owners themselves. So I'm just going to keep his tank clean with the moist hide and hope the shed is healthy.

Can the moist hide cause scale rot if he sits in it too long? My geckos are usually very active and never sit in their moist hide for very long but my snake of course will. I'm just wondering since Google can give me mixed answers at times.

What did you use to make the moist hide? I use moss in mine and have never had an issue.

What substrate are you using and were you using? The pic looks like paper towels which are not thick enough in most cases to protect from a unregulated uth. Also the snake could very easily get under the paper towels and maybe you never noticed which means the snake was almost in direct contact with the uth. Either way a unregulated uth gets way to hot to be used. They can really cook and get well over 100F.

When set up correctly you should have a quality tstat hooked to the uth with a substrate that no thicker than 1/4 inch.

With everyone's comments and concerns about the color and the UTH I'm starting to question if if it's shed... Because if it is a burn I shouldn't have any water in there, right? But I've been checking on him and there's no blistering. But this one scale is concerning me...

Updated pictures:
http://imgur.com/LymCbZH
http://imgur.com/uWddYxL
http://imgur.com/0iwFqre

Concerning Scale:
http://imgur.com/WRMSWK9

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KMG

What did you use to make the moist hide? I use moss in mine and have never had an issue.

What substrate are you using and were you using? The pic looks like paper towels which are not thick enough in most cases to protect from a unregulated uth. Also the snake could very easily get under the paper towels and maybe you never noticed which means the snake was almost in direct contact with the uth. Either way a unregulated uth gets way to hot to be used. They can really cook and get well over 100F.

When set up correctly you should have a quality tstat hooked to the uth with a substrate that no thicker than 1/4 inch.

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I used really think paper towels my father gets from his job. Right now I'm just using regular ones because I figured if it was a burn I'd have to change it twice a day. In the moist hide I'm just using damp paper towels instead of my usual moss.

I will be sure to get a thermostat for the UTH before I start using it. I really hope this sin't a burn...

I'd keep a really close eye on that... Does your vet specialize in reptiles? Because that doesn't look like a normal shed to me.

Google images of burned snake bellies and see what you think. Your pics look like the start of a burn. Maybe it is in shed as well but the browning and the wrinkled center is not from a shed, not any shed that I have seen.

I know the paper towels you were using and those are really expensive for a snake substrate. But even with the quality and thickness they are not thick enough to protect from an unregulated uth. Plus like I said snakes can get under paper towels and newspaper with ease. Plenty of noobs will argue that they can not but I assure you they can.

Your snake still needs water. If your snake is truly in shed your still going to need the humidity or you are going to have even a larger problem. Hopefully it is in a shed and will shed much of the problem off well to start the healing. I would still change the paper towels daily until we know for sure what this is.

Do you have any other signs of shed? Foggy eyes, blue foggy skin, etc.

I've been looking at the images off and on for hours but it's so hard to tell. I'm just going to keep doing the iodine solution and keep the moist hide in. The water dish is still in there too.

Yeah, they're thicker than reptile carpet but I definitely understand that heating pad gets hot and will wait to use it until I get a proper gauge for it. His ambient temperature should keep him happy for now.

There were definite signs of shed on his head this afternoon when I took him to the vet. He had flakes of skin and eye caps which he has successfully gotten off since I put in the moist hide. I imagine the rest of him should shed too after that, right?

Ideally a shed comes off in one nice piece. Flakes coming off the head is a sign things have been way to dry and you need to address humidity. But yes, after the head sheds the body should follow.

After you get this back to good you may want to look at a different substrate like cypress mulch or coco fibers.

Is it possible the colour comes from the iodine bath?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zecon44

I don't have a thermostat for the UTH (which is still unplugged) but I plan on turning it on and getting a temperature reading from it later.

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http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps3928d384.jpg
Here is 5 minutes of unregulated run time.


http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psne0gktek.jpg
This is a couple YEARS after I took her in.

DVirginiana, everyone told me he was trusted and that he specialized in reptiles.

dr del, I found the brownness before the iodine bath which is what I was freaked out about it.

KMG, I was planning on coco fibers when I move him into his bigger tank (a 30 gallon long I acquired form a friend) I just don't have the money to properly furnish it yet. I'm hoping next month I will.

PitOnTheProwl, I did the same reading and I definitely understand he could have been burnt and WOULD be burnt if I kept it on. A thermostat is at the very top of my list.

But today surprisingly all the brown has gone away with the full shed he had last night... There are still some small spots of brownish tint I can see and his belly has that very light pinkish hue from shedding but other than that he looks very clear. Could it be that he DID get burnt but was beginning to shed and it mostly got the dead skin? Or was it just an abnormal shed? The concerning scale I can't find anymore either... Should I continue treating him like it's a burn because there is still small areas with a light brown tint?

Shed:
http://imgur.com/v8gjAoJ

Belly Pictures:
http://imgur.com/zei2yKv
http://imgur.com/s6AhhQF
http://imgur.com/yuVuD36

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zecon44

DVirginiana, everyone told me he was trusted and that he specialized in reptiles.

dr del, I found the brownness before the iodine bath which is what I was freaked out about it.

KMG, I was planning on coco fibers when I move him into his bigger tank (a 30 gallon long I acquired form a friend) I just don't have the money to properly furnish it yet. I'm hoping next month I will.

PitOnTheProwl, I did the same reading and I definitely understand he could have been burnt and WOULD be burnt if I kept it on. A thermostat is at the very top of my list.

But today surprisingly all the brown has gone away with the full shed he had last night... There are still some small spots of brownish tint I can see and his belly has that very light pinkish hue from shedding but other than that he looks very clear. Could it be that he DID get burnt but was beginning to shed and it mostly got the dead skin? Or was it just an abnormal shed? The concerning scale I can't find anymore either... Should I continue treating him like it's a burn because there is still small areas with a light brown tint?

Shed:
http://imgur.com/v8gjAoJ

Belly Pictures:
http://imgur.com/zei2yKv
http://imgur.com/s6AhhQF
http://imgur.com/yuVuD36

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I've been dealing with a severe burn for a little over a month. Honestly, it looked like the snake got burnt, the wrinkly funny looking belly skin/scales are dead icky skin and he's healed almost completely.
1: a t-stat should be on that UTH, don't even bother plugging it back in until you have one. I saw it's on your list :)
2: he should never ever be on "wet" substrate. Damp is different because most substrate will hold moisture a little. But he should never be on anything wet. Mainly because (as my vet said) "wet can lead to cold and wet and cold can end with an RI". If he's on paper towels and you're having humidity issues..get some sphagnum moss and soak it, squeeze excess water out and stick it in Dixie cups around the enclosure.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AnnaK231

I've been dealing with a severe burn for a little over a month. Honestly, it looked like the snake got burnt, the wrinkly funny looking belly skin/scales are dead icky skin and he's healed almost completely.
1: a t-stat should be on that UTH, don't even bother plugging it back in until you have one. I saw it's on your list :)
2: he should never ever be on "wet" substrate. Damp is different because most substrate will hold moisture a little. But he should never be on anything wet. Mainly because (as my vet said) "wet can lead to cold and wet and cold can end with an RI". If he's on paper towels and you're having humidity issues..get some sphagnum moss and soak it, squeeze excess water out and stick it in Dixie cups around the enclosure.

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He's been doing pretty well! There doesn't seem to be any blistering or open sores on his stomach and I've been keeping him clean.
I have a moist hide in there with him. Is that alright? It's a container with a hole in it with damp paper towels that I change everyday. He seems to be in it a lot though...