Kinda graphic pics of snake injury below -

Almost three years ago we adopted a burned ball python from Enily of Snake Discovery (heres the video she did so you can get a quicker more accurate background on him https://youtu.be/fKUEtBuLn_E). We named him Cecil, he was our second snake and I was instantly in love.

If you didnt watch the video, tldr is a snake with excessive burn? scarring was abandoned at a pet chain in rough shape, unknown age and unknown history.

He was a healthy happy boy for the last few years (I feel like it's been so much longer). In the last four months, things have taken a total dive.

His bin is a 50 gallon xmas tree storage bin and was furnished with lots of natural decor, two hides, cocofiber/husk mixed bedding, a heavy water dish, etc. It was the same as it had been since we brought him home. (Well we upgraded him from a glass aquarium to the bin to keep in humidity but that was in december 18).

Starting in june this year we noticed a strange hard bump near just before his tail, on the top of his body. We kept an eye on it and asked Emily, who came over and said she'd also never seen it so the consensus was just... keep an eye.

Bit of background - Cecil has always had a bit of fluid buildup under the skin right before a shed so it's nothing we've ever been worried about.

He shed once after the discovery of the bump, then before his next shed the fluid under his skin "popped" and started leaking which had never happened before. He was immediately put into a sterile bin with paper towel.

Long story short, the bump turned into a huge infection, we brought him to the vet, and discovered the infection was also something else going on. We were in and out of the vet for an entire month, he went onto antibiotics, and went through two surgeries to remove the infected masses that had formed under his skin.

After three more weeks of random vet visits and checkups (and a lethargic scare where we thought he was dead), the vet gave him a clean bill of health and was confident things would get better. He optimistically said he would see us in a year for the good news.

All of this cost us over $700 on a $10 snake and everyone in our life who doesnt own reptiles was blown away at the cost.

Fast forward another two months and he has made a turn for the worse. His scales along the side opposite of the first problem and surgery are colorless and a chunk of skin the size of a dime was peeling off to reveal the muscle below. Another patch of skin is hardened and he is very puffy all around. He has been on paper towels in a sterile bin this entire time.

We are unable to go back to the vet, as much as we want to, between Cecil's earlier visits and one of our goats having quadruplets, our emergency funds have been utterly drained.

We were lucky enough to be given two rounds of tylan and a topical ointment to attempt one last stand against the infection we thought we'd defeated. If he doesnt really and heal up, we will be forced to find someone who can and wants to take on a sick snake, or euthanize.

He is still active, hungry and very strong. He eats like a monster (and is also on a moderate diet for being slightly overweight). He also is most likely female but snakes dont really care about that.

I am posting in hopes that one of the knowledgeable folks here will have seen this and will have some kind of answer for us.

Thank you for reading my wall of text, here are some photos to help with any online diagnosis you may be able to provide.

https://ibb.co/Fw9LsWX
https://ibb.co/MPN87M7
https://ibb.co/6mbdj7r
https://ibb.co/tY3tHNF

The original (healed) incision and the initial infection site
https://ibb.co/YN3q2W2
https://ibb.co/wySj84h