Large thermal burn progress + should I continue with vet care?

[HouseofNoodles]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to BP.net but not new to housing BPs. The burn pictured below happened on my third snake, after a new thermostat hooked up to a smaller heatpad I'd used before (same recycled tank too- not restuck) must've malfunctioned overnight. Husbandry has been fixed now and the burn is on its 4th week of healing and 2 sheds in since it happened. I thought it might be nice to make a post showing progess, as it was a really bad burn that has healed beautifully in very little time, and in the moments after it happened when I was looking for similar cases online there were no progress or healed pictures anywhere! Very discouraging!

For those wondering, treatment involved 2 warm chlorhexidine and water baths (1tbsp of chlorhexidine per bath, 10-15 mins each) daily, application of flamazine cream to the wound after bathing, and antibiotic injections every 3 days. Also important to note, before seeing the vet and being prescribed this treatment, I was using the internet recommended betadine bath and polysporin treatment and the snake quickly developed signs of septicemia.

At this point snake has completed 2 full courses of antibiotics, hasn't eaten since it happened and is losing weight (he's just a little baby). The vet wants to go ANOTHER 2 weeks suddenly, even though I was told the last 2 weeks would be the end of it. I still have flamazine cream left (an antibiotic), so I'm thinking of stopping full treatment in favour of leaving the snake alone more and hoping that'll encourage feeding, and then just applying the cream daily. He looks great, better than the pictures. I want to know your opinions on this? Should I just listen to the vet?

When it Happened:
https://imgur.com/gallery/VK74lgc

Now:
https://imgur.com/gallery/GStVvPC

[JodanOrNoDan]

I am not usually one to take the side of the vet, however when it comes to antibiotics and reptiles, I would listen to the vet. What brand of thermostat failed?

[HouseofNoodles]

I am not usually one to take the side of the vet, however when it comes to antibiotics and reptiles, I would listen to the vet. What brand of thermostat failed?

What makes you say that? I am a university animal biology student so I know how antibiotics work, however he's completed the full round twice. Signs of septicemia dissapeared completely after first round, and the vet agreed with me that time that a second round was purely to take extra caution. Not disagreeing with you, just wondering why you think the antibiotic cream wouldn't be enough at this point

Pretty sure it was exoterra. Set up the same as my others, no reason it shouldn't have worked.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I would continue treatment this snakes is not a tiny baby and can handle going without a few more meals.

[JodanOrNoDan]

What makes you say that? I am a university animal biology student so I know how antibiotics work, however he's completed the full round twice. Signs of septicemia dissapeared completely after first round, and the vet agreed with me that time that a second round was purely to take extra caution. Not disagreeing with you, just wondering why you think the antibiotic cream wouldn't be enough at this point

Pretty sure it was exoterra. Set up the same as my others, no reason it shouldn't have worked.

Without going into a long drawn out explanation I will say this. Reptile biology is very different from mammal biology. It was very surprising to find out how little is actually known about reptile medicine in general. Combine that with the differences in species and you are left with a lot of question marks.

The biggest indicator to me that makes me agree with the vet is the fact that the animal has not eaten. You stand a higher chance of the antibiotics being effective when the metabolism of the animal is higher. This means that the temps are a little higher than normal and that the digestive process of the animal is engaged. Deborah is absolutely right that this animal is not a baby and it won't hurt it to miss a few meals, however this reduces the effect of the antibiotic. The lower the metabolism the longer the antibiotic course needs to be.

[HouseofNoodles]

I am seeing where the replies so far are coming from,

new question then- what do I risk (if anything) by postponing visiting the vet again for say- a week and monitoring the site for any changes/ weird smells/etc, given that there are no current signs of infection and haven't been since before the last course? Around here just for the vet to look at my snake again it's about $100- $200 to 300 if you include new medications, and between fixing the husbandry and treatments thus far around $600-700 have gone into this snake. I am a huge proponent of not getting pets if you can't afford to take care of them, and I'm not saying the money doesn't exist if I have to spend more, nor would I want to throw away the progess that money has made so far. But end of the day it's a small animal and I'm a university student that can't throw away my entire savings. I need those savings to be there if a more serious issue that isn't essentially treating healed scar tissue comes up in the future.

Just looking for a genuine list of pros and cons I suppose, so I can weigh the costs of waiting at this point.

[JodanOrNoDan]

I am seeing where the replies so far are coming from,

new question then- what do I risk (if anything) by postponing visiting the vet again for say- a week and monitoring the site for any changes/ weird smells/etc, given that there are no current signs of infection and haven't been since before the last course? Around here just for the vet to look at my snake again it's about $100- $200 to 300 if you include new medications, and between fixing the husbandry and treatments thus far around $600-700 have gone into this snake. I am a huge proponent of not getting pets if you can't afford to take care of them, and I'm not saying the money doesn't exist if I have to spend more, nor would I want to throw away the progess that money has made so far. But end of the day it's a small animal and I'm a university student that can't throw away my entire savings. I need those savings to be there if a more serious issue that isn't essentially treating healed scar tissue comes up in the future.

Just looking for a genuine list of pros and cons I suppose, so I can weigh the costs of waiting at this point.

I'm not going to slam you. I understand the dilemma. Stopping a course of antibiotics and then restarting starting them is not a good option. It is one of the ways resistant strains of bacteria are created. This means if the animal does have to go back on antibiotics, they will be less effective. If the money to continue treatment is not there then you need to just hope for the best. The animal appears to be healing nicely and there may be no secondary infection.

The vet should have made sure that the metabolism was active though, but what is done is done.

[Bogertophis]

Since your vet has the snake going in the right direction, AND since the burn looked pretty extensive, I'd keep following his (or her) advice, personally. All the best-