Blisters ??

[crescend]

My son purchased a pastel female ball back in July. She has been in quarantine since then. About 3 weeks after purchase, we noted that she had mites, and treated her for those. Have not seen any mites or signs of mites since. Last night we took her out for her weekly weight and visual inspection, and noted what appeared to be small "Water blisters" sporadically along her sides. I "popped" one of the blisters, and a clear sticky viscous fluid came out of the blister. We popped all the blisters we could find, and then thoroughly cleaned her with H2O2 and applied antibiotic ointment to the blister areas. The humidity and temps in her tank are pretty good, humidity dips a little low occassionally, but otherwise good. She has only had papertowel in her tank with plastic bowl and plastic hide since tx for the mites.... Any ideas on what caused these "blisters", and what we should do from here would be appreciated.

[frankykeno]

It sounds like blister disease but that's, as far as I'm aware having not seen it personally, usually from damp, unsanitary conditions. If her enclosure is kept clean and not overly wet all the time I'm not sure what could be causing it. You might want to Google "snake blister disease" to do some further research on it.

What did you use to treat the mites on this snake? If she's been in good QT since you got her and with mites having about a 30 day life cycle, it sounds like she came to you having been exposed to mites already. Did you speak with the breeder about this mite issue yet?

[crescend]

Thanks for the info, I'll do a search..... Yes, we believe that she came to us with the mites as well, and have spoken to the person that we got her from.... We tx her enclosure with PAM, and tx her with vegetable oil... we've found it to be extremely thorough in killing mites, and do oil tx every 3 days for 2 weeks, and enclosure weekly.

[crescend]

Just did quick search on blister disease, and am now even more confused... Her environment is very clean, and bedding is always dry. We spot check 2x daily, and immediately remove any waste material. She doesn't "hang-out" in her water bowl, and has never had a spill.... I'm wondering if it could be a secondary infection due to the mites.....

[SatanicIntention]

Don't use peroxide, it's not a disinfectant. It's only good for getting blood stains out of clothes.

Don't use the vegetable oil on her, you're just irritating her skin more and it won't allow any of the wounds to breathe. THAT will cause an infection.

Get some chlorhexidine (www.valleyvet.com) and wash her off 2-3 times a day, and coat her in neosporin.

If you have PAM, stop using the vegetable oil, the PAM will take care of everything.

[crescend]

Thanks for info, will use the Chlorhex starting today... As for the Vegetable oil, haven't used since Mite tx ended in middle of August... Am currently applying triple antibiotic ointment 2x daily..... hope it clears up.