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Panicking!!!!!-Skin Split!

All of my tanks are set up with thermostats and UTH are the heat source in all of them. Like I said, this was a "fix" due to being in the "just moved in and having to get set up" process. The movers hadn't delivered the tanks with the UTH's yet.

The building is cycling nicely now. Everyone else looks great and they're all eating well.

This is the first time anything like this has happened in 17 years of snake keeping. I feel terrible. I hope you're right Lenny and that she does well. It's a big injury.
 
northwestcorns said:
Lenny, your snake that got the burn, did he recover and does he shed normally now?
Click to expand...


Well. he's not heal all the way but he is shedding normally for his condition.
His scales and red amel color are coming back.

Your snake might get worse before he get better. The "burn" area might get/look worse at the next shed. He might bleed a little. Mine did. I started to freak out but when I saw a scab starting to heal over it. I knew it was going to be fine. I keep him on paper towels till all the scabs were gone. You need to keep an eye on him for infection. If you see anything. Get him to a Vet. Just treat him with that spray. You'll be fine.
 
Okay. Jewel made it through the night. I sprayed her again this morning. Then I cleaned out her water bowl and poured fresh water into it right next to her head. She went and started drinking and she drank forever!

I DID find that she only ate one of the pinkies yesterday. The other one she hid under a fold of paper towel. However, I'm hoping that eating and drinking water (doctored with an electrolyte solution) will keep her strong enough to get through this.

Thanks everyone for your help and advice. I'll let you know as things develop.
 
Wow, yikes! I don't have any sort of advice to add, sorry.

But I'd like to know what exactly happened to do this. I can't think of anything aside from a burn like everyone mentioned... but it still seems so odd! Keep us updated, and tell us how the vet trip goes.
 
Lenny is a good source of info for burns and injuries! Listen to him.

I had a snake that had a serious wound on her side. She was gravid and laid, ta boot. What I was told by the vet my snake saw, was to keep the injury dry, use white paper or paper towels, change them often, small water dish with clean water and smaller meals, if she eats.

I'm sure she will be fine!

Good Luck

Wayne
 
Saw the vet today. He said I was doing all of the right things. Also said he hadn't seen anything this bad. It looks like she may lose the rest of the skin up her neck and onto her head. As deep as this went, I'm afraid that she may lose her eyes if that happens. If she loses her eyes, I have already decided I will put her down. I just can't put any animal through that. I'll keep everyone posted.

Shelley
 
Shelley

From the picture you posted I don't thinks it will go that far and I hope you won't have to go that route.

Like I said, it got worse at first with my snake. It affected area grew but not not that much.

Dose your snake react to movement around him. Cause I would think the eyes would be damage now if you think she will loose her eyes.

I just don't think it will happen.

I feel sad for you, I know what you are going through.
But believe me...it will be better.

Take care
Lenny
 
I'm agreeing with Lennycorn on this one. If there were damage to the eyes I think you'd notice it already. Even if more skin comes off it doesn't have to mean she'll lose her eyes. Keep your hopes up! If you haven't seen Lenny's thread yet,take a look at it just to give your spirits a lift! It's amazing just how resilient these snakes can be!
 
Jewel has vision as far as i can see. My concern is that when the skin comes off of her head, her eye caps may come off as well. Since the rest of the skin came off full-thickness, her eyes may then be affected.

Jewel pooped today. There was a LOT of fluid. I was wondering if I should be concerned about so much un-absorbed fluid. I've been keeping the container spotless, keeping her wound moist with the neosporin spray, and giving her fresh water every morning. She must be drinking the water to have so much fluid in her poop. OR I'm obsessing over everything.
 
Jewel is alive. I'm calling her condition-guarded. I have been applying the Neosporin spray every day. I also got some Baytril from my vet and I've been giving her that, keeping her box clean and spotless, and helping her stay hydrated by tube-feeding her water with electrolytes. She hasn't eaten again and I'm wondering if i should force-feed her. She keeps doing a twitchy thing, the same thing she was doing right before her skin came off. She seems extremely uncomfortable. I am keeping the temp in her box at 80-95 degrees, depending on which end she's in. I don't know what else to do. Anyone got any other suggestions?
 
What vet did you take her to? Dr Adolph Maas in Kirkland is THE exotic vet to see. He's worth the drive if you live further out.

At some point you may need to consider euthanasia if this doesn't improve. The fact that she's gone off feed and makes these types of body movements tells me that she probably is in pain. You have to decide what's best for her.

I hope she pulls through, but it seems like she's suffering.
 
What exactly did the vet say this condition was? Burn, fungal, bacterial, combo of things? That would help determine the best course of treatment as well as prevention of future outbreaks. I've treated burns like the one's sustained by Lenny's snake before. They look terrible for what seems like forever but they get better with each shed. Bacterial sloughing is a whole different ball of wax and far more worrisome. A firm diagnosis might help you with the more difficult decisions you might have to face. I hope it doesn't come to that though. Best wishes.
Terri
 
The 95 degree thing doesn't sound right to me! That sounds waaaay too high,especially if you are dealing with a burn. Know how it feels when you get a bad sunburn and then you go out into the heat and how bad that hurts? I'm worried about your baby. I hope she pulls through,but like crackerhead said it depends on what's caused this. Did your vet tell you?
 
I don't think I'd even bother feeding her till she's had at least one shed. She can go a LONG time.
 
My advice would be not to "force feed" her and crank down that heat a little bit, as it sounds quite high for a snake who to me appears to have cracked skin from being too dry.

Here in canada, in the winter time my skin gets extremely dry due to the low humidity and a plethora of other variables. whenever i take a shower or bath and my skin is given time to dry out it cracks very very bad on my feet and hands.

if you misted your tank and the snake was in the bath, if the viv had some time to dry out and lost a lot of moisture then I could see this happening.

Now I am not a snake, but when my skin cracks I rub vaseline on it and then wrap my feet with a safeway bag. Don't do this to your snake obviously but, I would keep applying the medicine you have and keep her moist with a lower temp in the viv, dont give the snake a chance to dry out like that again. also if you haven't already done so I would replace the aspen bedding for something flat and soft like astro turf or carpet or even the reptile carpet.


If the snake was bathing alot it may have been parasites but I have never seen reptile parasites do that kind of damage before.



Anyhow good luck to you and do whats in the snakes best interest, I would personally have the snake put under myself given he was twitching and stuff but that would be terribly difficult.
 
How warm is the ambient room temp? All that heat seems overkill for the summer! Definitely do not force feed her! This can add all kinds of additional stress on your little one. Stress can lower resistance to infection. I would tend to disturb her as little as possible during this time. Good Luck!
 
The ambient room temp is 68-70. We live in the Seattle area and it drops to 45 degrees in the evening right now. I have lowered her temp to around 75-80. I'm taking her back to the vet tomorrow. She is in terrible pain and I can't help her. I feel helpless. I haven't tried to force feed her, but I did put fluids down her with the antibiotics that I have. She has lost almost 10 grams since this happened and I know that it is due to fluid loss. I'm so sorry for her. Tomorrow I am going to help her rest and have the vet euthanize her. It just isn't fair for her to be in this much pain.

Thanks everyone for all of your support and the responses you gave. I hope that this thread will stand as a learning tool for someone. I know that I learned a lot and I've been doing this for years. This is the first snake that has gotten sick as the result of something I did. I'll have nightmares forever after this.
 
Well, darling, bless your heart. I know that is a difficult thing to do. But this is your situation and your snake. We will just say we've all learned from it. Don't be to hard on yourself.
If I lived in Washington, I'd give you one. Or two or three.
Sincerely,
Eric
 
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