It finally happened. :(

So, one of my boys (3yo norm bp) finally got bit last night. There was no blood. The wound was very small (i know, bacteria.) from what i saw the rats teeth went in about 2-3 milimeters but did not go directly in. it's more like they just seperated a couple of scales from the muscle.

i keep him in a glass tank. i feed in the tank. when he coiled around the rat, i didn't see the the damage. i noticed it when he started to uncoil. so, apart from feeding f/t, how am i supposed to see every angle? i mean i can totally see this same thing happening in a tub. maybe there isn't a solution ofther than f/t or maybe i am just still ticked off that it happened. UGH!

now what are the extenuating circumstances that justify picking up and examining a snake that has just eaten. because i didn't see any blood, and he ate fine after the incident, and i couldn't even locate the spot while he was moving around; i didn't pick him up to see. i always wait 2 days before i even touch them. i did keep checking back and he is in his hide now so there is no way i am going to get a look with out disturbing him. what do you do?

if it's bad, what do i look for? yeah i know foaming, bleeding, pussing, anything that looks weird around the site is bad and it'll be off to the vet.. but what else can happen? any experience will be a plus.

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Originally Posted by Ranegyr

So, one of my boys (3yo norm bp) finally got bit last night. There was no blood. The wound was very small (i know, bacteria.) from what i saw the rats teeth went in about 2-3 milimeters but did not go directly in. it's more like they just seperated a couple of scales from the muscle.

i keep him in a glass tank. i feed in the tank. when he coiled around the rat, i didn't see the the damage. i noticed it when he started to uncoil. so, apart from feeding f/t, how am i supposed to see every angle? i mean i can totally see this same thing happening in a tub. maybe there isn't a solution ofther than f/t or maybe i am just still ticked off that it happened. UGH!

now what are the extenuating circumstances that justify picking up and examining a snake that has just eaten. because i didn't see any blood, and he ate fine after the incident, and i couldn't even locate the spot while he was moving around; i didn't pick him up to see. i always wait 2 days before i even touch them. i did keep checking back and he is in his hide now so there is no way i am going to get a look with out disturbing him. what do you do?

if it's bad, what do i look for? yeah i know foaming, bleeding, pussing, anything that looks weird around the site is bad and it'll be off to the vet.. but what else can happen? any experience will be a plus.

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did you put anything on it? Ive heard neosporin (bad spelling) is safe to use.

Mike~

My spider got bit a few weeks ago - in 2 places. It bled. He finished eating, I picked him up and applied neosporin and put him back in his hide. He feeds in a different container. He is fine. I keep my tongs in hand now when feeding. Last feed, same spider struck from the butt again (that kid is such a bad shot!!!), so I just stuck one end of the tong between the rat's head and the spider's body. By the way, he feeds from a kritter creeper, so I got access to all angles unless the head goes under the snake. This hasn't happened yet. If it does, I'll probably just roll the snake over a bit...

We feed 40 snakes every week, the majority live. Small scratches and superficial nicks do not seem to be detrimental. These are snakes with scales to protect them from those small hazards in life.

If you feel that it is better to err on the safe side, get some neosporin without pain reliever and put it on the wound. If it is a good size scratch, or there is chance for infection, you can clean the wound with betadine, iodine, or alcohol. Then put the neosporin on afterward.

neosporin WITHOUT PAINKILLER is supposedly safe to use, just keeps the snake safe from infection. A little nip isn't anything to worry about unless it gets infected, which is something to watch out for because infections can be really bad, but easily preventable. Luckily I've never had to deal with it(knock on wood) since I've never had a snake that didn't take F/T or P/K(knock on wood again)

When feeding live, bites can happen, don't beat yourself up over it. If the bite was serious you'd be able to tell.

dont use neosporin use polysporin. neosporin has a muscle relaxer in it, polysporin doesn't.

just curious..
shouldn't you use the neosporin with painkiller?

or neosporin at all (Monty)


Thanks,
Mike~

you should try not to worry too much about it. These are still wild animals and they are able to survive through bad feeding bites and scratches in the wild so im sure he will be fine. throw some meds on there and it should be good in a few days :D

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Originally Posted by MikeG

just curious..
shouldn't you use the neosporin with painkiller?

or neosporin at all (Monty)


Thanks,
Mike~

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Painkillers that are safe to use on humans are not necessarily safe for reptiles, and in fact might cause all sorts of health issues.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

Painkillers that are safe to use on humans are not necessarily safe for reptiles, and in fact might cause all sorts of health issues.

