Thermal burn, advice please

[Blitzyballpy]

Hi, my ball python have thermal burn and i just want to get some advice and do the right thing for her.
She had shed this monday and i was gonna take her shed out when i noticed that her warm side of the tank was way warmer than it usually is so i put my hand inside and it was really hot, i also took the temp gun and it was 104 degrees. Upon further inspection i saw that the thermo probe was not where i had glued it before so she must've pushed it somehow (i have glued it much better now)...
then i picked her up from the cool side to check on her and i could see that she was red and a bit dry on some scales, intially i thought she had scale rot i dont know why.
I have cleaned her tank with chlorhexidine, taken everything out, put paper towels as substrate, on wendesday i soaked her with betadine mix with water for 40min.
I bathed her again today for 20min and after i dried her i put some ion silver cream on the affected area.

Is it fine to put her in the tank with the cream and with her waterl bowl at the same time? im worried she might dip herself in the bowl and get some cream in there and then drink it. I tried looking up if this cream is dangerous if ingested but i couldnt find anything, but honestly i dont think its lethal if she accidentaly ingested or tasted some.
Also how often do you think i should bath her in betadine and put cream on her?
I was thinking about bathing her like 2times a week for 20-30min and putting the cream after she bathes.

Should i be seeing improvments or will i only see this after she sheds again?
Obviously if i see her getting worse i will be taking her to the vet immediately

here is some pictures of her burn:
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/sho...mageuser=88562
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/sho...mageuser=88562
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/sho...mageuser=88562
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/sho...mageuser=88562
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/sho...mageuser=88562

Thank you for any help

[Homebody]

Upon further inspection i saw that the thermo probe was not where i had glued it before so she must've pushed it somehow (i have glued it much better now)...
Thank you for any help

I'll leave it to others to advise you on how to treat your BP's burns. I don't have any experience with that, but I will advise you to move your thermostat's probe someplace where your BP can't get at it. BPs are strong, heavy bodied snakes and they will relentlessly work to dislodge your probe. I wouldn't trust any glue job to hold it in place. The probe for my RHP is suspended two to three inches below it on a fake plant. The probe for my UTH is fastened to the heat tape outside of the enclosure.

[Armiyana]

How bad is her belly? A photo may help

Personally, I left the water dish out until I was there to supervise when dealing with my thermal burn snake... I also wanted to avoid him drinking too much contaminated water. But his was severe and he needed daily chlorhex at first às well as the soaks. Hydration was not really an issue.

With the cream, if you are using it daily, you will still want to remove the layer from the day before. A short soak helps with that. Use the water to gently flush away the cream and then you can give a short soak to allow her time to drink.

If her belly is only a little red after the shed, it may not be too bad. But if the burn happened while she was already in shed, she may go into another shed cycles very quickly and the belly will look much worse after.
The damage may still be under the skin where you can't see it yet while the tissue dies.

[Bogertophis]

Her belly looks pretty severe to me & she may need vet help- their advice would be a good idea IMO- https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

It's not just how red the burn is but how large the area it covers that makes it more severe. Drinking water with electrolytes might be helpful- burns take a lot out of the body & dehydration is a real danger to her health. You could use unflavored Pedialyte from local stores- diluted. I can't tell you about the "danger" from ingesting the (Silvadene- aka Silver Sulfadiazine?) cream but what I'd personally do is change her water bowl to one that's too small for her to bathe in, & keep water (pref. with electrolytes added) available at ALL times. Ingesting "the cream" should be avoided-prevented. Encourage her to drink when you can- remember that a snake in pain may not feel like moving around to get a drink.

I'd advise keeping her on clean dry paper towels while she's healing- and since snakes shed their skin to heal, you can be expecting her to shed more often for some time to come. That will also increase her needs for food as well- she needs all the good support (& perfect conditions) she can get to heal.

A vet would be better able to advise you about how often to soak (or apply) diluted betadine, & how often to reapply the cream- my guess is much more frequently that you've planned (ie. daily at least). Thermal burns can take a LONG time to heal, & are painful. If you see blisters or oozing, you should see a vet for sure, a.s.a.p..

https://reptilesmagazine.com/the-vet...s-in-reptiles/
Relevant excerpt: ..."Pain control and infection prevention using appropriate topical and systemic antibiotics, as well as supportive care with fluids and supplemental feeding are all necessary when treating a reptile that has suffered a burn injury."

Note: most of the time that I'm aware of, vets seem inclined to prescribe systemic antibiotics (injections) so it would be a good idea to see an experienced reptile vet for that reason, as that requires prescriptions & their expertise. You should not consider our advise as a substitute for veterinary care.

As already mentioned, probes & wires are better secured OUTSIDE the enclosures, because snakes have no hands, & love to grab anything that gives them traction- ie. wires & such. Re-gluing the probe inside is asking for a repeat performance that is best avoided & prevented.

