A hurt heat pit perhaps? Please Help

[JKE21]

Hello! I have a beautiful boy BP who is about a year and half or so old.

A few days ago I noticed that one of his heat pits looked strange. It's usually an off-white color underneath like the rest, but this one is a light pink. It almost looks as if a scale popped off but that is not the case. It also appears as if his mouth is slightly more open on that side (left) than the other. I noticed this a day or so after he ate, but since it was a pre-killed mouse I don't see how that could have done harm to him. He was fine after his latest shed a few weeks ago and now it has me worried sick. I've already cleaned his tank, refilled the water and whatnot. Help! I'm so worried Thank you!!

[JLC]

Clear pictures of what you're seeing would help us offer constructive advice.

The only thing I can suggest at the moment, is to start looking for a knowledgeable reptile-experienced vet you can take him to. Not saying you need to rush off to a vet right away, but start looking now, so if you do decide you need to go, you'll have one lined up already. In the meantime, keep a close eye on it and see if it changes at all or gets worse in any way. It may be something simple that resolves itself, such as a tooth lost in the feeding process...or it may be some kind of infection in the mouth that will require a vet's attention. Watch it over the weekend, keep the enclosure clean and warm, and try not to bother the snake too much. Stress will weaken the immune system, and you don't want that if an infection is trying to rear its ugly head.

[JKE21]

- - - Updated - - -

Apologies for the low quality camera, but can you kinda see how it looks?

[dr del]

Hi,

No you can't link pics from your google email as we aren't logged into it.

Use somewhere like photobucket or even your gallery space on here then link from that.


dr del

[JKE21]

Sorry about that, thank you. New to the site. Here you go, hopefully that works.

[JKE21]

http://cheezburger.com/6754368512



It's not showing anything when I try and use photobucket or my memebase account. I sent a link instead

[JLC]

Tried to fix the photobucket link because you had an extra html suffix at the end, but taking it off didn't work. Your photobucket account may be set to private? Anyhow...I fixed the link for the other one and the picture shows now.

It's really hard to tell anything from that picture. I'd still go with my first suggestion, which is to keep an eye on it for the next couple of days, and look for a good herp vet in the mean time. Good luck!

[kitedemon]

It is hard to see but it looks like a tear or puncture between the heat pit and 'lip' I actually had a similar issue with one of mine, she hit a rat claw and punctured at this point. I went to the vet and as expected I was told to use a silver sulfadiazine cream. It is likely this will work although make sure there is not sign of infection and you keep it clean (switch to paper for the a while) I dabed a little bit every day for 3 weeks and it cleared up completely. If there is any change you would need to go to a vet. It might be worth going to a vet anyway.

[JKE21]

Thank you all!!