Help help help help

My last post did something funny and I can't access it anymore so I've written it again with a little more info:

MY BALL PYTHON, Howard is not doing well. He was not well taken care of in the past. He is nearly two years old and around 2 feet long. He is constantly lethargic and has trouble swallowing his meals even though they are the right size (if not a little small) for him. He strikes at me more often than my other snake and is very sensitive to touch. He is always hiding. Within the last two days I have noticed an outbreak of redness spreading over him. It began with just one spot which I thought was a sore so I began treating it with neosporin. I've literally WATCHED as his body has become red. This is the first spot:
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...0bd0e7398b.jpg
Supposedly he hasn't shed in 6 months and was being fed once a month. His water wasn't filled when it needed to be and he went weeks without it sometimes. His skin is very dry and wrinkly, I've began soaking him some to help and I've kept his water full.

Here are more pictures of the redness:
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...9277f8c04e.jpg http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...63086cc22d.jpg

As you can see, it's pretty intense. I've checked for mites, and he doesn't have them. The only thing I can think of at this point is scale rot, but I can't even tell because all the images I find when I look it up are if much more advanced stages of the problem. Also, as he is very thin, is it a bad idea to power feed him during this time to fatten him up a bit??


Can anybody help me?! I don't want to lose my new friend. I love him to death and am willing to do whatever needs to be done to save him.

Here are a few more pictures:
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...51fc2861a6.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...b2da1011e2.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...90da580d6b.jpg

Ps, my hands have henna, I'm not just filthy. [emoji28]

I'll just repost what I did earlier

What's his setup like? Can he get up close to a heat lamp, or does he have a heat pad not regulated by a thermostat? Is there something abrasive somewhere in his enclosure? Any tape on the inside of his enclosure? Pictures of how you have him will help shed some light here. I was under the impression that scale rot usually occurred mostly on the belly, since it's basically caused by constantly sitting in soaked substrate. Looks more like burns to me?

Would not powerfeed. Has he been eating while he's had these marks?

You said he had trouble eating, what kind of feeding schedule do you have him on, and when did he last eat? What temps do you have in the enclosure? Is it possible the little guy is also dehydrated?

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...98c120346b.jpg

This is his set up. It stays at about 85 on the warm side and 73 on the cool side. He has lots of foliage so he can hide in either side. The humidity is at ~50% constantly. It is a 20 gallon tank. He can reach where the lamp is if he stretches but I don't see the possibility of the lamp burning him along his whole body. I do agree, it looks like burns though. There is no other heat source, just the lamp.

I would take him to a herp vet. He looks very malnourished to be 2 yrs old!? Those lesions could be a sign of a nutritional disease. To only be fed once a month borders on cruelty. Underweight and malnourished is a recipe for disaster. He could be septic with a blood disease as well. He definitely needs a vet work up. At least to rule out a couple of things. Good luck.:gj:

Also, I spot clean the enclosure weekly and completely wash it monthly.

I totally missed the part where you said he was 2 years old. Sweet baby jesus, that guy looks smaller than all of my 2014s. Even a severely malnurished two year old should be significantly larger than that. Are you positive on the age?

I second the herp vet idea. The setup doesn't look like anything inside it would have caused those marks, so a vet would probably know best.

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Originally Posted by lorrainesmom

You said he had trouble eating, what kind of feeding schedule do you have him on, and when did he last eat? What temps do you have in the enclosure? Is it possible the little guy is also dehydrated?

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I feed him once a week. He last ate exactly one week ago. Today I was to feed him again, BUT I haven't wanted to because this redness just began appearing. Wasn't sure if feeding could be harmful so I decided I would wait to see if anybody had advice. I think he is definitely bordering dehydration, he is quite dry and wrinkly. I've been soaking him in a pedialyte/water solution to get some electrolytes into his body. He doesn't seem to want to drink much.

How are you measuring temps? Do you have a temp gun? I would call around and get him a vet visit.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daigga

I totally missed the part where you said he was 2 years old. Sweet baby jesus, that guy looks smaller than all of my 2014s. Even a severely malnurished two year old should be significantly larger than that. Are you positive on the age?

I second the herp vet idea. The setup doesn't look like anything inside it would have caused those marks, so a vet would probably know best.

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I'm positive. He hatched on July 22, 2013.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GoingPostal

How are you measuring temps? Do you have a temp gun? I would call around and get him a vet visit.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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I have two thermometers and a hygrometer inside the enclosure.

Doesn't look like scale rot or burns to me. Maybe it's just because I'm used to seeing them on darkly colored snakes, but I don't generally see burns that look bright pink like that.

If he's really two he's seriously malnourished, so you could be looking at complications from that, or even an infection in the blood. The first thing I thought of when I saw this is honestly systemic septicemia that I've seen in possums (bacterial infection in the blood). Just the way it's spreading around without a set pattern and the bright color of those spots make me think of bloodborne bacteria. Lethargy and weakness sound like typical infection stuff to me too, but being that malnourished and dehydrated it could just be because of that.

