I have a 5 yr old ball who was given to us (owner surrender). About 3 months ago he developed what I thought were burns from his UTH. I never noticed that it felt particularly hot, but when I hit it with the temp gun it was 114. I took him to the vet and was told to soak him in chlorhexidine and to apply silvadene cream. We did so, and it cleared up beautifully. We also put a stack of newspaper on top of the UTH so that there were additional layers between him and the UTH. The temp now is around 95.
To my surprise, he has developed similar (though not identical) markings. We did some research and think it must be scale rot. He knocked water out of his bowl frequently and my daughter did not always change his wet newspaper right away. I did some more research and have been cleaning him with betadine, rinsing him, and applying polysporin. It does not seem like it's improving very much (if at all) and now he has starting biting my daughter and I when we handle him. I'm not sure what to do, but I really do not want to spend another $100 at the vet, so I'm hoping someone can help. Also the vet was not particularly knowledgeable, so I do not think she could offer more advice than members here. For example, when I asked her what alternatives I had to an UTH, she had no idea and told me to just Google it.
Some other info about him: Newspaper for substrate. He eats frozen small rats, though he has not been eating consistently since around Christmastime. We've been offering him a large mouse once a week and he is not eating those consistently either. I just moved him from a 20 gallon to a 40 gallon tank and changed the water bowl (so now he is no longer spilling his water). His new tank is on the floor, and I suspect that might be contributing to this new biting, though I don't have a surface that's feasible for me to move the 40 gallon tank onto. I steam-cleaned his tank, but prior to that it was not sanitized properly for a few months. He has 2 identical hides, but he spends the majority of his time on the side w/ the UTH. The other side is about 78 degrees on average.
Information/advice from someone experienced would be much appreciated. He bit my daughter 3 times yesterday and struck at her 4 other times and bit me today when I picked him up after offering him a mouse that he did not eat. I want to help him get better and stop biting!
And if someone would be so kind as to tell me how to add a photo, I would like to do so.
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