scale rot :-( HELP ASAP, vet havent helped

[snyper93]

just spoke with the vet, she said they overbooked and cant get me in till after the holiday, but she said i can come by and get a new medication called Batryl<-? which is an oral antibiotic used once every other day, and then she wants me to stop by walgreens and a zinc-oxide cream/ointment. she says i should continue soaking in the anti biotics then apply the cream. i asked if it may be a burn she said if it was treatment would be the same.

what to do AAHHHHH
cream or no cream
soak or dont soak
start the new meds, continue with what i have
drive an hour to see another vet or take this ones advice
heating pad or no heating pad

however my friend just gave me the number to her friend who is a total snake junkie and has seen everything, owns his own reptile shop. she said to bring him in there and have him take a look. she said he may even keep him and treat him for me :-)

[SRMD]

if i was you i would go with the last option, the snake junkie/ the other vet

[mackynz]

Again, since you seem to be ignoring it, do you have a thermostat?

Also, drive an hour to the vet, your snake looks in pretty bad condition.

[angllady2]

Poor baby!

I'm afraid I can't help you much. I've never had to deal with a burn, although a neighbor did a few years back. I told him to go to a vet right away, because he didn't think it was a big deal. Well, by the time he got her to a vet, it was so far advanced she didn't make it.

Baytril can be oral or injections. Oral can cause problems of it's own, because you can accidentally get some into the snake's lung and then you have a whole new set of problems. I'm not real sure about the zinc oxide, that sounds a little odd to me, but I'm NOT a vet.

I do know I would keep that area as dry as possible. I just can't shake the feeling moisture and that condition don't mix. Also, since zinc oxide is water resistant, soaking in the antibiotics won't help unless you wipe off the ointment first, and rubbing that area seems like a VERY bad idea to me.

You can go with the snake junkie to START with. See what he makes of it first. Tell him what you have been doing, and what advise the vets have given you. Just because he owns/cares for a lot of snakes, doesn't mean he's an expert, but he might be able to help you figure out what to do for now. But ONLY until you can see a vet. This is VERY serious.

I continue to keep you in my thoughts, I hope he gets better soon for you.

Gale

[Otolith]

My vet had me use super salty (seasalt) soaks to dry out scale rot and apply betadine and silver cream in moderation. It wasn't a very big area tho.

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[mackynz]

My vet had me use super salty (seasalt) soaks to dry out scale rot and apply betadine and silver cream in moderation. It wasn't a very big area tho.

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Since it looks like a burn this would probably just cause a lot of pain.

[MrLang]

If you aren't using a thermostat to control the heat pad and have switched from repti-bark to paper towels... the surface temp is going to spike wildly.

My thoughts are that you might have started with a little scale rot and when you put the snake on paper towels on an unregulated heat pad it burned its belly as well.

Keep the heat pad off for now. The soaks are only serving as a way to sterilize the area. Perhaps there is another option that doesn't involve keeping the snake submerged in water for that long?

[DooLittle]

That looks like a burn to me. I would make the drive and get him to a vet. I don't know for sure, but would imagine they will give him antibiotics to fight off any infection. And maybe something to treat the burn. I don't think I would soak him. I would get a new heat pad AND a thermostat to control it. Ouch, poor guy. Keep us posted.

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[OmNomNom]

That does look a lot like a burn...

One thing I'm concerned about is that you mention "the smell". If he has actively rotting or necrotic tissue on him this needs to be debrided and removed by the vet or it can cause infection. We use zinc-oxide cream on rashes and minor burns in people, not sure what it's supposed to be doing on a snake. I'm not a vet but based on what I've been trained on burn and wound care management in humans I would suggest the following until you get a clear answer from a vet:

Do keep him dry and clean. I would go ahead with the antibiotic soaks as recommended, but pat him dry afterwards. Any excess moisture will promote infection. If you can see any obviously necrotic tissue and if you feel comfortable doing this take some clean, dry gauze and after his soak gently try to remove it. If he doesn't tolerate it or it doesn't come off easily leave it until you see the vet. I wouldn't slather the cream on heavily either, just a light coat.

Maintain a stable, 85-90'F ambient temperature, even at night. Regardless if it's a burn or not it looks like he's lost a significant chunk of his epidermis/"skin", and while they're not like humans which depend on skin for proper thermal regulation, keeping the temperature stable and constant will help him maintain homeostasis and reduce stress.

Leave him alone as much as possible and let him rest in a dark place. Hopefully the little guy'll pull through!

[adamjeffery]

just spoke with the vet, she said they overbooked and cant get me in till after the holiday, but she said i can come by and get a new medication called Batryl<-? which is an oral antibiotic used once every other day

if your vet is still recommending oral baytril then hes not a vet to go to. it isnt as safe or effective in an oral form. i would go to a diff vet. at this point in my opinion it looks like a burn. id turn the heat off. get some neosporin (not with pain medication though). make sure you are only using paper towels in the enclosure. keep enclosure dry dont mist it.
keep cage covered and dont stress him out. make sure he has fresh water but at intervals. i say this so that he wont soak or spill it. get him to a vet that has more knowledge than the last one. if it is bacterial then have the vet take a sample and find out what it is so he come up with a plan to treat it properly. not just to use an blanket med like baytril.
adam jeffery