Thermal Burns + green scales? Plz help

[AllThatInThemGenes]

Hello all,

So, I have been taking care of a BP who incurred severe thermal burns when his previous owner's thermostat shorted out and the surface temperature of the tub reached temps over 120 degrees. I've taken the animal under my care because the original owner is not equip to do some. I have minor experience treating burns like this but this will be by far the worst I’ve ever treated. Ill will go over the details of her set up, what i have been doing to aid her recovery, and list question that I have. **note: I just registered for this site and I’m new to online forum in general so please forgive any novice mistakes made in this post. Also I will not be able to post any pictures until later, I know it becomes very difficult to help without something to reference and I do apologize. In an effort to combat that I will try to be extremely detailed in the post but please know it is a serious burn on the lower %25-%30 of the animal's belly.

Her set up: She is kept in a rack. 88 degrees on the warm side/81-83 on the cool side. Humidity is generally between 55-65. I use reptile mulch as substrate (I live in a dry area) but have completely switched her over to dry paper towels. The heat is provided by UTH which is regulated by a thermostat. 1 hide on the warm side.

What I’ve been doing: in the evening (every day for the past 4 days) I will give the animal a betadine bath with a 10/1 ratio (%90 luke warm water and %10 betadine) for about 15 min. I then take a gauze pad and soak it in the same betadine mix and scrub her belly with it (focusing on the burned area). After she is placed in the sink which I clean before hand with hand sanitizer and takes a 20 min. luke warm bath in water that does not go over her head. I then move her to a temporary tub that has fresh, dry paper towels so that she can dry off. Lastly i will take multiple q-tips with Neosporin cream and go up and down the affected area with them. i make a point to go against the scales to ensure the Neosporin gets where it should. After all that she is place back into her home that has been cleaned while she’s in the sink.

My questions:
1. I noticed yesterday that some of the scales most affected by the burn have started turning a greenish color. Could this be from the betadine not fully washing off? The color does not seem natural and seems too 'green' to be produced from an infection. I’m really stumped by the green color.
2. Is 'what I’ve been doing' the best possible in-home care for this type of ailment?
3. I should be getting some silvadine burn cream from a friend, should i incorporate that into my care after receiving it?
4. The snake seems to have built up shed skin and both eye caps remain on. Because I’m missing information about the animal (when she shed last) I don’t know how urgent getting the eye caps off is. With everything else going on should I attempt to remove the eye caps or continue to soak and wait for the next shed?

Again, I understand that with no images to reference providing guidance becomes difficult. i truly appreciate any feedback and want nothing more than the animal to make a full recovery. Thanks so much in advance.

[Kibbleswhites]

Green can sometimes = death. The skin/scales may die and slough off in those areas. Burns usually look worse before they start to get better.

[Lizardlicks]

Seconding the dead skin/scales. It'll slough off and there will be healing skin underneath. If it DOES seem like it's getting infected (odor, pus, etc) take him into the vet ASAP and get a culture so you can hit it with the correct antibiotics as quickly as possible.

[Lizardlicks]

Also, the soaks should help with the stuck shed. If you want to try getting it off, you could try having him slither through a damp towel or pillowcase after he's had one of his soaks.

[dr del]

I'm not sure the "scrubbing" is a good idea to be honest.

Without pictures it is indeed hard to be sure of what is happening but I think the best course would be letting a vet inspect it and give you some silver sulphadine ( er I think that's what it is called ) cream to apply.

[Asherah]

Pictures would really help, I hope you can get some up soon.
Mainly make sure she has a sterile setup and is on clean paper towels. I wouldn't use a belly source as heat while she is recovering. If you can either get her ambient temps to the mid 80's or use a heat lamp to provide a hot spot.
I would worry about the stuck shed as a secondary issue. It will come off with proper care.
You sound like you are doing a good job. I don't think I would try to scrub the scales, just apply betadine like you have been. Also be careful with the neosporin. It is petroleum based and can case the scales to sort of sluff off.

[AllThatInThemGenes]

This community is awesome. Thanks so much for the responses! I mentioned that I might be able to get my hands on the 1% silver sulphadine...I got it! When I went to treat the animal last night she had made big improvements, the area of dead scales that had been throwing off the green color where a much more normal brown color (I think that greenish brown was simply some betadine stain, I started extending the normal water bath by about 5 min to help ensure the betadine is fully washed off). The scales had already begun to slough off but larger sections have begun to do this and the belly scales that were most affected seem to be next in line to come off with new healthy skin underneath. When I said 'scrub' in the original post that was probably poor word choice, I was 'gently dabbing' a betadine soaked gauze pad on the worst areas. I will be taking this out of the care routine and will simply let her sit in the shallow betadine bath. Now that I have the prescription burn cream I will no longer be applying the Neosporin after the baths but completely replacing it with the %1 silver (I had been using the 'cream' not ointment with no pain killer).

With the eye caps; I’m really excited because last night they had cleared up a little bit....if the stars align lol she will hopefully go into shed in a few days. When I teat her today if they are still really 'stone' looking I may try the wet pillow trick but fingers crossed they will be clear.

Questions:
1. How long should I soak her in the normal water? I have been doing that step for about 20-25 min...would she benefit from a longer soak or is the stressed incurred not worth the extra time in the water at this point?
2. I'm trying to keep her humidity at %70 to help with the shed, is that optimal? Or should I been shooting for a more normal %60 while she is recovering?

Asherah, dr del, Lizardlicks, and Kibbleswhites...Thank you all so much. I know it must be really obvious that I’m new to online forums but after having such a positive first experience I may become more active on this site and will do my best to get some pictures up today. (I have a clutch of albinos that should all be out of the eggs today that I also want to post pictures of!). Thanks again and any more help/advice is welcomed!

[Asherah]

I wouldn't soak in water, but that's me. I will add that you might want to watch out for blisters in case any form. Also be prepared when she does shed, it will likely be a bloody mess. Don't freak out, just continue with the care you have been giving. As long as she's getting better your doing the right thing.

[AllThatInThemGenes]

eshhh I had not even considered that things might get bloody. Thanks for the heads up. Your reply does remind me of another question I had; I’ve heard different things about betadine needing to be washed off...is this true, I’ve read some people think its fine to do the bath then let them dry themselves off. One of the reasons I was doing a bath in regular water was to wash off the betadine. Also, how detrimental is it if the animal puts their head/mouth partly under the betadine/water mixture. I read conflicting things on this as well...obviously I’m making a strong effort to avoid having the snake get any in her mouth but as she moves around the shallow bath she sometimes dips her head partly under the water. Thanks for the continued help and support.

[Lizardlicks]

Honestly 20--25 minutes is probably a bit much, even with stuck shed. You shouldn't need any more than 15.