PLEASE HELP!!! Damaged scales on belly!!!

[MuicyJelon]

Yeah, mostly looks like minor scuffs to the scales and no open wounds

Am I seeing a bit of pink on the belly too? If your snake is getting ready to shed, that might be a reason too...the older scales drying out. I'd also double check the humidity in there as well. Sometimes when the humidity levels get too low you see the scales get kinda flaky like that. Offer some moss in a hide maybe to help the scales stay hydrated.

Hopefully it's a coming shed and not burns from the CHE basket being too hot. Also... maybe double check the temps in the enclosure to make sure he's not hiding up there and drying himself out because things are not warm enough elsewhere

His shed was on the 13th October & wasn’t a good one. There’s still a few little bits on his ‘neck’ area and tad on the very back of his head. I didn’t know wether to leave it there an see if comes off on the next or what. I’ve read through a lot forums saying different things.


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[Bogertophis]

I'd bet that'll straighten out after her next shed....

Same here...

[MuicyJelon]

Do you’s think it would be causing him pain at all? I only noticed yesterday like & the night before it wasn’t there, from what I could tell anyway.


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[Bogertophis]

Do you’s think it would be causing him pain at all? I only noticed yesterday like & the night before it wasn’t there, from what I could tell anyway.


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I don't think so...it would be different if there was any deep or open wounds, but scrapes like this are pretty normal in the course of just being a snake in the wild;
naturally we all want our pets to stay as safe & uninjured as possible, but unless there's something I'm not seeing? If the skin isn't really broken, there's no point
putting antiseptic ointment* on it. Now if the "pink" that someone mentioned is actually a burn, that's another matter... Is he acting normal?

*BTW, if you ever do need to use Neosporin on a wound, you must not use the "pain relief" formula on snakes, only the plain regular ointment is OK.

[MuicyJelon]

I don't think so...it would be different if there was any deep or open wounds, but scrapes like this are pretty normal in the course of just being a snake in the wild;
naturally we all want our pets to stay as safe & uninjured as possible, but unless there's something I'm not seeing? If the skin isn't really broken, there's no point
putting antiseptic ointment on it. Now if the "pink" that someone mentioned is actually a burn, that's another matter... Is he acting normal?

Apart from wrapping around the guard which is annoying to see. Ye, his behaviour appears to be normal when he’s not on the guard all’s he wants to do is get out, I take him out for a bit when I see him up against glass (not everyday I don’t want to stress him out). He hasn’t bitten me (yet) he’s very docile. So, ye from my observations his behaviour is A-Okay.

In the pictures he does appear pink he’s not though (from what I can tell anyway), think it’s the angle I took them from it’s mainly white with his colours fading on the sides. I’ll post more pictures of him so you can get a better look at his belly.


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[MuicyJelon]

Apart from wrapping around the guard which is annoying to see. Ye, his behaviour appears to be normal when he’s not on the guard all’s he wants to do is get out, I take him out for a bit when I see him up against glass (not everyday I don’t want to stress him out). He hasn’t bitten me (yet) he’s very docile. So, ye from my observations his behaviour is A-Okay.

In the pictures he does appear pink he’s not though (from what I can tell anyway), think it’s the angle I took them from it’s mainly white with his colours fading on the sides. I’ll post more pictures of him so you can get a better look at his belly.


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[MuicyJelon]

I don't think so...it would be different if there was any deep or open wounds, but scrapes like this are pretty normal in the course of just being a snake in the wild;
naturally we all want our pets to stay as safe & uninjured as possible, but unless there's something I'm not seeing? If the skin isn't really broken, there's no point
putting antiseptic ointment* on it. Now if the "pink" that someone mentioned is actually a burn, that's another matter... Is he acting normal?

*BTW, if you ever do need to use Neosporin on a wound, you must not use the "pain relief" formula on snakes, only the plain regular ointment is OK.

‘IF’ it was/is a burn how would I go about remedying it?


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[Bogertophis]

I'm really not seeing anything on his tummy...I believe what some think looks "pinkish" is just some of his blood circulation that shows thru his pale color.
Does his tummy color look different now to you than it did before???

Many albino snakes look pink when born or hatched for that reason. And BPs nearing a shed often have a pinkish tummy too. A burn should be seen by
a vet, so they can prescribe a topical cream (Silvadene) to assist healing & whatever else may be needed, but you don't need that as far as I can tell.

I'm trying to guess why he's so drawn to the heat guard...is that his only source of heat or is there UTH? Maybe his temps need to be re-visited?

[Armiyana]

If it's a minor burn, he should be fine and just be a little pink while it heals.

Burns are very difficult to tell right away. If he burned himself badly, then he might go into a new shed cycle this week. Once that happens you can really tell what happened. The skin will die off underneath and leave a wound if it's a bad burn. It's not pretty.
If that happens you need to bring him to a vet. They can possibly do antibiotic injections if it's severe. But they can also give you a stronger wound cream, debride the dead skin and give you a wound flush.

If it's something like a small red sore after he sheds or a small blister, you can do the soaks with some iodine daily with the antibiotic ointment until it heals.

If for any reason the pink becomes more red and blotchy and covers his belly, he seems lethargic or he sheds and there's open wounds, go to the vet. The red and blotchy tummy can be a sign of a bacterial infection, septicemia. Which can happen from something like a small wound that gets infected.

I had to deal with septicemia on my 18 year old royal while also dealing with a very severe burn on a rescue snake. It was frustrating to say the least.

Hopefully it's like Bogertophis suggested and just his natural circulation. Hard to tell when you're not in person sometimes. I just worry since CHEs can heat up and heat the boxes up quite a bit! And may be how my rescue was burned. I'll never really know for sure. May have been a heat pack as well...

[MuicyJelon]

I'm really not seeing anything on his tummy...I believe what some think looks "pinkish" is just some of his blood circulation that shows thru his pale color.
Does his tummy color look different now to you than it did before???

Many albino snakes look pink when born or hatched for that reason. And BPs nearing a shed often have a pinkish tummy too. A burn should be seen by
a vet, so they can prescribe a topical cream (Silvadene) to assist healing & whatever else may be needed, but you don't need that as far as I can tell.

I'm trying to guess why he's so drawn to the heat guard...is that his only source of heat or is there UTH? Maybe his temps need to be re-visited?

Not the only one. I use an oil heater to keep the ambient temp stable, especially as it’s getting colder.
I’ll be removing the CHE and replacing it with a rep radiator. Not comfortable knowing he likes to wrap round the guard.


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