He Got Bit! Help!!

[Captain Penelope]

Today was feeding day for my baby ball, and he has regularly been eating live mice, but today, instead of striking at the head of the mouse as he usually does, he hit the end of the mouse-leaving its mouth to bite! he still ate, but afterwards, I noticed he had a small cut closer to his head. It looks pretty bad... what do I do?! should I put some kind of ointment on it?

[Patrick Long]

you might want to consider a vet trip if you think it looks pretty bad.

[lord jackel]

It is hard to say from your description how bad it is. Can you post a picture? "some" wounds will heal on their own and you can use triple antibiotic ointment (the kind without pain relief) to help it along...others need to see a vet. If you feel it is bad then take him to the vet...especially if the wound is large, still bleeding or he is acting strangely.

[Shelby]

Moved to BP husbandry forum. You'll likely get more traffic here.

If he looks bad or is bleeding.. definitely get him into a reptile vet ASAP.

If you don't already have a reptile vet lined up, here's a directory for you: http://www.arav.org/Directory.htm

You can put some triple antibiotic ointment on it, but don't use neosporin. For some reason it's not good for reptiles.

[python.princess]

i thought neosporin IS triple antibiotic?

[lord jackel]

i thought neosporin IS triple antibiotic?

It is....but most Neosporin has an added pain killer that is toxic (in the amounts they use) to reptiles and most other small animals.

[MelissaFlipski]

It is....but most Neosporin has an added pain killer that is toxic (in the amounts they use) to reptiles and most other small animals.

Thank you for that information! It may come in handy some day, but I hope it doesn't - meaning I hope we never have an injured snake.

OP, how's your BP doing? Good luck, and I hope he's OK.

[MelissaFlipski]

PS To admins and mods, this seems to come up often. Can some sort of education thread be done and stickied about bites, bite wounds, and treatment?

[Captain Penelope]

Thanks everyone, Captain Morgan is doing fine, after a day his cut looked a lot better, and seems to be healing pretty well on its own. Thanks for the vet directory, and antibiotic info, good to know for future reference!