Raw Skin on Back

My daughter's Ball Python developed a line of raw skin along its back, starting about three inches behind its head and travelling for about seven inches. The wound is not bleeding but I can see raw flesh where some of the scales are missing. There are a few red patches. My intuition tells me that Uday rubbed it raw against some portion of his cage. I just hope it is not some rot or disease that is more serious. He doesn't seem to have any other symptoms or problems. He did eat three mice about five days ago and regurgitated a good portion of them today. It seemed to be mostly hair. I have applied Neosporin to the wound to promote healing and prevent infection. I have also replaced all the metal screening with softer fiberglass screening to prevent more damage. Does anyone have anything to offer in the way of diagnosis or treatment?

well with the wound and the regurg i would highly recomend getting your snake to the vet asap.

Definitely a vet trip is in order. Between a wound and a regurge that's likely your safest and best route. Can you in the meantime describe your enclosure, husbandry routine and a bit about the snake (age, when you got it, etc.)

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Originally Posted by Paulzy

My daughter's Ball Python developed a line of raw skin along its back, starting about three inches behind its head and travelling for about seven inches. The wound is not bleeding but I can see raw flesh where some of the scales are missing. There are a few red patches. My intuition tells me that Uday rubbed it raw against some portion of his cage. I just hope it is not some rot or disease that is more serious. He doesn't seem to have any other symptoms or problems. He did eat three mice about five days ago and regurgitated a good portion of them today. It seemed to be mostly hair. I have applied Neosporin to the wound to promote healing and prevent infection. I have also replaced all the metal screening with softer fiberglass screening to prevent more damage. Does anyone have anything to offer in the way of diagnosis or treatment?

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Is his regurging his meals common for him? Does he always eat 3 mice at a time for his weekly meal?If so and your temps and your husbandry are all correct my advice is simple,take him to a reptile vet ASAP.Regurging is not a normal thing and could be caused by several things.Now the wound on his back is possibly easy to figure out.Is there something in his enclosure that has any sharp edges? Snakes do not rub there skin raw to the flesh unless they have something that causes this to happen.Could you give a some info on this snakes history since he has been with you and his enclosure description? How long have you had him? Is he a baby or adult? What are the temps in his enclosure? Maybe once we know a little more about him we might be able to help you with him.

Thanks for responding so quickly. I just spoke with my daughter, she says she saw Uday rubbing himself raw on the metal screen of his enclosure. He is about four years old, and to my knowledge, hasn't done that for a long time. His enclosure is large (2 x 2 x 4), mostly glass with some screening (fiberglass now that I have changed it). I have artificial turf as a substrate. He has a large plastic bowl for water and soaking, a plastic hide, and a large branch (mostly for decoration as he doesn't like to climb that much as I have heard most BPs don't). He has a heating pad under his hide, and a UV lamp at the other end of the enclosure. We usually give him two large mice each week, but gave him three at the suggestion of the pet store snake person. This is the first time I have ever seen him regurgitate. I will get him into the vet if necessary, I just don't want to make an unnecessary trip (money, time, exposing him to other animals, you know).

well you could try to offer him a larger meal, smal/medium rats depending on size and if he will take them, but the vet visit i would still highly recomend just to be safe.

One hide or two? As far as this screening are you talking about on the lid of this enclosure? If he doesn't climb how is he reaching up to rub or what exactly does he do in order to rub his back raw like that? Are you sure it's a rub and not a burn from exposure to an overhead heat source like that lamp you mentioned? What do you use to measure temps and humidity in his enclosure? After a regurge you need to be careful and follow a special feeding protocol or you're likely to just cause another regurge and get into a really bad cycle that way.

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Originally Posted by jcaustralia

well you could try to offer him a larger meal, smal/medium rats depending on size and if he will take them, but the vet visit i would still highly recomend just to be safe.

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Just wondering where you are getting this advice from? The last thing anyone should do after a regurge is offer a larger meal!

hi my snake seems to have the same thinh urs does ..but down by its tail have you ever helped him shed by rubbing him

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Just wondering where you are getting this advice from? The last thing anyone should do after a regurge is offer a larger meal!

