Ball Python Bit Itself- Is He Okay?

[spottedsnake]

My ~4 year old male BP bit himself during feeding about 1-2 months ago. He held on, and started pulling with his head, and squirming with his body (I think he thought he caught his prey and was trying to constrict it, but of course this wasn't possible as he had bitten himself). I grabbed him and put him under running water, which caused him to let go and all was fine. I just fed him normally and put him back in the tank. I looked at his scales and body during the time, and it looked slightly red, and some of the scales seemed out of place, but overall he looked okay. I've given it a lot of time, and it swelled up (nothing drastic, it just looked slightly abnormal), and became red after a couple days. It soon went down until it was just slightly bumped up, and I figured it was almost healed. Well, it's been at least a month and a half and he still has one large prominent mark, and at least two smaller ones. They all look like they are filled with fluid, and the large one is slightly red on the bottom. Oddly, the large one is in the middle of his body on one side, and the two small ones are right next to eachother on the other side. I don't recall him biting this many points of his body, but I suppose it's possible depending on how he was coiled up as I believe he bit himself on two parts of his body when he struck. My question is: should it still be abnormal? Is there a problem that I would need to consult a vet for, like an infection? Could this also be something totally unrelated that I think is just his bite?
Any help would be very appreciated, thanks!

[Spechal]

Better safe than sorry. Are there any other parts of him that seem abnormal (belly too)? Is the weight staying steady or growing? It's possible scar tissue, but like I said, better safe than sorry ... especially if you believe they are fluid filled.

[spottedsnake]

Thank you for replying! I just took a much closer look, and his belly and other parts of his body look fine, but I did discover something strange. On the top of his neck, very close to his head, ONE scale looks like it could be missing. An area the size and shape on a scale is pink with a small red mark. The surrounding scales look fine so this is very strange to me, and it would be impossible for him to bite this part of his neck. I also saw two more areas that seemed red, one in front of the two small bumps and one behind. (Like a row on his side: reddish area, bump, bump, reddish area). These areas are probably where his teeth also bit but weren't as severe/deep as the two bumps. They aren't very prominently red, but if you're looking hard you'll notice them. His weight has been steady. This missing scale perplexes me, as missing scales in the past have just been white areas without a scale, with nothing out of the ordinary. This area seems possibly irritated. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the bite, but it definitely is strange. Thanks

[Bogertophis]

A missing scale is no big deal...but if there are lumps under the skin, they are probably small abscesses (walled -off infections) that will NOT drain on
their own, since the pus that snakes typically form is solid rather than liquid. If you're concerned or they increase you should have him checked by a vet.

And please remember that we aren't even seeing him here...and hardly any 2 people describe things the same way, so...? Do you feed only pre-killed
prey (as recommended by most here) or do you feed live rodents? (feeding live prey is just an "injury waiting to happen"...)

[Spechal]

The missing scale could be from rubbing or getting caught on something ... it won't grow back. The red areas are a bit concerning if the bite happened a month and a half ago. Do you have a picture of the snake? Mine with an infected mouse bite was on the white part of her neck (she is a pied) and it's only a bit pinkish. The bite was recent and my Vet isn't concerned (I was there for another reason). If you have a dark snake and it's noticeably red, I would bite the bullet and pay the $40-60 exam fee rather than something much more expensive or a loss later.

[Indy]

Remember these are snakes, not crystalline figurines or rice paper paintings. They're animals, just like we are and minor things are minor. Despite the magical power of a bandaid to my son, the only time I personally use them is if I'm going to bleed on something I dont want to get blood on. If you run to the ER when you scratch yourself then you'll probably feel better going to the vet but otherwise I wouldn't worry myself about it. If youre looking hard enough at anything, youll find a problem. Grab a mirror and hit webmd some night and youll both be fine and yet not get any sleep that night :laugh: We get hurt, we heal. That's life.

[Bogertophis]

Yes, "boo boos" happen...we all survived skinned knees, etc. My only concern is when OP says some wounds appear to be fluid-filled & red...that should be watched,
as any infection should, for signs of it getting worse or just not healing.

But as far as worrying about the perfection of every scale, snakes are just like us...life brings some scars. (though I'm all for prevention, especially when
it comes to never feeding live prey)

[spottedsnake]

Pictures-
I'm putting the captions/explanations of the photos ABOVE the pictures.
(I'm wearing gloves since he just ate and he's been extra aggressive lately and I didn't want him to bite me while I'm trying to take pictures)

In this picture, you can see the two small bites (red arrows) and one of the red patches (blue arrow).




This one just shows what one of the red areas look like. (They're not very severe or bright red, but they are noticeable. Also, it looks a little less red in the picture than it does just looking at it)


Here you can see the odd red scale/missing scale. This is new, I'm kind of confused on this one but he probably just scraped it. For comparison, this is the darkest red and most noticeable spot on him.



This photo shows the large bump



Here you can see the two bumps near his tail. They bump out when he curls or bends, and if you feel it it seems separate from the rest of his skin (mushy, and like you can smoosh the skin around. I'm not really sure how to describe it)



Here is the large bump near the tail that I forgot to mention, this photo shows more clearly the way the skin bumps out.



Here is the same spot, but from above




Here you can see the two bumps by his tail when he curls and they bump out


Here is just another picture of it bumping out




Here you can see it's almost invisible when he fully stretches out, but if you feel it the skin still feels odd. The arrow points to a red area.









Here you can see the two red spots (the two bumps are between them, but you can't see them very well as he's stretched out. Also, the camera makes the red appear less prominent)





Here is a picture of one of the two bites from above.




Here's the red spot on his neck again




Here is the large bump from above




Here is the large bump again, and if you look closely you can see where the bump itself is, and you can also see the redness






Below is a sort of drawing I made to show how the skin bumps out when he bends (think as each color of line as a layer of skin)


- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for replying! I feed him dead mice

[spottedsnake]

Thank you for replying! I just posted some images of my snake, but I feel as if I described the spots too severely. Yes, they are red and bump out when he bends, and are squishy, it's not some sort of oozing wound that's super inflamed. I just thought I should add that to avoid any confusion.

[Bogertophis]

Too bad your pictures are the invisible type...