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Like what? I have heard other users say not to use Neosporin with painkillers, but never knew why...

instead of neosporin has anyone ever used bacitracin? pronounced bass-uh-trace-in. that's was i was instructed to use when i got my tattoo's and i've only used that since. it's supposed ot be better and they tol dme why but i forgot. it's been years

i'll check the lil guy out tonight.

oh and alcohol... really? isoprobyl alcohol? the pediatrician is telling us to shy away from that stuff. i've used it all my life but aparently new meds are better (at least for kids/us) than the old fashioned rubbing alcohol. it's not a big wound at all, hopefully i can find it. but i'll get the area all cleaned up. any ideas about the dangers of lightly swabbing a complete side of the neck for 3 - 4 inches? i mean if it't now bad and i cant find it... i was thinking about wiping the area down. i'll make sure the ventilation is really good cause the fumes get to me too. i can imagine what they do to him.

thanks all of you.

i'll let you know when i get home how bad/insignifigant it is.

Neosporin and Polysporin are not exactly the same thing, but the difference is not a muscle relaxant. I think for this purpose either one would be fine.

However, be sure you are getting the right one! Neosporin is a brand name that is now applied to lots of different products. The original Neosporin antibiotic ointment (without pain killer) is what we are referring to here.

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Originally Posted by Ranegyr

oh and alcohol... really? isoprobyl alcohol? the pediatrician is telling us to shy away from that stuff. i've used it all my life but aparently new meds are better (at least for kids/us) than the old fashioned rubbing alcohol.

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Yup, regular ol' rubbing alcohol.

Peroxide is crap for disinfecting, and as Becky (satanicintention) our local Vet tech puts it, it "is only good for getting blood stains out." :gj:

I believe the reason alcohol and iodine are no longer recommended for human first aide is because it turns out they are just as effective as killing healthy human tissue as they are at killing germs. So it causes more scarring. However, I'd rather have more scarring than an infection if I felt there were (or were likely to be) germs that needed killing.

Betadine is just a particular kind of iodine, so I believe it falls in the same category. I think iodine/betadine is the best at disinfecting.

I believe alcohol does its best at disinfecting when left wet for a period of several minutes, which isn't practical in most applications.

Peroxide also causes more scarring, but they've figured out it doesn't even disinfect as well as they used to think it did.

I seriously doubt your snake is going to need psychotherapy :P over a little extra scarring, so if you feel disinfection is a good idea, go ahead and use the alcohol or iodine.

If anyone knows anything to the contrary of what I've said in here, please let me know. It is kind of stuff I've mismashed together from several sources over the past several years, so it is possible I've got some of it confused.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ranegyr

So, one of my boys (3yo norm bp) finally got bit last night. There was no blood. The wound was very small (i know, bacteria.) from what i saw the rats teeth went in about 2-3 milimeters but did not go directly in. it's more like they just seperated a couple of scales from the muscle.

i keep him in a glass tank. i feed in the tank. when he coiled around the rat, i didn't see the the damage. i noticed it when he started to uncoil. so, apart from feeding f/t, how am i supposed to see every angle? i mean i can totally see this same thing happening in a tub. maybe there isn't a solution ofther than f/t or maybe i am just still ticked off that it happened. UGH!

now what are the extenuating circumstances that justify picking up and examining a snake that has just eaten. because i didn't see any blood, and he ate fine after the incident, and i couldn't even locate the spot while he was moving around; i didn't pick him up to see. i always wait 2 days before i even touch them. i did keep checking back and he is in his hide now so there is no way i am going to get a look with out disturbing him. what do you do?

if it's bad, what do i look for? yeah i know foaming, bleeding, pussing, anything that looks weird around the site is bad and it'll be off to the vet.. but what else can happen? any experience will be a plus.

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im sorry i would be upset too but it does happen. make sure you keep meds on the wound till it heals up

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ranegyr

instead of neosporin has anyone ever used bacitracin? pronounced bass-uh-trace-in. that's was i was instructed to use when i got my tattoo's and i've only used that since. it's supposed ot be better and they tol dme why but i forgot. it's been years

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I forgot to respond to this when I responded earlier. Bacitracin is one of the ingredients in Neosporin. That much I knew. Knowing that, I had no idea why anyone would tell you it was better than Neosporin. So I tried to find something about it, and found this link:
http://www.breasthealthonline.org/cg...w.pl?tid=46481

Apparently some people can be allergic to one of the ingredients in Neosporin. That would be a good reason to avoid using it on something like a tattoo!

I have no idea how that would translate to our little scaled friends, but considering how often I see it recommended, I'm pretty sure if there was any significant likelihood of a negative reaction, we'd have heard about it by now. So my guess is any of the three (neosporin, polysporin, bacitracin) are safe for use on reptiles. Personally, I'll go for the one with the most active ingredients (neosporin) when/if I have a reason to use it, to try to wipe everything out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ranegyr

instead of neosporin has anyone ever used bacitracin? pronounced bass-uh-trace-in. that's was i was instructed to use when i got my tattoo's and i've only used that since. it's supposed ot be better and they tol dme why but i forgot. it's been years

i'll check the lil guy out tonight.

oh and alcohol... really? isoprobyl alcohol? the pediatrician is telling us to shy away from that stuff. i've used it all my life but aparently new meds are better (at least for kids/us) than the old fashioned rubbing alcohol. it's not a big wound at all, hopefully i can find it. but i'll get the area all cleaned up. any ideas about the dangers of lightly swabbing a complete side of the neck for 3 - 4 inches? i mean if it't now bad and i cant find it... i was thinking about wiping the area down. i'll make sure the ventilation is really good cause the fumes get to me too. i can imagine what they do to him.

thanks all of you.

i'll let you know when i get home how bad/insignifigant it is.

