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Snake got Burned - HELP!!!!

gnarhimself

gnarhimself

Active member
A friend of mine has a female okeetee corn,its about a year and a half old.
She moved it to a new cage,and left it to "settle"for a few days.On saturday morning,she called me and asked me to come over QUICKLY -
Her snake had moved the substrate,and climbed direcltly onto the heating pad that she has in the tank..
As far as i can see...it did get a little bit burnt...the skin "feels" like a shed skin,and the skin is split in certain areas...the tail has about 1cm of a black tip,other than that there are NO other signs of strain or injury.

From what I have read with regards to the 'black-tip",it will eventually die and fall off,I'm a bit worried about that,and the burn's on the skin ..

(I gently let her snake move through a damp (clean) cloth,to try and remove as much of the burnt skin as possible.)
She's still incredibly active & friendsly as always,and except for the tail tip being black,it doesnt look too detremental to her health

Has this happenened to anyone else on the forums,and what would the BEST possible solution be ?? Will the skin heal by itself after a few shedding...

BTW: its back in the original cage where it cannot be burnt any further..


:sobstory:
 
The heat mat was obviously regulated with a thermostat... a small investment for the sake of the snake.

If it was, it would have never topped the 80-86 gradient therefore there would have not been a problem.

Suggest to you friend to buy one of these, I hear lamp dimmers do the same job but I have no experience with these.

I know theres some ointments you can buy from drug stores... the name slips my mind atm, but when someone older and wiser comes along im sure they can tell you.
 
Hi Tula

Thanks for the help..
The heatmat wasnt regulated by a thermostat,I will personally be sorting that problem out for her this weekend.....but unfortunatly the damage has already been done.... :cry:

I hope that she pulls through though,im sure a couple of sheddings will also help with the healing process..(as will the ointment)

Many Thanks
 
also, what i find works wondering in vivs where the mat has to be inside, is an old sheet of photoframe glass on top of the mat. Means no direct contact with the mat. Of course many layers of newspaper also help
 
Thanks Tula

In my own cages,i have regulators and thermostats,my heating pads are ALSO in the cage,but have "taped" it down,and have a 2mm sheet of perspex that i lay down over the heating pad..So there's NO way my critters can come into direct contact with the heat source..

Do you think that the damage done could be fatal??
Temps in the "mentioned" cage was 34' Celcius...Which is a bit higher than the usual...I have no idea how long the snake was on the heating pad for...

There's no "discharge" of any kind from the wounds,the best description i would be able to give is it looks like it "melted"
I have spoken to some people here in south africa,and explained the situation to them,and they have suggested an ointment called "bactroban",which is non toxic,or letal to snakes.It has also been mentioned to me that Pythons are usauly the only critters that pull through from burns....
I will try get some pictures and post them (of the damage).

I really am hoping she pulls through.. :shrugs:
 
Oobie Doobie Noobie said:
Did you test the temps with a thermometer??
Click to expand...

Yes i did,when it happened,i tested with a normal thermometer & a temp gun...both were around 34' Ceclius....
Which as far as i know wouldnt be hot enough to do any serious damage.....
The only thing that i can even think of is that the heating pad is faulty,and maybe a heat increase was produced by a short..

Snakes are thermoregulatory so obviously they need some kind of heat source,but wouldnt this also act in reverse as well...if you're getting too hot,find a cooler spot??
Surely if the snake was getting hot it would "simply" move off the heat source and move to a cooler gradient??

I have been given some advice from the local forums,and my friend has place the snake back into its original (now sterilized cage),with multiple layers of newspaper as the substrate,and a dosage of "bactroban" (suggested on the local forums"

http://www.intekom.com/pharm/smith_kb/bban_ung.html
:-offtopic

:shrugs:
 
Now do you understand what i am trying to say in my threads that the snake can stick to the heating pad? Well sorry to hear about the snake.

~becca
 
:..becca..: said:
Now do you understand what i am trying to say in my threads that the snake can stick to the heating pad? Well sorry to hear about the snake.

~becca
Click to expand...

Just because the snake was burned doesn't mean it ever "stuck" to anything.
 
Daeraelle said:
Just because the snake was burned doesn't mean it ever "stuck" to anything.
Click to expand...
Lol, I just checked. That was my sister's thread. I guess i looked at it to much. Lol, Well i suppose you are right. It probably never "stuck" to anything. Maybe the heating pad got a little to hot and he got burned. Sorry again about the snake.
~becca
 
Well I opened the heating pad last night,and the wiring had also melted,so seems that might have been the problem..

She' NOT an okeetee as I first stated (my apologies for that... :-offtopic )

Here's her burn pics
Her black tip tail
EPSN0003.jpg


Some burns on her belly
EPSN0013.jpg

EPSN0006.jpg

EPSN0010.jpg


i have also noticed that she seems to be going into "blue".Could this be due to the burns?
 
Nice clear pictures GnarlHimself :-offtopic

The burns dont look too bad IMHO,a couple of shed's and she should be good as new...
The picture of the tail looks like a shedding gone bad,so worst case scenario i would assume that the tip will probably fall off..
 
Thanks Oobie Doobie Newbie.

She's getting a twice daily treatment of Bactroban,and is safe and sound in a sterilized cage,with "non printed" newspaper (didnt want to risk even the slightest bit of ink getting into those wounds)

The wounds actually do look a lot less worse than they did over the weekend,and like I said: she seems to be going into "blue" in an attemp to try and heal as quick as possible.. (i could be wrong)

The tail is actually (even though it may look like it) not a result of poor shedding,as she always seems to shed in one piece,and i cannot recall her tail tip ever looking like that....

:shrugs:
 
It may be that you didn't notice the tail tip was bad until she started to go blue and get ready to shed. I have to really check my corns tail in indirect lighting to see if there's still a shed on there sometimes. It looks like a stuck shed to me too. In the meantime, you can place her on clean paper towels and treat the burn with neosporin if needed. She might shed it off immediately if you're lucky and have no further problems.
 
Thanks MegF

Thats what I have been thinking lately,chances are I just didnt notice here tail tip...
She's still in her cage,getting the usual dosage (twice daily)of bactroban,and her wounds seem to be healing very nicely so far...

Unfortunatly she's not shed...YET,so I'm hoping that it will shed off (like you said)..
:shrugs:
 
Update 14th August 2006

Hi all..

She seems to be healing from the burns,she's no longer in blue,but does seem like her belly is still milky.
I tried feeding her on saturday,and she refused,now I'm not sure if this is because of her injuries or if this is due to her being in blue for the last couple of days...
I will try feeding her again on Thurday or Friday,but just wanted to keep you all in the loop


:crazy02:
 
Thanks for the update. It is so sad when any of our animals get injured because we dont want them to be stressed or suffer in any way. It sounds like your taking good care of the situation. Best wishes to you
 
Update 17th August 2006

Had a look at her again last night,the wounds still seem to be the same as a few days ago,another dose of bactroban was administered.I changed the unprinted newpaper again last night,which im doing every 2-3 days.(trying to disturb her as little as possible)

She's looking even more "milky" than she did 3 nights ago,so I'm not sure if the bactroban is going to be effective enough...??

She should be shedding soon,so as soon as she does,i should be able to take more pics,and do a better assessment of her injuries.
If the tail-tip doesnt come off in her next shedding,is there anything I should/could do to "assist" with it coming off...?? Or should i just leave it to fall off by itself?
 
Just leave it to fall off by itself and when it does apply antibiotic ointment directly to the area. Sadly enough many snakes lose the tip of their tails due to bad sheds. Your snake's issue is a bit worse than that right now, but I feel he will be fine.
 
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