Belly Burns... (Rescue)

I picked up a normal I saw on Facebook for free because he didn't look so great and I was concerned for his health... I thought it was a matter of old sheds stuck and simple neglect based on what I saw, but it turns out he had no stuck shed and poor Charlie is a burn victim. :( Just got him home and got my son to snap some photos of his underside for me. Looks like an unregulated belly heat burn and it looks like an old wound but it's his vent that has me concerned the most... There's old poop in his cage, so I'm assuming he can still pass it all okay as long as the poop hasn't been left from before he was burned... But with the looks of it, it very well could be old poop left from before too. I was just wanting to get your opinions on how his vent looks. A reptile vet is an hour away and it's a stat today, but if it's an old wound that's been healing alright and he can poop fine, I was thinking of letting him continue healing on his own. But a second opinion would be very helpful! The lady didn't even mention it at all and played it off like he's perfectly fine and friendly and everything and not being a good people person or very chatty, I just took the snake and left... [emoji85] Didn't feel like dealing with her. She was moving and couldn't take him with her or something... But yeah.

Here is Charlie's vent:

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...e86a1fb5ca.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...872642ae28.jpg

I think it's an old wound based on how dry it looks...

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Poor Charlie :(
Glad he is in better hands now!
You have him in a new clean enclosure correct? I would bathe him in the tub for a few minutes and gently clean the fecal matter off of his vent if he allows.
Look into getting betadine solution for the burns and apply polysporin to the burned area. Make sure his enclosure has paper towels/newspaper rather than substrate that could promote bacteria or aggravate the burn and his vent wound. I would keep it minimal with two hides and a water dish.
Any open wound produces thr risk for infection, so it will save you a lot of heartache and time in the long run to keep a minimalistic enclosure while Charlie is healing.

Best of luck to both of you :snake:

Edit:
I just realized that you are a veteran member, you probably already knew all of this! Lol. So best of luck with your beautiful rescue!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WintersSerpentine

Poor Charlie :(
Glad he is in better hands now!
You have him in a new clean enclosure correct? I would bathe him in the tub for a few minutes and gently clean the fecal matter off of his vent if he allows.
Look into getting betadine solution for the burns and apply polysporin to the burned area. Make sure his enclosure has paper towels/newspaper rather than substrate that could promote bacteria or aggravate the burn and his vent wound. I would keep it minimal with two hides and a water dish.
Any open wound produces thr risk for infection, so it will save you a lot of heartache and time in the long run to keep a minimalistic enclosure while Charlie is healing.

Best of luck to both of you :snake:

Edit:
I just realized that you are a veteran member, you probably already knew all of this! Lol. So best of luck with your beautiful rescue!

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Thanks for the response!!
I've actually never had to treat a burn so even though I've seen plenty of burn threads, I was hoping to get a response like yours! [emoji39] I knew about the paper towel bedding but the info on the treatment specifically is what I was after, so thanks! It's not oozing or anything, I'm just a little nervous about digging around his vent... It looks like there's a bunch of scabbing or something in there but I want to make sure he can still open it up and that it's not stuck closed. I'm just amazed she never mentioned it at all, even with me looking at the snake in person (not that I made it difficult for her to avoid the situation by bringing it up because I didn't...).


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So glad he has a new home and good luck!!!

By the way - what does 3.2 bps and 1.0 California King and 0.1 dumerils boa mean? The numbers before the animals I mean.

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Originally Posted by Yzmasmom

So glad he has a new home and good luck!!!

By the way - what does 3.2 bps and 1.0 California King and 0.1 dumerils boa mean? The numbers before the animals I mean.

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Thanks! [emoji4]
1.0 means a male and 0.1 means a female. So the 3.2 is 3 males and 2 females!


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Oooooh! Thanks for clearing that up!!!