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I used to think Bacitracin was ok to use for tattoos also, it isn't. It is NOT OK to use because it has painkillers in it and it can mess up your tatoo. Painkillers can actually pull the ink out of the fresh tatoo and well... you see where I am going with that. You are only suppossed to use regular A&D ointment on a tatoo and that is it.

As for the snake just use polysporin. This animal is much smaller than we are and using a painkiller on it could potentially overdose it. Plus some animals just don't react well to it certain medicines. Like how you are never suppossed to give a dog ibuprofin(motrin/advil etc...) for example.

Edit: Also for the OP, if you are so worried about this why not try and convert to f/t? Unless you breed your own feeders its alot cheaper and easier for you(and the snake) and obviously much safer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ranegyr

instead of neosporin has anyone ever used bacitracin? pronounced bass-uh-trace-in.

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I grew up on Bacitracin. My dad was a medic and then a hospital administrator. I didn't know what Neosporin was, LOL. Bacitracin is an antibacterail ointment designed to treat minor skin infections and the main ingredient in Neosporin - as mentioned before. Neosporin has a painkiller in it which is fine for us but bad for BPs.

Bacitracin in its pure (original) form DOES NOT have a painkiller in it. You have to specifically buy Bacitracin with a painkiller in it. Adding the painkiller was a marketing issue to compete with Neosprin. However, most people don't know the difference and just grab a tube and end up with the one ith the painkiller in it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ScottyDsntKnow

I used to think Bacitracin was ok to use for tattoos also, it isn't. It is NOT OK to use because it has painkillers in it and it can mess up your tatoo. Painkillers can actually pull the ink out of the fresh tatoo and well... you see where I am going with that. You are only suppossed to use regular A&D ointment on a tatoo and that is it.

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As I mentioned above, Bacitracin in it's pure (original) form does not have a painkiller. Most tattoo artist will tell you not to use it because it is easier to find the Bacitracin with painkiller then the original formula. So most people buy the wrong one.

A&D Oringinal Ointment is made up of vitamin A, vitamin D (hend the name), Petrolatum and Lanolin. It is designed to form a protective barrier to help seal out irritating wetness and allows skin to heal naturally. That is why tattoo artist perfer it. The whole purpose is to allow irritated sking to heal, but not to treat an infection. So for tattoos, I agree, A&D is best.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Monty

dont use neosporin use polysporin. neosporin has a muscle relaxer in it, polysporin doesn't.

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Polysporin is Neosproin without the painkiller. SO the bottom line, yep, i'm finally getting there, is that either Polysporin or Bacitracin (original formual - no painkiller) would be fine to use for your BP.

I just hope this never happens to my little girl...

All the Bacitracin I see in Walgreens or wherever else around here is the stuff with painkillers. Eh, for tatoos I just use A&D to be safe and for snakes definitely keep a tube of poylsporin around just in case although I don't feed live so I don't ever see when I'd have a bit up snake...

What happens if the mouse bite your snake in the face then do you still add neosporin??

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Originally Posted by tjones

What happens if the mouse bite your snake in the face then do you still add neosporin??

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Have you even been reading this thread?


......

my girl got bit once but nothing bad happened from it, she continues putting the hurt on the rat and ate it after it finally died.
what happened was she just happened to do a face grab on the rat but the rats mouth had to have been open at the time cuz it had it's bottom teeth on the side of my snake's face just around an eye and the top teeth were chomping down on the top of my girls head...YIKES! i know...
i grabbed the rat by the bridge of the nose with 2 fingernails and just held onto it so it couldnt bite down. (i had no tongs to stick in the rats mouth at the time so i had to do what i had to do).
i didnt let go of it until i noticed my girl starting to uncoil which was my cue that the rat was dead and she was gonna get ready to swallow it.
the only thing that resulted from that was some kind of an abrasion like spot on the top of her head that went away with the following shed.
99% of the time, my girl takes a few seconds to zero in on the spot she wants to hit and every time she does that she usually gets her mark.
the last feeding was this monday and she actually grabbed the rat when they were literally nose to nose (the rat was sniffing her). another face grab, but with this one, she had her mouth over the rats mouth and nose.

Yay for huge thread bump :gj:

Don't feed the trolls :ignore:

I didn't even know that neosporin comes with painkillers, then again i buy trip antibiotic ointment. the equate kind. i just looked at it and no pain killers. i was brought up on, put some peroxide on, quit your whinin, and get back outside! we didnt even have bandaids cuz i played with them! lol. i was a strange child! so long as no painkillers they are okay. awsome guys! you all rock & are very informative!