Regardless, all that's wild speculation on my part. This guy needs a herp vet ASAP.

I would stick to trying to feed weekly appropriate feeders (if someone more experienced says otherwise listen to them) but my guess is he's going to need to put energy into healing from whatever this is, not digestion right now.

Ive never heard of using Pedialyte in a soak, just water. Is it possible that the Pedialyte since it has sodium in it could have something to do with the redness? I also believe that a vet check ASAP is in order

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lorrainesmom

Ive never heard of using Pedialyte in a soak, just water. Is it possible that the Pedialyte since it has sodium in it could have something to do with the redness? I also believe that a vet check ASAP is in order

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I highly doubt that. Pedialyte soaks are commonly used on frogs that are malnourished or have stopped eating for whatever reason. If it doesn't hurt a frog's sensitive skin, I don't think it could cause that much damage to something as tough as snakeskin.

EDIT: Soaking the snake won't really get the electrolytes into his body unless he drinks btw (snake skin is pretty much impenetrable!). It works on frogs bc their whole body is basically a giant mucous membrane. I bet a vet is going to want to do subcutaneous stuff for this guy. Either way, the pedialyte isn't hurting anything though.

Okay, he's currently soaking and I just noticed this spot that almost seems to be a blister. What's going on... http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...0aafaa1286.jpg

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...bb9c842c28.jpg

EDIT: there's two of those. And in this picture you can totally tell just how thin he is. http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...7d3361e649.jpg

Looks like fluid buildup under the skin. That can be caused by any sort of damage really; burn, infection, ect. Vet's going to be the only way to figure out what's causing this I think.

Are there any open blisters or sores on him? If so it'd be good to switch out the aspen for paper towels till this clears up. Plus, paper towels let you better monitor any fluid discharge and exactly what color/how much so you can tell the vet.

Thank you all so much. I'll get him to the vet ASAP and update you later. You are all saints. [emoji171][emoji216]

Oh my Gods, the pictures before didn't do justice to how thin that poor baby is, I am so glad you got the snake, and PLEASE keep us updated, my thoughts are with you and your lottle one!

Yeah, wow. I'm sorry for you and him. He's tiny, that's for sure. Set up looks adequate. Get him to the vet, A.S.A.P, God speed. Good luck. He sure is a nice looking little guy, hopefully something can be done.

I second, third, forth, etc everything everyone said. VET VET VET VET ASAP! Good luck and I hope he can make it through!

Several thoughts...

First, as has been mentioned, that looks like septicemia. It could possibly be contact dermatitis related to something in the pedialyte. I think this is less likely, but I would still stop soaking him in pedialyte, just in case.

When you are soaking him, do you check the water temperature of the soak? Remember that we are 98.6 degrees, so what feels like a nice warm bath to us is often too hot for a snake. The soak should be around 80-85 degrees. I don't think it is hot water burns, but that isn't completely out of the realm of possibility.

I would go ahead and offer a meal. He really needs nutrition. Hopefully he will take it.

If it were me, I would stop soaking in pedialyte; would soak him in dilute Betadine (at 80-85 degrees for the soak) solution treated with dechlorinator for 15 min, then soak in plain water at same temp treated with dechlorinator for 15 - 30 min (making sure water temp doesn't drop too low); would give him an injection of Vit B complex; would start him on antibiotics; and would do a complete wash and sanitization of his enclosure.

Since you likely can't do all of that yourself - vet, vet, vet (just reinforcing what it sounds like you have already decided on).

I'd be willing to be money this isn't from the pedialyte. As I said, it's mild enough to do regular soaks for frogs and shouldn't hurt a snake. Although he won't get any real benefit from it either unless he drinks while soaking.

In that vein, just a caution if you choose to do a betadine soak, make sure he doesn't drink it as it can be toxic when ingested. Not normally a problem, but with him looking kind of dehydrated I wouldn't want him to get excited and start drinking it. I'd personally wait to hear from a vet before doing more just to make sure you're going in the right direction so as to stress him as little as possible.

Good lord, that's the thinnest BP I've ever seen... Poor little baby. :please: I really hope he pulls through, please keep us updated!

I would also stop the pedialyte soaks, the stuff has sugar in it. If he has a skin infection rather than an underlying cause for that redness, the sugar can feed the bacteria and make the infection worse. Soaking in plain water is fine for rehydrating your snake.
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=142867

Now, your setup - The hot side should be 88-90*F. Also your top is open mesh, between that and the light your tank humidity will always be low and you'll fight the laws of physics to keep it in the correct range. I would get an under-tank heater with a thermostat to give your BP a warm spot about 90*F, and make a top for the tank to keep heat and humidity inside of it.

Until you can get to the vet I would try Vetericyn (available at Petco) over Neosporin on the red spots as it won't harm the scales, assuming the problem is a skin disease and not sepsis.

idk if this has been mentioned, but make sure the Neosporin is the kind without painkillers.

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Originally Posted by DVirginiana

idk if this has been mentioned, but make sure the Neosporin is the kind without painkillers.

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Already ahead of ya :)