HELP me please!!! BP's scales are sloughing off--not a shed! Pics

[Anya]

After you give her the betadine bath, I do recommend applying some silver sulphadine liberally to the affected area, if it is in fact a rat attack. I've had really good success with the stuff. Please check all advice given against a vet if possible, though.

[I-KandyReptiles]

Ok. Thank you. With the betadine bath, should I mix it with water or do it straight? Actually soak her or (gently) rub it in?

Add the Betadine to water until it looks like a fairly weak tea. My rescue girl was burnt from mid-stomach to vent and I was told by the vet to soak her in the Betadine/water mixture.

If you can get it, get the silver sulfadiazine. Only use a little bit. I had to get a prescription for it as its actually also used for humans as a burn cream.

[Parysa]

Thanks, guys. I really appreciate the input. I've switched her over to newspaper and bumped her heat up a couple degrees and did the betadyne bath. She seems to be a little bit more comfortable. She was at least not trying to eat my face anymore once I got her cleaned.

[Solarsoldier001]

To me it looks like a rat got to her. Another user on this forum had a snake that had wounds just like that, and it was from a rat attack. Yours just looks like you cleaned it up. But when I saw the pictures it reminded me of the thread that user put up.


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[Solarsoldier001]

http://www.worldofballpythons.com/ar...esson-for-all/

Here is the article off of world of ball pythons


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[Parysa]

Solar Soldier, that seems to be the consensus. I've already started taking care of it and will be switching all of my snakes off of live.

[Parysa]

I read the post. That looks exactly like what she has, just bloodier. And s/he does their feeding basically the same way I do except that that happened to mine in about 15 minutes with me in the room.
Why do they just sit there and let the rats chew? Can't they feel it?

[Marrissa]

Poor baby. Hope she heals up quickly for you.

[BHReptiles]

Solar Soldier, that seems to be the consensus. I've already started taking care of it and will be switching all of my snakes off of live.

First of all, I'm not going to beat a dead horse because people have already given you some great advice.

I would, however, like to know what you are feeding the snake (as in what size) and are you sure it was only in there for 15 min? Usually, feeding smaller live meals in safer and make sure your feeders have food and water before being fed to your snake. If you get your feeders from a pet store, they can be cramped without food or water. Making sure the feeder is calm, well hydrated, and not hungry will help you against attacks. In addition, if you monitor your feedings (by keeping the tub open unless you have a nervous snake who won't eat while you're watching) and have a set of tongs/a pencil/chopstick/etc to put between the rat's teeth and your snake, feeding live can be very safe. I feed all my ball pythons live (minus one hatchling) and I've never had an issue with a rat attack.

Now, I'm not going to discourage you from switching off of live, but I just want you to be informed so you're switching for the right reasons. Feeding F/T can be just as safe and/or dangerous as feeding live.

[Shadera]

Saw this thread on fauna as well. Glad you figured out what's going on. That's quite a bit of damage to be done in fifteen minutes. Thankfully the rat wasn't in there longer.

This is your cue to find a vet nearby for the next time you need one in a hurry. They don't have to be listed as herp vets, or even exotic vets to be able to see and help you. Just grab the phone book and start calling around and asking if they'd be open to seeing your animals. My new vet out here is just five minutes from my house, and they don't typically see exotics. Cats, dogs and large animals. However, I lucked out, and they told me they love snakes but don't get to see many. They were up front and honest that what they knew was just basic stuff, but they are very open to discussions and working together to fix problems. THAT right there, is worth its weight in gold. They fixed a random prolapse for me, and I've since been in with a box of morphs to show the vets and their children. I'm looking forward to giving one of the kids' friends her first ball python next month.

If you ever need a vet for phone consultation, for either you or your local vet, Dr Stahl on the east coast is fabulous.
http://www.seavs.com/

Good luck. Hoping the recovery is quick and uneventful for her.