Scab? Thing between his eyeball and scales keeps growing back?

[bcr229]

You're best off finding a reptile group on Facebook for your city and asking there who people use.

[redshepherd]

I went to the vet. It turns out they were still scabs, and not discharge! She ended up having to use a scalpel and picking off the brown stuff to figure out what was underneath, and it was just white flesh. Not infected or anything. Which is how she figured out that it was just scabs. The vet said it is probably irritation due to something in his environment, and she guessed it was the type of aspen I use. She recommended shredded aspen, which is softer...

But in terms of husbandry, she actually did not know much about snakes ahah. :s All in all, she basically thought that heat mats will frequently malfunction and burn snakes (did not know about thermostats and their use) so recommended I use an infrared heating bulb, and did not know that snakes have eye caps (said that Yukon doesn't have eye caps).

[cristacake]

But in terms of husbandry, she actually did not know much about snakes ahah. :s All in all, she basically thought that heat mats will frequently malfunction and burn snakes (did not know about thermostats and their use) so recommended I use an infrared heating bulb, and did not know that snakes have eye caps (said that Yukon doesn't have eye caps).

Perhaps what she meant about the eyecaps is that he doesn't have *stuck* eye caps. I think the term is different, and they're called brille or ocular scales when they're the integral body part, versus "eyecaps" when they're skin that is being/has been shed off. But that's just my understanding of it and I'm no expert in snake anatomy by far.

As for the husbandry, yep it seems she could do with a quick read of some of the stickies here on BP.net! Maybe her only experience treating snakes whose owners used UTHs was that they came in with belly burns.

In any case, that's good that there didn't seen to be any visible infection but I would bet Yukon does have an issue with his eyes.

Keep us updated for sure on how the bedding switch goes.

[Albert Clark]

Hey red! The term ocular scale refers to those scales that surround the eye of the reptile. There are pre ocular scales that are in front of the eye. Then there are post ocular scales which are those scales behind the eye. The labial scales are those that are around the mouth of the animal.

[bproffer]

I havnt used these people personally, but I talked to the owner at the Pomona reptile expo. She seemed pretty knowledgeable. They are in Pasadena.

http://www.exoticanimalcarecenter.com/

[Hannahshissyfix]

If it's a scab supposedly from bedding I still find it odd to be
On both sides in the same spot. Super Lessers are known for eye issues so I am curious to see if they reappear with the bedding change. Either way I hope the spots aren't bothering him!

[redshepherd]

Right, forgot to mention... She gave me a 1% silver sulfadiazine cream to put on his scabs daily. I actually have not applied it yet since the day I visited the vet, because I don't quite trust the knowledge of this vet on snakes? I thought I'd hear some of your thoughts first...

[redshepherd]

Well, just for info update... The brown stuff has not come back! His scales around his eyes are still deformed from the brown stuff in the past, but I assume it will grow back to normal after a few sheds.

I haven't applied the cream she prescribed at all though. All I did was switch out the aspen to paper towels and wait it out. So I guess it really was due to the aspen scratching/infecting his eyes somehow. Maybe something to do with his weird super lesser eyeballs that stick out to begin with.

[chrid16371]

I just googled silver sulfadiazine cream safe for ball pythons and an old thread from this site came up and it can be used to treat burns, scale rot, etc. The thread wasn't about the cream itself but someone telling someone else how to treat a burn and what else it is used for. Just thought I would let you know just in case it comes back you know its ok to use it. I'm glad everything is going good now though!

[redshepherd]

Ah I see, thanks for letting me know! I'm glad that vet knows enough for prescribing that to me LOL.