Need some ball python help

I picked up an 06 female BP on Wednesday in exchange for my leopard gecko from a guy that seemed to know what he was doing. Come to find out this guy was feeding this snake, along with all of his others, rats that were way to big given her girth.
I bring this gorgeous lovable girl home, and she rarely moves when I put her in her tub. I see this huge bubble in the middle of her, turns out it was a huge rat. I get home from work today, 4 days after the guy feed her, and she finally regurgitated. This guy just so happened to call after I was cleaning the cage, and I pretty much went off on him. The thing was
Anyway, after I gave her a bath to clean her up, along with her cage, I noticed a cut a few inches behind her head. It is about 1/8 of an inch long, and looked really fresh. I figure that the rat this punk feed her a couple days ago bit her, causing the initial cut, and when she regurgitated it re opened.
So, not to talk about the absolute frustration I felt, I put a little bit of neosporin on it with a Q tip, and covered it up with a band aid. I took out the substrate I had in there and replaced it with paper bags to keep the humidity low.
I will probably take her into the vet tomorrow and see what they have to say about the cut.
What do you guys recommend for the cut? Neosporin a good move? What about the band aid? I appreciate any and all input.

Poor girl :( Neosporin is fine as long as it isn't the kind with pain reliever in it.

This is her, she is gorgeous. Looks like a hypo but she is normal. And the band aid of course. I know she probably doesn't like it on there, but I figure it does more good than bad.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...h/P4180016.jpg

Hi,

To be honest I'm not so sure that band-aid is a good idea.:(

I can forsee some problems removing it and does it go all the way round her neck?


dr del

i have to agree the bandaid sounds like it could cause problems you know how they rip hairs off on humans i think it may rip off scales on snakes my boa has a wound from giving her shots so ive been putting neosporin on and that helps alot. the band aid isnt needed i just hold my boa for a while after i put it on. When you do decide to take the band aid off i would soak her in luke warm water so it doesnt cause any damage. Hope she gets better soon =] -Josh

Yeah, I wouldn't wrap it around her neck. If you really want to use a bandage, maybe those little round ones would work. If the cut was on her back side then it is less likely that she would rub the neosporin off anyway

wow she is pretty:D

Also, I think it would be a good idea to try peeling from head to tail as much as possible to avoid pulling on the scales as much.

The cut is not on her under belly, more so on the side of her neck. I will definitely soak her in sterile warm water tomorrow before I slowly take it off.
I think I will feed her a f/t mouse tomorrow. After throwing up she hasn't had anything in her stomach for a couple weeks.
How long does it take for a cut to heal up with the proper care?

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Originally Posted by Papa Burgundy

I think I will feed her a f/t mouse tomorrow. After throwing up she hasn't had anything in her stomach for a couple weeks.

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If she just regurged, give her 2 weeks from the date of the regurge to feed her again. A regurge is very hard on the digestive system...feeding her to soon may result in another regurge. Also, with all the other stress of the cut and a new environment, I would give her some time to settle in.

I wouldn't have used a band aid or at least not a full wrap around band aid, I think that the adhesive may be more of a problem later on.

You need to let her system come back from the regurge so like it's been said....wait two full weeks and then offer a much smaller than normal prey item. Gradually work her back up to her normal (not oversized prey item) over a number of feedings and no further regurges.

I'd be getting that bandaid off her. Soak to loosen it completely then just snip it off so it doesn't pull at her scales.

For the bite/cut make sure it's clean, dab on triple antibiotic without pain reliever and then keep her on layers of plain white paper towels rather than loose bedding that could stick to the wound.

Since she's had a bite or an injury, likely wasn't kept very well and has recently regurged I think it's probably wise to have a vet take a look at her. The regurge may have been due to a too large prey item, it also may have been due to being hauled from his place to yours immediately after eating, or it could be due to a health issue. Only you and your vet can end up determining that really.

You was not soaking it when it threw up was you.

I think she threw up when she finally went on her heat pad, and her body couldn't take the size of it, and out it came. I was not soaking her when she regurgitated.
I talked to this guy after cleaning everything and he seemed to pride himself on feeding big. I couldn't agree with him more.
I will wait a while to feed her, if I wait 2 weeks then she will probably lose considerable size, but if you guys recommend it then your probably right.

Edit: And yes, I removed any loose substrate and she is on brown paper bags now.

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Originally Posted by Papa Burgundy

I think she threw up when she finally went on her heat pad, and her body couldn't take the size of it, and out it came. I was not soaking her when she regurgitated.
I talked to this guy after cleaning everything and he seemed to pride himself on feeding big. I couldn't agree with him more.
I will wait a while to feed her, if I wait 2 weeks then she will probably lose considerable size, but if you guys recommend it then your probably right.

