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Weird injury on Ratsnake

insomniac101

insomniac101

Occupant
This Bairdi girl, who is usually a voracious feeder, wouldn't come out of her hide Thursday night to eat. She had also refused the week before, but appeared to be in a shed cycle, so I left her alone in her hide.

Not finding a skin, I roused her out of her hide, and found her throat swollen like a marble was stuck in it. Off we went to the vet yesterday, for what I thought might be Stomatitis (mouth rot), but her mouth was clean, and lungs were clear. She had somehow managed to cut herself, and an infection had started under one of her chin scales. Since I mistakenly left her alone for what I thought was a shed, the infection has had some time to take hold.

Got her wound cleaned up, and I was sent home with some silver sulfadiazine cream, and Fortaz (ceftazidime) antibiotic to inject over the next couple of weeks.

What's weird is that she is in a tub with relatively smooth surfaces, and I've had her for 6 years with no issues. Go figure . . . :confused:

Anyway, she's traumatized, so I didn't want to take too much time for a photo shoot, but I attached a couple from this morning. The swelling looks bad, but is actually much improved from Thursday night.

Have any of you guys / gals ever had a snake injure itself in a tub? This is a first for me, in 32 years of snake-keeping.

Kathy

The mark across her throat is not a cut, but a crease/shadow.


Crappy photos, but I just wanted to clean her wound, and get her back in her warm tub.
 
Does she coil her prey tight? Maybe she got poked right between the scales by a toenail or tooth? Seems like a highly unlikely scenario, but not impossible. Hope she heals up quick!
 
Alicia P said:
Does she coil her prey tight? Maybe she got poked right between the scales by a toenail or tooth? Seems like a highly unlikely scenario, but not impossible. Hope she heals up quick!
Click to expand...

The vet and I went through a bunch of scenarios, and thought that one might be possible. Of course, he asked if I fed live or f/t. Maybe even a dead rodent can inflict an injury. You're right - not impossible, and we'll probably never know what happened for sure.

Christen said:
Oh the poor baby. I hope she heals fast.
Click to expand...

Thanks Christen; I think she will be okay once we get rid of the infection and give the tissues a chance to heal.

Kathy
 
It reminds me of two things. Remember Beth's Festivus, who got an esophageal injury from a piece of metal in a mouse? And Angela has a Bairds, Cain, who had some sort of weird throat/jaw thing going on, that required surgery. I can't remember the details, but if you search his name, you'll find it. Hope she's okay...
 
Thanks Nanci. I remember the thread a few years ago about Cain's nose bump, but never saw the one about his neck abscess. For a minute, I thought it was a different snake; I sold Angela a female Baird's a few years ago.

My girl's mouth and throat were unremarkable, and the vet says the swelling is from the scale trauma and resulting infection. I hope that's all it is, and the antibiotic and topical ointment will take care of it. If it turns out to be something else, and/or she develops difficulty swallowing, we'll discuss further options.

Kathy
 
I hope she heals without incident, Kathy.
You are clearly a loving, caring, very scientific snake keeper. The best kind. ;-J
 
vetusvates said:
I hope she heals without incident, Kathy.
You are clearly a loving, caring, very scientific snake keeper. The best kind. ;-J
Click to expand...

Thank you; that's very kind!

It's nice to get support here; my co-workers couldn't believe I actually took a snake to a vet! Of course, these are people who don't even seek medical care for themselves, let alone an animal.

She is doing better this morning. No blood on the cotton ball, and the swelling is going down. I have confidence that she will be fine, as we still have 2 weeks of antibiotic injections to go.

Kathy
 
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