Hello,



Last night I visited the apartment of a friend who has a fifteen foot female Burm with a lower respiratory infection. He had elevated the temperature and was planning on getting medicine later on if the infection didn't go away on its own. Luckily he told me that the snake had recently eaten (though she is still underweight), which was a good sign; however, we did notice several bruises running along her sides, mostly on the lower half of her body. Most of the bruises appeared to be topical (the scales themselves were discolored and purple); however, there was one that was swollen and blue, and the source of the discoloration appeared to be coming from underneath the skin, not the scales.



My question is: is this bruising normal for a sick snake? Or is it indicative of some other problem? The raised bruise appears to me like it could be some sort of subcutaneous infection. Is there anything that could be done to allieviate this (like applying a topical antibiotic)?



My friend got this snake just a few months ago, and she was sick when he got her. I think he should just take her to a vet, but he's worried about moving her because she's so sick and ill. I'm very concerned about the bruises because I've never heard of that before. If anyone can give my friend and me some help and advice that would be great. The snake is absolutely gorgeous and majestic and it would be terrible to lose her.



One more thing: she underwent surgery about a month ago to remove bound eggs from her abdomen. That was part of the reason why she was so underweight. Could the surgery have contributed to the bruising as well?



Thanks to anyone who took the time to read all this,
-----
A. Fox

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