Oh no, need prompt advice, have had an accident

[Badgemash]

I have a very small hatchling that came from the runt egg in my clutch, she has been assist fed since a month after hatching. She has been progressing well, just doesn't seem to recognise what food is unless you stick the very first part of the head in her mouth, then she'll chomp down on it. Otherwise it is treated like furniture. I have not had to use tools to feed her for a long time, just push the pinkie against her lip until the jaws open and then she takes it.

Tonight she was very resistant to handling, I thought this was due to my offering her her first rat pink (a very very small one, born today, was the same size as the small fuzzies she's been getting) and that she just didn't like it. She finally took it, and as I went to place her back in her tub, I noticed a funny spot on her neck, like a little fold of skin. It turned put to be a tear or cut in her skin!

It's about 2 cm back from the base of her skull on the right hand side, approximately 6-7 mm long running at an approximately 45 degree angle. When her head is turned to the left, it pulls open ~3 mm, when her head is straight ~1 mm, and it is closed if her head is turned right. The tissue visible in the wound is scaleless, smooth, and slivery white colored, I did not see any blood on her, in her tub, on her tub liner, on my hand, or around the wound, but she looked uncomfortable (was curled up after feeding, normally she roams about for a few minutes). I would take a picture, but I want to minimize her stress and she's gone into her warm hide.

She is housed in a sterilite tub, on white heavy-duty paper liner (the reptizorb liners), with two of the little black plastic hides (reptile basics), and a small blue ceramic bowl. I think I would have noticed if she was fighting me hard enough to tear her own skin while feeding, and her prey was not oversized (I cannot see any possible way that swallowing it overstretched her neck skin, in fact I keep her meals on the small side). The fact that she seemed grumpy from the start makes me think she was already injured and I somehow missed it, but I cannot find any rough sufaces in her tub that could have done this!

I got an answering machine at the exotic vet's office, so I couldn't get her in tonight, but we'll be there when they open tomorrow morning. I wiped down every surface in her tub, hides, and bowl with F10, filled the bowl with distilled water, and put in a fresh liner to try to fend off any bacteria. Is there anything else I can do to make her more comfortable until tomorrow morning? Should I keep the humidity low to keep the wound dry tonight (and not feed any bacteria) or high to keep the tissue flexible? I have neosporin (the non-painkiller kind) and betadine, should I swab it with one of those? I don't want to cause her any more pain right now. Is the silverish tissue the dermis (do snakes have a dermis?) or is that deeper connective tissue?

Sorry for the essay, I'm just so worried about her, as well as absolutely mortified that this happened to an animal under my care, and very anxious that I can't work out how it happened (I mean how can I prevent it happening again if I don't know how it occurred in the first place).

[Tannerrrtx]

Ask your vet about hydrotherapy. I had a similar issue and did in home hydrotherapy and it healed up very nicely. Mine was also on the throat area. Is it just the scales or all the way down to the muscle?

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[Badgemash]

I think it's just the top layer of skin or cartilage-type layer right underneath that. The exposed part underneath is a silvery color and doesn't seem to have much blood supply. I would think if it was the muscle it would be pinker and have some blood/bleeding, but I'm not certain.

Edited to Add: It's after 1 am now, so I'm going to try to sleep a bit. I'll report back tomorrow when we return from the vet.

[Phantomtip]

Just wait till you get her to the vet before you start speculating on what happened. They have very delicate skin as tiny babies. Just get her into the vet and they will fix her up.

[patientz3ro]

I could be way off, but in people, silvery tissue like you describe is usually tendon or ligament. DEFINITELY calls for a vet visit. In the meantime, keep the wound clean and dry, and if possible move her into a cage with paper towel substrate. I don't know that I would mess with humidity, as long as it's already correct. If you change substrate at the first sign of anything unsanitary, you should be good as far as bacteria go.

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[Archimedes]

Best of luck on your vet visit, I hope you get some type of explanation on how it could have occurred! please do keep us updated, I have no personal commentary on maintaining it til her vet visit, but my thoughts are with you!

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

I feel bad for any animal in distress..hope all goes well

[Crazymonkee]

Hope the vet visit goes well!

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[NYHC4LIFE8899]

Curious weren't you,lol^^^

[Libby]

I'm commenting to follow the thread, so I really don't have anything to add except I hope she's doing well.

And good on you for getting her to a vet right away!