Edit: And yes, I removed any loose substrate and she is on brown paper bags now.

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She won't lose any weight over two weeks don't worry. Ball pythons can go off feed for 6 months and lose very little weight, so two weeks is nothing. If you think about how much they eat in the wild, feeding once a week is more than plenty.

At this point you should soak her and ever so gently take that band-aid off as mentioned, put more triple-antibiotic on, then leave her alone. Don't handle her or pester her at all with exception to taking her to the vet. Give her plenty of privacy for the next two weeks until you try feeding again (covering her enclosure is a good way to do this)

The brown paper bags are better than loose substrate but white paper towel is absorbent, soft and very easy to see any urates, urine or poo on so you can clean it quickly and not have to worry about it infecting her wound.

On another note, congratulations on your new snake, you are doing the right thing by asking questions and looking for advice to give your snake the best home and care possible:)

If you have any other questions regarding your husbandry or anything in general, don't be afraid to ask, the members here would love to help you!

I would also recommend that you get the bandage off asap. If you soak her and the adhesive doesn't loosen completely, you may have to do some gentle peeling. If so, I recommend that you peel from head to tail, gentlely. Hopefully peeling won't be necessary. Good luck with her.

Mineral oil is also very good for removing adhesive. I have found that it works better than just soaking in water.

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Originally Posted by Louis Kirkland

I would also recommend that you get the bandage off asap. If you soak her and the adhesive doesn't loosen completely, you may have to do some gentle peeling. If so, I recommend that you peel from head to tail, gentlely. Hopefully peeling won't be necessary. Good luck with her.

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gently :rolleyes: :oops: :weirdface

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Originally Posted by FloridaHogs

Mineral oil is also very good for removing adhesive. I have found that it works better than just soaking in water.

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vegetable oil works great as well

The band aid is off and she seems to be doing fine. As much as I would like, I will hold off on handling her for a couple weeks. She is such a doll. When I got her out of the bath last night and was drying her off, she slithered right up next to my nose and gave it a few licks. My mom nearly started crying!
As much as a hassle it may be now, I know it will be worth it to see her thrive when she is all healed up and healthy.

Ps. You guys rock.

So it has been a week from her regurgitation, and opening of the cut. She is doing very well, her cut has scabbed over and is healing nicely, temps stable and ideal in her tub, and she is very active at night.
So, if I feed her a week from today (2 weeks after her regurg and opening of cut) do you think the cut will re open? I will start out feeding her small of course, med to large rat, I am just worried about her cut opening up again. I have no idea how quickly snakes heal. What do you guys think?

You think a medium to large rat is a small meal?? What would she normally get? A rabbit?!

Go for a just-weaned rat. ONE of them. See how she does and in a week, give her another one.

She will grow and maintain her weight very easily on either 3 adult mice a week or a small/small rat. They definitely don't need large rats to maintain. That will just cause her to regurgitate again or just go off feed for a few months.

Opps. This is what I meant to say.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Papa Burgundy

I will start out feeding her small of course, med to large mouse

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Papa Burgundy

Opps. This is what I meant to say.

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If you are worried about opening the cut again, maybe try feeding two small mice? I have absolutely no experience as I have not actually received my snake yet, but it seems logical to me.

Edit: I know this isnt on topic, but I looked at your gallery and I have some suggestions for the enclosure you keep your ball in. It looks like you are using mercury thermometers, I'm not sure about the forum consensus on these, but a glass thermo filled with a toxic heavy metal doesnt seem like a good idea to me. Also, a dial humidity gauge is not the best choice either. I assume you are using an under tank heater, if not, you should, controlled by at least a lamp dimmer/rheostat, which are about 8 bucks at a hardware store or walmart. Also, for the temperatures and humidity, a very common unit on the forums is Acurite Digital Thermo/Hygrometer. It is about 12 bucks at walmart and reads 2 temps and humidity, with one of the temps being on a probe so you can measure ground temp. It would be best to have two of these, but one will suffice. Also, 1 log hide will not do, you dont want the snake to have to choose between a little security and thermoregulation. Try to get two identical, fully enclosed hides. These can be purchased from reptile shows or petstores if you want a more natural look, but a bowl or pottery dish with a hole cut/soddered into it will work just as well. There are some good stickies about this in the husbandry and caging boards. Hope this helps, and I'm not trying to be a stick in the mud, just wanting to let you know. Good luck with the regurge and feeding.