worried my bite might be infected

I'm a newbie to the snake world and I've had my ball for a little over two months. My husband and I fostered her after she was surrendered to our animal shelter with a respiratory infection. Anyway, long story short, she bit 11 days ago. (It was my fault - I was moving my hand around in her enclosure trying to take temp readings with an infrared thermometer on feeding day.) It was a superficial bite and didn't bother me much until two days ago when it started itching really bad. Now the bite marks are red and puffy, which they had not been before (and I've been good about not scratching). I took care to wash with hot water and antibacterial soap, but is it possible for the wounds to get infected this far out? Any thoughts are welcome. TIA!
(I'd attach a pic of my hand, but it seems I don't have permission to do that.)

It's not normal to still have bite marks 11 days after a bite. Most of the times they're gone in 1-2 days unless it's a really bad one.

I wouldn't worry too much but you might want to see a doctor. They can sometimes leave teeth in the wound and they can be hard to see.

Make sure you disinfect the wound right away with peroxide or something similar, it's still an animal bite.

A wound is vulnerable for infection for quite a while, especially on the hands. We touch a great many icky things!

I'd def go see a doc, and perhaps soak that wound in some hot saline solution (boil a mug of water, add a teaspoon of seasalt) and properly disinfect if you haven't.

It might be cellulitis at this stage. With 11 days and still not healed you need a proper doctor visit.

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It might be cellulitis at this stage. With 11 days and still not healed you need a proper doctor visit.

The condition your hand is in may also be due to a allergic reaction to the saliva/ secretions that went into the wound 11 days ago. Do you have any known allergies? There are some pretty strong enzymes in ball python saliva as well as bacteria. Itching is a primary symptom of allergic reactions.

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

The condition your hand is in may also be due to a allergic reaction to the saliva/ secretions that went into the wound 11 days ago. Do you have any known allergies? There are some pretty strong enzymes in ball python saliva as well as bacteria. Itching is a primary symptom of allergic reactions.

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The only allergy I'm aware of is to ibuprofen. Looks like I'm headed to the doc as this doesn't seem normal.

Nope. Not normal. Doc is good plan. Good luck

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

The condition your hand is in may also be due to a allergic reaction to the saliva/ secretions that went into the wound 11 days ago. Do you have any known allergies? There are some pretty strong enzymes in ball python saliva as well as bacteria. Itching is a primary symptom of allergic reactions.

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That's a good point. Obviously make the doctor appointment but try taking a dose of Benadryl in the meantime and see if that helps - though if you're like me, you'll spend the rest of the day in bed woozy as heck.

Just a long shot but I had a similar thing happen to me with one of my Albino Royals ( feeding attempt ) anyways there were about 5 teeth in my hand and many more ' bloody' holes ... I took photos ( obviously lol ) and forgot all about it .. About a week later my hand was sore / itchy reddish . On closer inspection I noticed about 4 teeth STILL under the skin !!

The wife dug them out with a sterilised needle - applied sudacreme and all sorted !!!

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Just a long shot but I had a similar thing happen to me with one of my Albino Royals ( feeding attempt ) anyways there were about 5 teeth in my hand and many more ' bloody' holes ... I took photos ( obviously lol ) and forgot all about it .. About a week later my hand was sore / itchy reddish . On closer inspection I noticed about 4 teeth STILL under the skin !!

The wife dug them out with a sterilised needle - applied sudacreme and all sorted !!!

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That seems to make the most sense. The allergy thing would make perfect sense if the reaction didn't take 9 days to show up. How can you tell if there are teeth - I don't see anything obvious (though I don't really know what to look for)? Also, should I be worried about my ball missing teeth?

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Originally Posted by agnesnutter

That seems to make the most sense. The allergy thing would make perfect sense if the reaction didn't take 9 days to show up. How can you tell if there are teeth - I don't see anything obvious (though I don't really know what to look for)? Also, should I be worried about my ball missing teeth?

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Pretty sure the snake teeth grow back fairly quickly unless I'm confusing them with my Axolotl ( they regenerate EVERY part of their body !) .

As regards the 'possible' teeth under your skin .... the area just got very tender suddenly after a week as the teeth had made their way to the surface .... pretty sure you can see them better if you run a needle over the affected area as they show up better ... or maybe mine were nearer the surface ....

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Pretty sure the snake teeth grow back fairly quickly unless I'm confusing them with my Axolotl ( they regenerate EVERY part of their body !) .

As regards the 'possible' teeth under your skin .... the area just got very tender suddenly after a week as the teeth had made their way to the surface .... pretty sure you can see them better if you run a needle over the affected area as they show up better ... or maybe mine were nearer the surface ....

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You're right. I looked it up and they do grow their teeth back. I feel much better about that. And I dug through my skin a bit with some tweezers and did pull out some stuff. I can't honestly tell if it's dry skin bits or tiny teeth, the redness has gone done a tad since I did that, so I think you nailed it. Thank you so much!

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Originally Posted by agnesnutter

You're right. I looked it up and they do grow their teeth back. I feel much better about that. And I dug through my skin a bit with some tweezers and did pull out some stuff. I can't honestly tell if it's dry skin bits or tiny teeth, the redness has gone done a tad since I did that, so I think you nailed it. Thank you so much!

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Well the ones in my hand were very TINY !!!

Maybe a couple of millimetres long , if that ..

Make sure you disinfect your skin !!!

Antiseptic cream of whatever is available .... in the movies they just dowse it in whiskey / alcohol :)



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I haven't been bit in a long time, but I always used to just wash it really well and put some kind of antibiotic ointment on it if needed. Never had an issue.