Please Help!!!! Are these burns????

[Hannahvh]

Hey everyone, I just took my girl out cause I had a weird feeling all day at work to check on her when I got home. She ate two days ago and I usually handle her after that and look her over and whatnot about once a week.

She has been spending a lot of time in her warm hide (which didn't strike me as unusual as she always does). When I took her out today and looked under her belly, IT IS VERY PINK. Only in the bottom half towards her tail. The pics uploaded very zoomed in for some reason, so pan out to get full pic:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...4/img_4801.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...4/img_4800.jpg

Are these burns????? If so, how severe?? How can I treat her?? Do I need to take her to a vet?? The poor thing is laid across a cool blanket that I have, that must be cooling her off as she hasn't moved and usually she is very adventurous when I take her out

I have the UTH connected to a thermostat. I unfortunately didn't know when I first set up her cage (She is 3 years old but I only adopted her 3 weeks ago), and put the probe INSIDE her cage, directly above the UTH, under the substrate. I had attached it to the bottom with safe adhesive that I saw in a video from a Youtube Channel called SnakeDiscovery- they seem reputable and have watched a lot of their videos.

When I noticed the pink, I moved everything in her cage and she had somehow ripped the probe free and it was not in its usual spot, although in the same general area. I used a temp gun and measured the spot that she lays in and it was 99 degrees F!!!!!

I am in tears right now, I feel so bad and can only thank the snake gods that I checked on her today and did not wait until tomorrow. Is she in pain?? How do I help her? Bath? Leave her alone?

In addition to treating the burns (if thats what this is), what do I do about the thermostat? Apparently that nontoxic adhesive did not work well enough and she managed to wiggle it free. The UTH is already attached to the bottom of the tub, so I cannot put it in between the UTH and the bottom of the tub. HOWEVER, if you recommend, I will buy a whole new UTH and re-attach it correctly if that is the right way. Where is the probe supposed to be? I cannot live with myself if she gets burned again

Please help!!

[Hannahvh]

P.S. Other than the pink, she is healthy- seems very hydrated, eats like a complete machine (a little underweight when I got her), no other spots or signs of scale rot. No mucus in mouth/nose. No other weird behavior changes. Nothing.

[Aerries]

I know nothing on tubs but I will say NEVER place anything in an enclosure that has ANYTHING sticky.....along with that the uth needs to be under the bottom of the tub/tank not inside it. When was the last shed? Looks more of pre-shed but with that kinda heat I’m not sure.


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[Treeman]

It may just be a sign she is going into shed. Looks like the classic pink belly that occurs before a shed. I myself haven't had any burns on my snakes so far (knock on wood), and so I will let someone else who has experience in this situation help you out, that is, if its a burn, and not a pink belly for a shed.

[Luvyna]

If the pink goes evenly all across her whole belly I would say it looks like pre-shed (which also matches her behaviour of staying in her warm hide and not being very active when taken out) but since OP mentioned it's only on the part of the snake near the tail then that makes it more likely a burn.

Very lucky that you checked on her today as you probably stopped it from turning into a serious burn and it looks mild right now. I don't think there will be any long-term damage, and it will heal up completely after a few sheds. I have no experience with how to take care of burned snakes so I can't advise on that but I'm sure someone else will have some good tips.

For the UTH situation, the probe should be outside of the enclosure, between the heat mat and the bottom of the tub. This is to avoid the problem of the probe being moved, causing a UTH temperature spike. You can try very carefully peeling off the UTH, taping the probe to the bottom of the enclosure, and taping the UTH back down on top of it with foil tape. If the UTH gets bent or damaged in any way while removing it though it's safer to just get a new UTH.

[Hannahvh]

Thank you for your quick reply. To clarify, the actual UTH is OUTSIDE the tub. The PROBE measuring the temp is inside. The adhesive is only underneath the suction cup that is attached to the end of the probe and she shouldn't be able to get at it. It is safe for all reptiles/animals and I am pretty sure where I got the information of this is from is a good source. They have made thousands of videos on snake care and I believe are actually a rescue shelter for them. But, yes obviously it didn't work well since the temp is measuring 99.