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Originally Posted by ratchet

Thanks for the response!! I've actually never had to treat a burn so even though I've seen plenty of burn threads, I was hoping to get a response like yours! [emoji39] I knew about the paper towel bedding but the info on the treatment specifically is what I was after, so thanks! It's not oozing or anything, I'm just a little nervous about digging around his vent... It looks like there's a bunch of scabbing or something in there but I want to make sure he can still open it up and that it's not stuck closed. I'm just amazed she never mentioned it at all, even with me looking at the snake in person (not that I made it difficult for her to avoid the situation by bringing it up because I didn't...). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Oh yay! I'm glad it helped then. I cross checked for you and I am continuously seeing that Betadine solution as a very short wash and then drying your snake gently with a towel, then applying a thin layer of polysporin across the burn has a very high rate of success. He should be feeling 100% soon. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WintersSerpentine

Oh yay! I'm glad it helped then. I cross checked for you and I am continuously seeing that Betadine solution as a very short wash and then drying your snake gently with a towel, then applying a thin layer of polysporin across the burn has a very high rate of success. He should be feeling 100% soon. :)

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Great, thanks so much! I'm going to soak him tonight and see what comes loose around his vent... I'll pick up some Betadine solution and polysporin, it'll be good to add that to my snake supplies. [emoji1303]


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Make certain the neosporin ointment is NOT pain relief, the type with pain relief can be toxic. Also, ointments can sometimes make scales fall off.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Make certain the neosporin ointment is NOT pain relief, the type with pain relief can be toxic. Also, ointments can sometimes make scales fall off.

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Thank you, Wolfy!! I completely missed that impotant part. Thank you. :)

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...198ce7754c.jpg

It doesn't say pain relief anywhere on it, I picked the most plain and simple one on the shelf. Will this be okay?


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by ratchet

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...198ce7754c.jpg

It doesn't say pain relief anywhere on it, I picked the most plain and simple one on the shelf. Will this be okay?


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Hmm... Dang I do not know the answer to that one. I just googled it every way I possibly could and this is all I found.

"3. Active Pain-Relief
Along with antibacterial properties, Polysporin also has added pain relieving properties. The active ingredient added is lidocaine hydrochloride, which works effectively to reduce pain sensations. Much like Polysporin, Neosporin also has an added active pain-relieving agent, named pramoxine. This added ingredient works to relieve the pain associated with the injury being treated."

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Originally Posted by WintersSerpentine

Hmm... Dang I do not know the answer to that one. I just googled it every way I possibly could and this is all I found.

"3. Active Pain-Relief
Along with antibacterial properties, Polysporin also has added pain relieving properties. The active ingredient added is lidocaine hydrochloride, which works effectively to reduce pain sensations. Much like Polysporin, Neosporin also has an added active pain-relieving agent, named pramoxine. This added ingredient works to relieve the pain associated with the injury being treated."

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Okay, there's no lidocaine hydrochloride listed on the box. I'll google it too, though.


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I would say you are safe as long as the box does not list lidocaine hydrochloride as that is the only toxic component in Polysporin to snakes. Good call on that one, haha! I was googling everything :P

Update after his soak! Maybe a little mini spa will help.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WintersSerpentine

I would say you are safe as long as the box does not list lidocaine hydrochloride as that is the only toxic component in Polysporin to snakes. Good call on that one, haha! I was googling everything :P

Update after his soak! Maybe a little mini spa will help.

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Nothing was loose or stuck on his vent, I was stretching him out a bit and it just looks like it's scabbing over. I've never popped a vent open before so I didn't dig around too much, maybe when I treat him again I'll get the courage up, haha. Did the Betadine solution and the Polysporin. You said to rinse the Betadine solution after, right? I did anyways, dipped him back in some water and dried him off before putting the polysporin on thin. This is so new to me, I've never had wounds to deal with before so I'm excited to learn how but not mess up. [emoji39] He was exploring around quite a bit after, now that I cleaned his cage (it was disgusting how filthy the glass was...). Hope he settles in fast. How often do I treat the burns?