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no i was not saying offering him food now, in his one of his post he stated that a pet store employee suggested feeding him more mice at one time, and him saying his snake was 4 years old. i just suggested to try a single larger food item vs multiple smaller ones.

Yeah, I think one small rat is a good idea. I was saying he never regurgitated before, then the petco snake person suggested we give him three mice instead of the usual two. Then he regurgitated them about 4 days after he ate them.

I don't think the UV lamp could burn him. It is not a heat lamp, only a UV bulb and it is several inches from the enclosure which has a screen door along one side that he can reach. He does have problems shedding alone. We usually have to soak him and aid him. It is possible that my daughter jumped the gun, but I don't think she could have caused this injury.

Now please, Frankykeno, in a nutshell, what is the procedure for getting him back on a normal eating schedule after a regurgitation? I don't want to get in some bad regurgitation cycle. Thanks, by the way, for all the help. What would us uninitiated do without experts like you?

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Originally Posted by Paulzy

Yeah, I think one small rat is a good idea. I was saying he never regurgitated before, then the petco snake person suggested we give him three mice instead of the usual two. Then he regurgitated them about 4 days after he ate them.

I don't think the UV lamp could burn him. It is not a heat lamp, only a UV bulb and it is several inches from the enclosure which has a screen door along one side that he can reach. He does have problems shedding alone. We usually have to soak him and aid him. It is possible that my daughter jumped the gun, but I don't think she could have caused this injury.

Now please, Frankykeno, in a nutshell, what is the procedure for getting him back on a normal eating schedule after a regurgitation? I don't want to get in some bad regurgitation cycle. Thanks, by the way, for all the help. What would us uninitiated do without experts like you?

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UV rays are not necessary for a nocturnal animal like bps, and I'm sure that it does produce heat. Even a regular lightbulb produces quite a bit of heat. ;) You can't be sure that it's NOT a thermal burn unless you double check your temps. Do you have a digital thermometer to check? I'd measure the temps at the top and the bottom of the enclosure just to make sure the temps are in the right ranges.

I do not have any experience with regurges, but I believe (from research) that you usually allow 3 weeks for the natural flora of the gut to reestablish itself. Then offer a much smaller prey item, and work up to a normal size for that animal. It's always better to err on the side of caution with bps. If 4 mice caused the regurg, I would try and off 1 to start off and then work up to 2 or 3. You can attempt to switch mice to rats, but I would wait until after you have reestablished successful feedings. :D

Well, the Jig is up. After some interrogation, my daughter confessed to shedding him prematurely and injuring him. I know how this sounds, but she does really love Uday, she is just thirteen and has some other issues that I'd rather not go into. Anyway, now that we know what it is, is there any advice out there on helping him get back on his feet---oops!

It does appear that he is preparing to shed again. Will this help to recover the area somewhat? Should I keep applying the Neosporin? And don't worry out there, I will be doing the shedding duties from now on just to be safe.

You shouldn't have to have "shedding duties" if the enclosure is set up properly. 82-84 on the cool side and 92-94 degrees on the warm side, and humidity 50-60%, measured with a digital thermometer/hygrometer combo unit(has a probe to measure both temps, can be found at WalMart in the outdoor thermometer section, brand is AcuRite, price- $10).

Undertank heating should be controlled by a quality thermostat(Helix, Herpstat 1, Herpstat 2, Johnson Controls, Rancos are all good choices) to prevent burns and overheating of the heating device.

Does he have two secure hides on each end? What type of substrate?

And don't worry about trying to feed more. If the snake is of good weight and healthy, don't try to fix what ain't broke. Two mice per week is PLENTY for an adult male Ball. They don't need to get big and fat, they just need to maintain their weight and eat consistently. If he eats well on two mice(as 3 is obviously too many, and stressed his system) and since he is old enough now that trying to switch him from mice to rats would be like trying to set fire to Antarctica...