I know nothing on tubs but I will say NEVER place anything in an enclosure that has ANYTHING sticky.....along with that the uth needs to be under the bottom of the tub/tank not inside it. When was the last shed? Looks more of pre-shed but with that kinda heat I’m not sure.


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[Hannahvh]

Thanks for your reply! I REALLY hope it is a pre-shed sign! She does look SLIGHTLY dull (although not AS dull as I would imagine right before a shed), but I have not seen the blue/milky eyes yet (I could have missed it though). Jeez that would make me feel so much better. She probably thinks I'm insane- a blubbering mess right now.

It may just be a sign she is going into shed. Looks like the classic pink belly that occurs before a shed. I myself haven't had any burns on my snakes so far (knock on wood), and so I will let someone else who has experience in this situation help you out, that is, if its a burn, and not a pink belly for a shed.

[Hannahvh]

Thank you very much for responding. At a closer look, it is actually slightly pink all the way up her belly, but it is definitely much darker towards the bottom. I really hope it is a pre-shed, my poor little girl! I'm not sure if you would know, but does 99 degrees sound hot enough to cause a burn? I've never been through a shed cycle with her yet, so I wouldn't know how to tell the difference!

Yes, I am so grateful (if these are burns) that I checked her out today. I'm sure someone will be able to give some advice on treatment, thank you.

To be safe, I will just go pick up a new one altogether. Even if these aren't actually burns, because it is not worth the risk for $20. I'll apply it the way you said here. So: tub, probe taped to bottom, then UTH. Like a sandwich with the probe in the middle? Thanks for your input, helping put my mind at ease.

If the pink goes evenly all across her whole belly I would say it looks like pre-shed (which also matches her behaviour of staying in her warm hide and not being very active when taken out) but since OP mentioned it's only on the part of the snake near the tail then that makes it more likely a burn.

Very lucky that you checked on her today as you probably stopped it from turning into a serious burn and it looks mild right now. I don't think there will be any long-term damage, and it will heal up completely after a few sheds. I have no experience with how to take care of burned snakes so I can't advise on that but I'm sure someone else will have some good tips.

For the UTH situation, the probe should be outside of the enclosure, between the heat mat and the bottom of the tub. This is to avoid the problem of the probe being moved, causing a UTH temperature spike. You can try very carefully peeling off the UTH, taping the probe to the bottom of the enclosure, and taping the UTH back down on top of it with foil tape. If the UTH gets bent or damaged in any way while removing it though it's safer to just get a new UTH.

[Luvyna]

I hope it's pre-shed as well! From what I've read anything above 96F is enough to cause a burn but if she was on top of substrate instead of directly on the tub surface maybe she wasn't in contact with the hottest part.

Glad to hear that you are putting your girl's safety first and getting her a new UTH Yes, exactly like that: the probe sandwiched between the bottom of the outside of the enclosure and the UTH. Added a diagram below if that helps (disregard the 95F temp though, use your temp gun or a separate digital thermometer with a probe over the hot spot to figure out what temperature you need to set your thermostat to for the right temperature inside the tub).

[Hannahvh]

You're a saint, thank you so much! I've been looking up pictures of pre-shed belly vs burns and I think it may just be pre-shed pink belly and I was just having mom anxiety And if they are burns, they seem VERY minor in comparison to other burns, so I caught it early. But now I know to switch the UTH probe and stuff to prevent bad burns!

Of course her safety/health is my #1 priority! She is such a little cutie, very friendly and beautiful and I see it as my responsibility to spoil her! But that diagram is perfect, thank you! I'll be sure to to check with the temp gun to adjust the thermostat so it gives off the correct temp from under the tub! I've upped her humidity in the meantime, in case this is a shed and I'll let ya know if she sheds! Lol thank you for your help!

I hope it's pre-shed as well! From what I've read anything above 96F is enough to cause a burn but if she was on top of substrate instead of directly on the tub surface maybe she wasn't in contact with the hottest part.

Glad to hear that you are putting your girl's safety first and getting her a new UTH Yes, exactly like that: the probe sandwiched between the bottom of the outside of the enclosure and the UTH. Added a diagram below if that helps (disregard the 95F temp though, use your temp gun or a separate digital thermometer with a probe over the hot spot to figure out what temperature you need to set your thermostat to for the right temperature inside the tub).