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http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...a01e7bd50f.jpg

Oh, and it looks like he's going to shed soon too, so I'm happy to see what his belly will look like after. [emoji4]
He may not be as underweight as I was thinking, yesterday was sort of a whirlwind with bringing him home and discovering how bad his burns really were. Now that I've handled him more and looked at him more close, I'm feeling better about his condition.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by ratchet

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...a01e7bd50f.jpg

Oh, and it looks like he's going to shed soon too, so I'm happy to see what his belly will look like after. [emoji4]
He may not be as underweight as I was thinking, yesterday was sort of a whirlwind with bringing him home and discovering how bad his burns really were. Now that I've handled him more and looked at him more close, I'm feeling better about his condition.


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I am definitely not an expert by any means, I just cross researched a whole bunch. From the general consensus of what I have read, soaking and cleaning once a day (soaking no more than 5 minutes each day as prolonged soaking could actually promote scale rot/iinfection) until the wound has been shed ateast once.
Yes you did it perfectly, always wash the betadine off and then gently dry your ball python. Then the polysporin! You did great.

Just so you know, through a shed the scab may be ripped open, and you will have to continue treatment through the next shed or the wound is completely healed again and then that next shed your baby will or should look back to normal. Just since you said he looks like he is about to shed and has scabs.

Again I'm not a Herpetologist nor an exotic vet, but I hope that my research helps you guys!

On the other hand, Charlie is /very/ handsome, :snake: !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WintersSerpentine

I am definitely not an expert by any means, I just cross researched a whole bunch. From the general consensus of what I have read, soaking and cleaning once a day (soaking no more than 5 minutes each day as prolonged soaking could actually promote scale rot/iinfection) until the wound has been shed ateast once.
Yes you did it perfectly, always wash the betadine off and then gently dry your ball python. Then the polysporin! You did great.

Just so you know, through a shed the scab may be ripped open, and you will have to continue treatment through the next shed or the wound is completely healed again and then that next shed your baby will or should look back to normal. Just since you said he looks like he is about to shed and has scabs.

Again I'm not a Herpetologist nor an exotic vet, but I hope that my research helps you guys!

On the other hand, Charlie is /very/ handsome, :snake: !

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You were more resourceful then I was, haha, thanks, much appreciated! [emoji3]


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How is the dude doing?!

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Originally Posted by WintersSerpentine

How is the dude doing?!

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Good so far! Just waiting for him to shed, really. Have been putting the stuff on him everyday but he's in blue so I'm sort of twiddling my thumbs waiting to see how he'll look after! His vent looks a little better, I think, though. [emoji4]


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Small update!
Charlie still hasn't passed anything, no pee or urates or poop. So I took him out to really inspect his vent after looking on YouTube on how people pop the snakes to sex them (just trying to learn how to open them up and see what it's all supposed to look like, have never done it before!). Well, he's a boy! [emoji39] But I pulled this out of his vent... Looks like old shed that got stuck and then the edges were burnt. Everything looks okay on the inside, I don't know if the skin can cause an infection if it was in there too long but like I said, it all looked okay.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...47054f79dd.jpg

He peed a little when I was putting pressure around his vent, wasn't even upset about being peed on, haha.. He is starting to finally shed, so I'm hoping his belly will look a lot better afterwards!!


Edit: after looking closer at what I pulled out, it sort of looks like it might be a bit :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: at the ends of the two tails... I don't know how I could tell if it's infected in there? Any thoughts?

Looks like a sperm plug to me. Two tails? Do you mean his hemipenes or his spurs?

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Originally Posted by the_rotten1

Looks like a sperm plug to me. Two tails? Do you mean his hemipenes or his spurs?

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Sperm plug? I've never heard of that happening! I was talking about the tails on what I pulled out of his vent, not on the snake.


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Okay, I read it up on it and I think you're right. Not really sperm plugs, but the hemipenial shed. Usually they come out when the snake sheds, but sometimes they don't? Does that sound right? It's the first time I've ever dealt with it, learning new stuff! [emoji1303]


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