Ok let's start over: Looking for good, clean, gentle advice on burn healing process

Matilda's UTH has been disconnected and I am now using a red bulb heat lamp on a REAL thermostat, which I raised slowly to 89. I didn't want to flood her tank with heat after it had been in the upper 70's alone while I waited for the vet visit and purchasing of the bulb/fixture. She seems to enjoy it as she's stayed in her warm hide since I turned it on (I think she's still recuperating from being manhandled at the vet yesterday). I've been instructed to give her a betadine bath every day, plus a light smear of silver sulfadiazine, and she's receiving injections of Fortaz every 72 hours. Now...I absolutely promise to follow all advice to the letter, as I have a few questions about some of the aspects of the burn healing process:

1)I've read conflicting articles on whether to rinse the snake after the betadine bath, but to me, rinsing her seems like it would defeat the purpose of the betadine in the first place...What are your thoughts?
2) How can I keep her tank humidity up to 50% without misting or getting her paper towel substrate wet/damp?
3) Any other advice is not only welcome but encouraged. I really want to do right by my snake and correct the mistake I made. I really do have her best interest at heart and I really reeeeally want to see her make a full and quick recovery. (Well, as quickly and *safely* as possible). I've learned my lesson about not following advice on here and I really am seeking to kind of 'mend-fences' by showing I really can listen and observe advice. I'm asking humbly for your guidance to help me on this path to getting my gorgeous snake back to good health. Please and thank you!

If its a tank, cover most of the lid and put a big water dish in the tank. Put the water dish near the hot side of the tank. Should raise the humidity.

1. I don't know anything about betadine soaks to offer any real advice...I can only say what would go through my mind in the same situation. I would question a vet very closely if told to do that. WHY? What, exactly, does that do for the snake? And if a betadine treatment is really necessary/helpful, what is the bare minimum exposure to get it done? Soaking (even in a "medicated" solution) is still wet, which is the opposite of what you want to do for a burn on a snake. In the meantime, soak as prescribed by the vet, but not for a moment longer than necessary. Then I'd very carefully pat her dry with a soft, clean towel (basically let her slither over it in a natural direction...never rub it against the direction of her scales). I wouldn't rinse it off...just pat it dry.

2. What kind of enclosure is it? Assuming it's a glass tank with a screen top....try putting a wet towel over the entire screen, except for an opening for the heat lamp. This will need regular maintenance to keep it wet and swap it out regularly with a clean towel to keep it from getting stinky and mildewy. You can also try a humidifier from the drug store...set it up to run next to her enclosure, maybe even rigging up a way to direct the moisture flow directly into the enclosure, if you're handy that way. But if not, just upping the ambient humidity can help.

Sometimes we stumble at the beginning of a race, but that doesn't mean we can't pick ourselves up and have a great run. You might have stumbled with the heat mat, but I think, based on what I've read, that you'll be a great "snake mom" in the long run, and that's what counts. Don't give up and don't let negative nellies discourage you!

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Originally Posted by kyle13404

If its a tank, cover most of the lid and put a big water dish in the tank. Put the water dish near the hot side of the tank. Should raise the humidity.

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Hate to be contrary, but I would avoid this usual humidity trick while treating a burn. The water dish needs to be small enough that the snake can't get in and soak. A large dish may entice the snake to lay in it, which would be very detrimental to the healing process.

Sorry, my bad.

Solid advice from JLC.

From my understanding, betadine is used to control and prevent infection, thus helping with healing. Used for a broad spectrum of injuries (with people) as its side effects are very few.

While i don't have personal experience with burns on snakes, i have read a few times that a betadine bath can be used.
As mentioned by JLC , lightly patting dry but not rinsing of the betadine.

You also want to reduce ingestion of the betadine solution to an absolute minimum.

Well done for acknowledging your mistakes! I hope your snake has a speedy recovery.

Put a clean (brand new) synthetic sponge into a shallow bowl and add just enough water to soak the sponge. Put the bowl into the tank on the hot side. The nooks & crannies on the sponge will provide lots of surface area for evaporation, but there won't be so much water in it that the snake can soak, and if the snake tips it over it won't turn the bottom of the enclosure into a sopping wet mess.

If your snake weren't recovering from a burn you could add a humid hide with spaghnum moss or eco earth.

Here is a post by a friend of mine who recently treated a badly burned ball python. This animal was surrendered to the Minnesota Herp Society for adoption and it was in real bad shape. The smell was awful, I personally didn't think it would make it and I would have advised putting it down if April hadn't decided to try to save it. I think she did a wonderful job, there are some good tips in here on treating the burn.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ting-projects)

Apparently from what the vet said, betadine does exactly for the snake what it does for humans- kills germs and disinfects. The typical course for a less severe burn than Matilda's would be to wipe the betadine directly onto the burnt area but since hers is open and blistered so badly, the betadine would sting something awful. That's why he opted to having me do the bath and the sulfadene after she's dry. Sulfadene doesn't sting nearly as bad. I know this for a fact. (My gf's motorcycle fell on her and burnt the inside of her leg to the point of 2nd and 3rd degrees and the resulting burn got infected as well. She too was given silver sulfadiazine. It was really bad.) Burns of any kind are so awful and so painful.

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Originally Posted by RaeDee

2) How can I keep her tank humidity up to 50% without misting or getting her paper towel substrate wet/damp?

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I notice you're in Florida too. If there's a window in your reptile room, crack it.

