Some Advice needed here ; Moving, cut and swollen, behaviour change

[swashbuckler_19]

Hi,
I moved to New York from Dallas last weekend and it was stressfull for both me and Buddha.
I need few clarifications, hope some senior member has little time.

Please pardon my lengthy descriptions.

1. The day I was moving I noticed Buddha had cloudy eyes and was in the process of shedding, so further not to stress him out I neither turn on the A/C nor the music for all 34 hours drive. I maintained around 70 -75 degrees with the help of the car heater. And I used that plastic reptile carry cage with ventilated lid from petco.
As of now he is still in that cage and has a dark heat light , only one hide, small water bowl, paper towels as substrate, maintaing the temparatures 70-75 on cold side and 80-87 on warm side (the hide side).

Will this setup be OK, for next 2 weeks (max) ??
I am looking for new apartments, things are too expensive here
Once I move in to the new place, I will buy the regular 40 gallon and will put his stuff from previous terrarium in there (waterfall, multple hides, heat regulator, UTH, big bowl, and many such things)


2.* Today, I saw his shed process was complete, all in one piece but had few blood stains on the tissue paper. Why the blood stains ??


3.**This is the worst part, As his shed was complete, I bought two mice (his regualr size) and fed him. He ate them all good and I tried to replace the paper towels (the mice made them wet), he made a swift move into his hide and had a cut/nick on his neck and is slighlty swollen
It is a small cut and he defintely got after the feeding (I din't see the mice scratcing him)

What should I do now?
Should I wait for a day or two and check how it is(Don't they have a nice immune/anti-bodies in them).
Should I immeditely apply neosporin ( I have all precautionary , safety stuff in hand, just in case). My mother always said, never use medicines untill its really necessary, most should heal automatically
Is vet visit definitely necessary right away?


He was such a friendly guy, now he is fearing my very appearance and trying to crawl away into the hide He never bites though.

Thank you and I really appreciate your time.


-Phani

[Kaorte]

1. I think your best bet as far as a cheap and easy setup goes is a tub setup. You can pickup a tub (not sure what size your snake is, if its under 600g use a 12-15qt if over that a 32qt) for under $5 at most any big box store. Walmart, target, even the grocery store sometimes.

The hot side temp isn't bad, but a UTH with a thermostat would be a better option. You probably will never need a 40g tank its big in the vertical direction which ball pythons don't really utilize. Tanks are for fish, not snakes. If you want to have a nice display enclosure then go with PVC. It's light, easy to clean, and does wonders for temps and humidity.

2. Blood is normal with the shed. All of my snakes leave a drop or two of blood after a shed. No worries!

3. I don't think I would jump to the neosporin just yet. Let your snake chill for a day or two and then check it out. If it doesn't look infected or swollen then you can just leave it be. If it does look a little funky, you can swab it with some betadine. I will sometimes use diluted chlorhexadine on minor cuts and that seems to work well. I wouldn't worry too much though. They aren't made of porcelain! A small scrape shouldn't cause any harm.


As for him not being so friendly, give him time. A big move like that is pretty stressful!

[The Serpent Merchant]

Do not use neosporin, oil based creams will do far more harm than good. What you want is Betadine.

You need to get the temperatures slightly higher. 78-82 cool side, 88-92 degrees hot side.

[Mike41793]

As aaron said neosporin is a no no for scaled critters.

They are fairly hardy so just keep an eye on the scratch and it should heal up fine. Keep his enclosure as clean as possible. I would move him to a plastic storage bin rather than a 40gallon breeder. Temps and humidity are far easier to maintain. Things like a waterfall wont fir in a bin but they arent really needed anyways. While your snake is healing i would him on paper towels for substrate.

[DSM47]

I moved to NYC from DC about a year ago and it was absolutely miserable. I stayed in Spanish Harlem for my first month in what used to be a youth hostel before finding the right spot.

Not sure what your lifestyle is, but I ended up settling in Astoria, Queens. Mostly Greek and Italian neighborhood with mostly families. Very quiet and more my speed. I'm an old 25 haha.

[WingedWolfPsion]

As the shed comes free around the cloaca, it sometimes causes very minor trauma to the delicate tissue there, so a little trace of blood is normal.

If the cut is swollen, as you said, betadine or antibiotic ointment would be a good idea. Be sure to use the kind that does not contain any painkillers.

The cautions are because the petroleum jelly base can cause reptiles to slough scales. if you carefully confine it to the wound, however, this is not an issue--I've used it successfully numerous times for minor cuts or scrapes.

Keep a close eye on it for signs of infection, and consult a vet if the swelling increase or does not subside, if there's any reddening of the skin around it, if it doesn't appear to be healing well, etc.

Minor scratches, cuts, or scrapes are best treated immediately--waiting simply gives the wound time to seal, trapping bacteria inside.

[swashbuckler_19]

Thank you guys .... I now replaced the bulb witha red one and the temparatures are little higher now.

The swelling is gone and I am keeping an eye on the cut ... handled him today morning and he was okay