[Blitzyballpy]

I will definitely take the probe and put it outside (under the mat) instead of inside the tank. As far as vet goes I will be going to one this week just to be sure, I realise now that it’s probably not wise to sort of guess how much I should bathe her in betadine, put cream and she might need antibiotics like you said. I will keep a close eye on her until I can get her to a vet and keep soaking and putting cream, will also try to get some electrolytes. I do change her bowl and papers daily and don’t have to much water as I was worried the cream would get in there

Thank you guys for the advice!

[Bogertophis]

Burns are miserable & I hope she heals up okay.

[Blitzyballpy]

Just to update i went to the vet today as i was worried she was getting worse, her scales to me does look a little bit better overall although some small scales/parts of her lower body has gotten more brownish/black colouration (no blisters or anything of that nature). The thing that worried me the most was that her eyes started to go grey a couple of days ago, she did shed last week on monday so to me it seemed way to early to shed again, i thought maybe the cream injured her eyes thats why i took her to the vet.

The vet told me that she was in good condition, also that i did a good job giving her the silver cream (she even asked me where i got it from and that it was hard for them to get it) i live in sweden and we dont have a lot of the medication/creams that other countries such as US have. Either way i was very happy that the vet told me she was in good condition and that she would be good in about 3-4 sheds. She gave me a special "homemade" cream, she told me it was honey, with silver (colloidal i guess) and something else i can't remember, i was to give her this daily. She also said to give her a bath every day with chamomile tea mixed with water instead of the betadine becuase apperently snakes can be allergic to this (although i've already gave her this bath 6 times already and she don't seem to be allergic to it att all). I also got pain killers shots (Metacam) that i will be giving her everyday for 10days, this antibiotic is also good for preventing infections. The vet didn't seem worried at all and it even felt like she thought my snake was gonna be much worse than she looked.

Very happy with the vet and that my snake is good is very releaving, i will be doing what the vet told me and i will update more. Thank you guys again for the help and sharing your opinions!

[Bogertophis]

FYI- when a snake has any sort of injury they typically shed more often until they're healed. So don't be surprised about that. I already mentioned that in my post above, post #4...

Burns are painful, serious (!) & best prevented- even though snakes cannot express pain to us very well. I hope this all helps yours heal successfully- it can take a long time too, and any injury can reduce their immunity to other diseases & parasites, so there's also that risk.

[Homebody]

She also said to give her a bath every day with chamomile tea mixed with water instead of the betadine becuase apperently snakes can be allergic to this (although i've already gave her this bath 6 times already and she don't seem to be allergic to it att all).

Chamomile? That's a new one to me though a quick Google search came up with this:

German chamomile
Renata Kolanos, Szabina A. Stice, in Nutraceuticals (Second Edition), 2021

Abstract
Chamomile has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years, and remains one of the most popular herbal medicines. It is most often consumed as a herbal tea, but also can be taken orally as drops, capsules, or tablets; applied topically; or inhaled. Chamomile has been used to treat minor gastrointestinal complaints; as well as cold symptoms, minor ulcers, superficial wounds, small boils, inflammation of the mouth, throat, and skin, anxiety, and insomnia, along with other complaints and illnesses. Chamomile’s efficacy is due to its antiinflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antinociceptive, analgesic, anxiolytic, sedative, and antispasmodic properties. The most important constituents contributing to chamomile’s beneficial effects are terpenoids, such as chamazulene and bisabolol; and flavonoids, including apigenin, luteolin, and quercetin.

So, I guess it could work.

[Bogertophis]

Chamomile? That's a new one to me though a quick Google search came up with this:

German chamomile
Renata Kolanos, Szabina A. Stice, in Nutraceuticals (Second Edition), 2021

Abstract
Chamomile has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years, and remains one of the most popular herbal medicines. It is most often consumed as a herbal tea, but also can be taken orally as drops, capsules, or tablets; applied topically; or inhaled. Chamomile has been used to treat minor gastrointestinal complaints; as well as cold symptoms, minor ulcers, superficial wounds, small boils, inflammation of the mouth, throat, and skin, anxiety, and insomnia, along with other complaints and illnesses. Chamomile’s efficacy is due to its antiinflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antinociceptive, analgesic, anxiolytic, sedative, and antispasmodic properties. The most important constituents contributing to chamomile’s beneficial effects are terpenoids, such as chamazulene and bisabolol; and flavonoids, including apigenin, luteolin, and quercetin.

So, I guess it could work.

Same here- though I seriously doubt that it was ever tested for safety & efficacy with snakes. I suspect this vet's more naturalistic approach is just being applied to snake care without proof from testing or experience (I hope I'm wrong!), & the problem is that snakes are cold-blooded & very different critters than the warm-blooded ones vets typically see.

I DO know that honey is antibacterial though- & has been used for all kinds of infections (& dressings on them).

I wasn't aware of any snakes being allergic to Betadine either, so that's interesting.