Good idea!! We have humidity a-plenty down here hah

I soaked a sponge with steaming hot water and put it in a plastic baggie with a ton of holes punched in it and nestled it in the very corner of her tank on the hot side. Watching the humidity climb from 40 to 55% right now. Yay!!

When I put Matilda in for her betadine bath tonight, some of her normal unburnt belly scales were floating in the water and when I took her out, I noticed some of them flaking off. Is this from the betadine soaks? From the sulfadene? What could be causing that? Her temps and humidity is up to par and her paper towel bedding is dry. Any ideas?

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Originally Posted by RaeDee

When I put Matilda in for her betadine bath tonight, some of her normal unburnt belly scales were floating in the water and when I took her out, I noticed some of them flaking off. Is this from the betadine soaks? From the sulfadene? What could be causing that? Her temps and humidity is up to par and her paper towel bedding is dry. Any ideas?

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It's an expected side effect of the treatments. Not sure of the mechanics of it, but any oily or creamy treatment can cause the scales to flake off one by one. It won't hurt the snake, it's just messy. Once she goes through her first shed after treatments have been completed, then you shouldn't see any more of those individual scales. But before then, you may see a lot more of them.

Unless the burn was so bad that sepsis was an immediate concern, I would forego the betadine soaks. Silver sulfadiazine cream is the topical of choice. You need a prescription for it. It is used in human burn victims as well.

The idea should be to keep it clean, keep it dry and minimize stress as much as possible. The silver sulfa cream applied twice a day, along with a paper towel substrate and moderate humidity is the best course of action until the animal heals.

She's doing so much better! She had her third injection this morning and she took it like a champ :) I've cut the betadine baths to every other day since her burn is showing real improvement. But I am continuing the silver sulfa cream every day. It helps so much. I know how effective it is on burns (as I mentioned earlier in the thread about my girlfriends motorcycle burn) and it's amazing how quickly its helping. The length of the burn and the general severity is easily 40-50% improved. She's under a heat lamp now, only 50 watt infrared with a rheostat (I went a little light on the wattage because I'm soooooo afraid of burning her again or her burning herself somehow) but the temps are up to par, her humidity is right at 50 so she's doing really really well I'd say. Just a little update for ya guys!

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

Unless the burn was so bad that sepsis was an immediate concern, I would forego the betadine soaks. Silver sulfadiazine cream is the topical of choice. You need a prescription for it.

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Actually http://mountainside-medical.com/ will sell it without a prescription. A small tube isn't expensive and would be a good addition to any snake owner's first-aid kit.

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

Unless the burn was so bad that sepsis was an immediate concern, I would forego the betadine soaks. Silver sulfadiazine cream is the topical of choice. You need a prescription for it. It is used in human burn victims as well.

The idea should be to keep it clean, keep it dry and minimize stress as much as possible. The silver sulfa cream applied twice a day, along with a paper towel substrate and moderate humidity is the best course of action until the animal heals.

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Well its the synergistic principle that is important here. That is the combination of all three treatments is better than any one treatment alone. The betadine soaks to inhibit the germs and promote sloughing of dead tissue and scales. The silver sulfadiazine also specific to heal burned tissue. And lastly the Fortaz for the bacterial infection and sepsis that can ensue in any burn tradgedy. So doing all is better than just one or two. :gj: You cant wait for the sepsis to occur or worsen you have to treat any burn aggressively.

Will a snake shed its skin a second time in a short period if it can feel it has an injury? May be a dumb question, I don't know. But is that possible? Can they go into shed-mode simply in an attempt to rid themselves of injured skin?

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Originally Posted by RaeDee

Will a snake shed its skin a second time in a short period if it can feel it has an injury? May be a dumb question, I don't know. But is that possible? Can they go into shed-mode simply in an attempt to rid themselves of injured skin?

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IDK. Definitely heard that before and it makes sense. Overall snakes heal slowly due to the inherent metabolic rate that they have. You should check with the vet before you decrease or stop any treatments and get his approval.:)

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Originally Posted by RaeDee

Will a snake shed its skin a second time in a short period if it can feel it has an injury? May be a dumb question, I don't know. But is that possible? Can they go into shed-mode simply in an attempt to rid themselves of injured skin?

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Yes, traumatic events that effect the skin can and will cause a new shed cycle. She may go through a few relatively rapid shed cycles before it's all healed up.

Thank you for sharing this process with us. Sounds like you are taking great care of your snake and glad to hear it is healing well!

I ask because I noticed last night while giving her the betadine soak that her eyes look foggy like they did before her last shed which was only a few weeks ago. I'm worried she's not ready to shed again yet as her burn still has some healing to do. Is there anything I can do to aid her in what I can only imagine is going to be a painful and stressful shed (if she does indeed start to shed again)?

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Originally Posted by RaeDee

I ask because I noticed last night while giving her the betadine soak that her eyes look foggy like they did before her last shed which was only a few weeks ago. I'm worried she's not ready to shed again yet as her burn still has some healing to do. Is there anything I can do to aid her in what I can only imagine is going to be a painful and stressful shed (if she does indeed start to shed again)?

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Don't do anything different. SHE knows what to do...or her body does. You may be pleasantly surprised to see a marked improvement in the burned area after she sloughs off all the old stuff. It's possible some of the tender skin may tear a little bit during the shed, but that's usually more of an issue with open wounds. Even so, continue to treat her as you have been and know that it's all part of the healing process.

Going into shed now is a good sign that her body is well into the healing process and doing what it needs to do to get rid of the old, damaged part.