Ball Python Injury

[Jayrhamlin]

Hello - First time poster here. Was hoping I could get some advice. I have a baby Less Platinum male who is just over a month old. I came home from work today and his water bowl was tipped over and one of his hides was moved. He was in one of his hides and when I pulled him out I noticed he has a pretty bad open wound on the side of his neck. I don't think it's a burn (there is nothing hot enough in the tank that could even cause a burn). I believe he may have caught himself on a metal hook that the thermostat was hanging on. I have washed the wound, applied neosporin, and replaced his substrate with paper towels as advised by my local reptile shop. Can anyone else maybe give me some advice or check out the pic below and give me their opinion? Not sure if I should take him to a vet or just keep an eye on it. He seems to be acting normally and didn't give me much trouble when I was cleaning it. Thanks in advance.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/55662155/20120718_170511.jpg

[tsy72001]

I would take to the vet, and it is my understanding the Neo is bad for snakes. Also get the hook out of the enclosure and check to make sure there is nothing sharp in there.


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[Tekko]

IMO that's a trip to the vet asap for suture points and probably some appropriate disinfectant and/or anitbiotic. A big open wound like that is likely to get infected or worst, if it was mine I would try to get good herp qualified vet to take care your ball.

[Andybill]

x3 vet trip! That looks like the muscle tissue is exposed and cuts like that dont close up on their own. Vet asap!

[TXpythons]

VET. no questions.

x2 on that hook removal. hooks/tape/sicky stuff----> all bad.

[Andrew B]

Agree with Andy vet right away


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[I-KandyReptiles]

Oh gosh. Get it to the vet right now.

And get the hook out of the tank!

Neosporin is not a good idea to be using on snakes. It can make their scales mushy. A diluted solution of betadine is better. But a vet visit is still needed.

[Homegrownscales]

Vet immediately. No neo. A large open wound like that 1 will not do well with neo anyways 2 neo will only soften the scales leading to more injury, flaking and infection.
Sounds like you already took the best precautions with changing into papertowels. But youll really need to sterilize, and keep the tank hospital Clean. A couple temp tubs "hospital tubs" might be in order. It'll be easy to clean switching back and forth daily from one to the other. Set them up exactly the same. This will be a hell of alot less stressful than having to clean out a tank daily. At least every other day. It'll be some work but he will heal.
I hope you took the hook out too. He probably was trying to climb and he fell tearing his skin. Ouch!


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[Jayrhamlin]

Vet immediately. No neo. A large open wound like that 1 will not do well with neo anyways 2 neo will only soften the scales leading to more injury, flaking and infection.
Sounds like you already took the best precautions with changing into papertowels. But youll really need to sterilize, and keep the tank hospital Clean. A couple temp tubs "hospital tubs" might be in order. It'll be easy to clean switching back and forth daily from one to the other. Set them up exactly the same. This will be a hell of alot less stressful than having to clean out a tank daily. At least every other day. It'll be some work but he will heal.
I hope you took the hook out too. He probably was trying to climb and he fell tearing his skin. Ouch!


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

Thanks, everyone, for all of your advice. After an hour and a half ride I am sitting at the animal hospital.

[Navy]

Poor baby, I hope he gets back to tip top shape.

I've been told to never use neosporin.