Since he regurgitated, let his system rest for 2.5-3 weeks, and then offer ONE mouse. Keep offering only ONE mouse for 2-3 weeks and then you can bump him back up to his normal size meal of two. I feed all of my snakes on mice(except for Ruari, that would be a bit out of budget) and they grow like market hogs.

Make sure his heat and humidity are both spot on, and he will do just fine. Good luck with him.

Oh, and a generic triple antibiotic ointment applied once or twice per day, and keeping the enclosure clean, will help that area heal. After he sheds, it should be less noticeable.

I, being new to this myself, cannot offer any advise. But I will say that I fully support you teaching your children how to be responsable for others/animals. I have an 11 year old son who would rather have pets than friends. He is amazing with our pets. Please don't be too hard on her and let her help as much as possiable. We all learn from our mistakes and accomplishments. I think thats how most of our vets around here have gained their infinate wisdom. :D Just my :2cent: .

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Originally Posted by Paulzy

Well, the Jig is up. After some interrogation, my daughter confessed to shedding him prematurely and injuring him. I know how this sounds, but she does really love Uday, she is just thirteen and has some other issues that I'd rather not go into. Anyway, now that we know what it is, is there any advice out there on helping him get back on his feet---oops!

It does appear that he is preparing to shed again. Will this help to recover the area somewhat? Should I keep applying the Neosporin? And don't worry out there, I will be doing the shedding duties from now on just to be safe.

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I have a question how did she shed him if the old skin was not ready to come off of him? Was his eyes still cloudy? What i am trying to do here is figure out what part of the shed cycle he was in when she removed his skin.Is this the first time she has done this?

Thanks for all the advice out there. I will adjust the climate in the enclosure accordingly so that maybe there will be no more shedding problems. My daughter says that she has definitely learned her lesson. We will wean him back on food in a few weeks, slowly. In the meantime, I will use Neosporin on the area and keep his enclosure very clean. Thanks again to all.

You might want to replace that turf with a good layer of plain white paper towels while he heals. That way you can see if there's any discharge from the wound and it's softer than turf. Also just something to think about here....turf has a nasty habit of harboring bacteria no matter how often it's changed. It's very hard to get it completely clean too. Very nice to look at but possibly problematic that way.

I am curioius as to why wait 2-3 weeks before offering another meal? if a person or dog/cat, vomits, they will often begin eating normally within 1-2 days after the vomit, and that is for an animal that feeds 2xs per day. a week would be plenty of time, for the bacteria within the gut of an animal to jumpstart itself. i can understand feeding a smaller meal, and a snake def has no problem going several weeks without food, but i am curious as to why wait 2-3 weeks??


what it sounds like to me is that there was some type of gastic gas build up or rot going on and the body had to expel what was basically rotting inside the animal. I would strongly suggest checking temperatures.

~mike

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Originally Posted by wildlifewarrior

I am curioius as to why wait 2-3 weeks before offering another meal? if a person or dog/cat, vomits, they will often begin eating normally within 1-2 days after the vomit, and that is for an animal that feeds 2xs per day. a week would be plenty of time, for the bacteria within the gut of an animal to jumpstart itself. i can understand feeding a smaller meal, and a snake def has no problem going several weeks without food, but i am curious as to why wait 2-3 weeks??


what it sounds like to me is that there was some type of gastic gas build up or rot going on and the body had to expel what was basically rotting inside the animal. I would strongly suggest checking temperatures.

~mike

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A regurg is a major event for a snake, and you can't adequately compare a mammal that eats daily to an animal that may only get a couple meals a year. Not to mention that one is a mammal and one a reptile. ;)

Anyway, you are not just waiting for the gut flora to regain a balance, but also to allow the body to heal. Not just the rodent is regurg, but along with it digestive enzymes. So you are allowing the esophogus to heal as well. Don't forget that reptiles heal much slower than we do. Besides, waiting a couple weeks is nothing to a snake and it's much better to err on the side of caution than to risk another regurg.