Ball Python Nose Rub?

[Amanda1226]

Hey everyone,
I think my ball python has a rubbed raw spot on her nose. I would love to post pictures, but I can't make it work like the sticky says it should.

I am blind and not able to "see" the site, I'm using a keyboard instead of a mouse.

Either way, I am wanting to know if this is not unusual for BPs to do, and how to treat it?

I have pictures loaded on my PhotoBucket for interested parties.

Thanks for the help,
Amanda

[Reed12321]

Hey everyone,
I think my ball python has a rubbed raw spot on her nose. I would love to post pictures, but I can't make it work like the sticky says it should.

I am blind and not able to "see" the site, I'm using a keyboard instead of a mouse.

Either way, I am wanting to know if this is not unusual for BPs to do, and how to treat it?

I have pictures loaded on my PhotoBucket for interested parties.

Thanks for the help,
Amanda

Snakes rub their nose when they're shedding, but it shouldn't be raw. This sounds puzzling. Hows the humidity?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Snakes rub their nose when they're shedding, but it shouldn't be raw. This sounds puzzling. Hows the humidity?

Yes but nose rubbing is not always or only associated with shedding.

As far as treatment the important is to keep it clean and dry, you can clean with betadine and put a little bit of triple anti-biotic ointment if you are concern (do not over do it as oil based cream loosen up scales), in most cases it goes away in a few shed.

What type of enclosure do you have? Screen top? Is your BP overly active and trying to escape which leads to the nose rubbing?

[Amanda1226]

I'm not 100% on humidities as my current monitoring system quit working about 2 months ago. The temp gun I was using said her hotside was around the upper 80s and the cool side was mid to upper 70s.

I just moved her into a rack from the lone sterilite tub she was in, and the temps in that were 87-88 hot side and 78-79 cool side.


She did have a little stuck shed from her last shed which I removed without much difficulty. I think in that instance, the humidity was too high...


She was seen pushing against the lid today after being introduced into her new tub, but I can't watch her to see her being overly active. I mostly find her in her hide when retrieving her.

So I can use antibiotic ointment on the area, how long and often should I apply it?

Here's links to the pics in my dropbox, it's the best way I could figure to get you guys them.

Pic 1:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...%202-10-14.JPG

Pic 2:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...%202-10-14.jpg


Thanks,
Amanda

[Stewart_Reptiles]

So I can use antibiotic ointment on the area, how long and often should I apply it?

Here's links to the pics in my dropbox, it's the best way I could figure to get you guys them.

Pic 1:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...%202-10-14.JPG

Pic 2:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...%202-10-14.jpg


Thanks,
Amanda

You can but as stated before a few times (twice) this week will be more than enough imo (again oil based cream can loosen up scales) the main thing is to make sure it remains clean, it is minor I have seen it before and did not do anything but cleaning it applying a triple antibiotic once and let it healed. There will probably be a scar but this will not be an issue just purely cosmetic, it happens also not very often but it does.

[Amanda1226]

Thanks for that. I have just a couple morethings.

Are there any ideas on why she would have rubbed her nose to that point? We expected her to shed soon, and we found her shed on February 5, after she refused on January 29.

When removing her from the tub to remove the skin and to look for any loose pieces,I noticed her head felt odd to me. This is when I noticed a couple of small pieces of stuck skin in the general area of the nose rub. I assumed the nose rub was more stuck shed, and my boyfriend and I soaked her and rubbed her down with a warm wet washcloth. When that didn't help, we returned her to her tub and had someone take a look at her today, and that's when we found out it was a skinned spot, not stuck shed.

I just want to make sure she's not doing this to herself because of something we can control, I.E. temperatures and humidity, but I'm currently looking for a good way to monitor humidities in a rack system. I have ordered a talking temp gun that should be here by the end of this month or first of March. In the mean time, I have someone use a ZooMed temp gun and read me the readings.

Anythoughts or suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,
Amanda

[dr del]

She has basically tried to force her nose into somewhere and scraped the top of it in the process.

Aside from trying to find out where that gap is and closing it off somehow I don't think there is much you can do. It will heal a little with each shed and she will probably shed more often for a little while as part of the healing process.

Getting the humidity right will help but typically these wounds open a little during the shed itself as it pulls the scab away.

[SlitherinSisters]

Healing the wound is your priority, but you need to figure out what she is rubbing her nose on to get the injury. Hopefully you can remove the item or find a way to keep her from rubbing on it more. They really like to rub if they know there is a way out, or they think there is a good opportunity for it (like a large crack).

[Amanda1226]

I just moved her into a new tub today, and the only thing that made the move with her is her water bowl. Hopefully this will help me narrow down what she rubbed on.

- - - Updated - - -

For those who might have seen the pictures, do you guys think it's bad enough to warrant antibiotic ointment, or is it minor enough to heal on its own?

[Amanda1226]

Hi, just wondering if there's any suggestions on the best way to apply the ointment?

Her head isn't that big, and I'm afraid that my fingers might get it where it shouldn't and using something like a q-tip might not be good since I can't see where it's applying the ointment.

Thanks,
Amanda