Found a wound (while taking these)

[Smulkin]

I've had Kali now for a few weeks - she still hasn't eaten but I chalk that up to acclimation. At first she would go after ANY AND ALL movement in her cage, frequently bursting out from under bark and sphagnum for a strike. She has since calmed nicely - suspicious to say the least but no striking in the past 5 days or so. I had her out to change out water and moss and do some spot cleaning so I was snapping a few pics. She let me move her tail and I saw THIS:



Looks like a cut or wound - though oddly placed in the middle of a series of bifurcated belly scales. Now I am kinda panicked. Laid down a piece of clean plastic pegboard on top of her bedding and placed down some damp paer towels, cleaned her hides and added a few fresh clumps of moss. Don't want anything getting infected and her humidity is still good.

Can I get a second opinion on that wound? It's not swollen or open or anything of the sort so I am sure I am just being overconcerned - but there's nothing she's come into contact with since coming into my care which could have done that.

Breathing again I now return you to the series of pics of this pretty little Gal.







Thanks in advance for any advice!

[rding]

pretty.......i hope that she heals up soon. sixx had a little place from a heat rock, before i knew that they were not the best to use...neosporin healed it up nicely. good luck!

[Marla]

I'm not a vet, nor do i play one on tv, but that wound looks to me as if it may be infected. Have you treated it with anything topical yet? If not, I'd definitely apply either neosporin or betadine and if you don't see any change in condition in a week I'd take her to the vet just to be on the safe side. She's a gorgeous snake and it would be a shame if it is infected and it spread and went septic. Because of their slow metabolisms, snakes tend to heal slowly so an infection can easily become a big deal.

[Kara]

How old is Kali? Also, how do you have her set up? Baby bloods go through an extremely delicate phase & there are some details it's important to pay attention to in order to see them through it as stress-free as possible...

Some more info would help...hopefully we'll find a solution for you.

K

[Smulkin]

FROM other topic:

Well ventilated, not too big for her, 70-80% steady, timed lights (vis) + red heat, paper towel atm (sphagnum on bark layer otherwise), 89-78 gradient, digital thermometer/hygrometer w/ probe, handling still minimized (only had her a few weeks giving her plenty of acclimation room but the striking behavior has about disappeared) 03 yearling, 14" from xtreme reptiles. Think that about covers it.

phew

[RPlank]

I can't tell where exactly that is on your snake, but it looks as if the site where the umbilicus (?) connected while in the egg is infected. Kara can probably help me with the anatomical terms.....what I'm trying to say is "Could her belly button have an infection?"

[Smulkin]

That is pretty consistently what I'm hearing. Too cute . . . belly button. The way the scales looked (bifurcated) had me wondering about that but it just seemed a little hard to conceive lol.

[Kara]

FROM other topic:
Well ventilated, not too big for her, 70-80% steady, timed lights (vis) + red heat, paper towel atm (sphagnum on bark layer otherwise), 89-78 gradient, digital thermometer/hygrometer w/ probe, handling still minimized (only had her a few weeks giving her plenty of acclimation room but the striking behavior has about disappeared) 03 yearling, 14" from xtreme reptiles. Think that about covers it. phew

First of all, that is not a yearling. She may be a CB '03 (which I doubt), but at 14" she is not a yearling. What you've pictured is certainly the blood's umbilicus, and I really can't help but wonder if that snake is actually much younger than you were led to believe. As far as the umbilicus is concerned, you can apply a triple antibiotic ointment, like polysporin, to it a few times a week, but outside of that it doesn't really appear to be too much of an issue, compared to getting your blood fully acclimated.

You say her enclosure is "not too big for her" and "well ventilated"...well, what do you mean by not too big? How big is the enclosure and what kind of cage is it? What kind of ventilation does it have?

From what you've described, your blood is in a very high-stimuli environment. If you truly want her to acclimate (which she obviously hasn't done) some enclosure modification is going to need to take place.
Here's what has worked for me time & again when it comes to dealing with difficult bloods.

Get a large plastic shoebox - either the Rubbermaid 2220 or the Sterilite 1754 model (which I'm particularly fond of for bloods since it's so deep). With a drill or soldering iron, make 20 ventilation holes in each of the "short" sides of the box. Use a very simple substrate - newspaper or paper towels work especially well. Add a couple of hide spots & a small water bowl. Maintain the entire shoebox at 82-84 degrees, and DO NOT UTILIZE A BASKING SPOT. Young blood pythons & basking spots are like oil and water - they do not mix!!!! Get them too warm & they freak out & stop eating. Put them in too big of a cage & they freak out & stop eating. In fact, there are a lot of factors that can cause a young blood to freak out & stop eating.

At this point your blood is probably freaked out by the overhead lighting & hot temperatures within her enclosure. If she's in a glass tank, the high visibility setup is likely to be stressful as well. The best thing to do IMO is to move her into the shoebox setup that I just described. Leave her alone for a week to 10 days & keep handling to an absolute minimum. After a week or so, introduce a large hopper mouse or appropriately-sized rat fuzzy/crawler into her enclosure. Do this after you've turned out the lights in your snake room. If you use a mouse, leave her alone for 20-30 minutes or so, and if she hasn't eaten it, remove it. If you're using a rat, it's safe to leave in overnight. This is a case where it's almost better to use a fuzzy/crawler rat, because they tend to bumble around a lot & create movement that will get your blood's attention. They're also too small to do any damage to your snake.

Hope this helps...let me know if anything needs clarification.

K

[iceman25]

That looks pretty wicked! I hope it heals up soon.

Great post, Kara.