Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK. I woke up yesterday to a complete nightmare. One of my snakes who had been fine and had eaten two days earlier had severe blistering on her sides and tail and discoloration on her stomach. I rushed her to the vet and was told that she had a severe bacterial infection and was told to give her an intra-muscular shot of Ceftazidine every 72 hrs for four injections total. I was not too sure about this diagnosis becouse the vet took no samples and ignored the fact that I told him that she had burrowed down and was sitting directly above the heat tape (this is why I think that i might be an a-hole, I think this could have been prevented ) . I called another vet and described to him what I was dealing with; he said that he thought it was a burn (AAAarrrrgggg) and told me to raise the temps realy high (mid 90s), do likewise with the humidity, switch to back heat (I'll never use belly heat ever again) wash her inclosure every day and in addition to the injections cover her with silverdine. I just hope at this point that it is a burn so that I am treating it right and that it isn't somthing more awful like blister disease that might spread to others. When I got her she looked like she was just getting over somthing and had simmilar discoloration. I have been keeping reptiles for a very long time and I have never created a problem before. I have taken over and rehabed other peoples problems and bought a couple of nightmares from pet stores but I have never created a problem. I feel like the biggest piece of crap alive. I am mostly just venting, but if anyone has any advice Ill be back on tomorrow and very happy to read it. I cant post picks because I don't have a camera. Sorry for the length I hope some one learns somthing from this. Thanks for reading and for any input.
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I have Balls!

Mistakes are made after all we are not machines by any sense of any defintion.

Here are some questions for you to answer to help yourself out.

Do you have the heat tape regulated ( Thermostat ) ??

Are the conditions very wet?

How is the ball python doing today?

Take it easy, and brush off the mistake, things happen and as long as the animal is still alive you can mend the mistake with some small scars both emotional and physical for the both of you.
If your not regulating her heat then do so immediatly, its amazing what a $25.00 thermostat can do....

I would also take the animal to a second vet and be sure it's a burn. Some antibiotics may be needed in small doses just to decrease the risk of infection.

If it is a burm then lower humidity is a better option then higher. Just place a single small water bowl in the BP's cage and place here on clean paper towel. Keep the cage and here very clean until the scabs are made. Alow the BP to heal in it's own time frame and try some neosporin or A&D on the burn. Injections of some antibiotics should only be made in absolutely necesary.

If it's blisters
Bassically the same treatment except for the humidity. Get her in a very dry box with lots of layered paper towel, the towel will absorb the ooze from the breaking blister's. With blister disease as long as they are still eating they can be saved most of the time once the bp goes off feed your in the danger zone..
Always get a vet to check you animals, my suggestion are exactly that suggestions............

I had a similar experience and a noted reptile vet diagnosed this snake (a rescue) as having a bacterial infection. After much antibiotics and applying silverdine, it just got worse and worse and the snake died. I found out later that this is a fairly common FUNGAL infection and could be treated with a topical over-the-counter anti-fungal creme.

Wish I'd known then....

When your antibiotics are gone and the snake is not better, try the anti-fungal.

Good luck,

Steve Harrison

What type of cage was she in? Was the heat tape under the enclosure or in it? I have racking systems, and will only use racks with belly heat, b/c it makes it easier for the ball to digest their food if they can lay on heat. Back heat works but in my opinion belly heat works better. I have never had any of my balls burn them selves on heat tape, but my heat tape is set at 92 on a helix systemm with the probe on the tape. I have had several rescues that made it my way that were badly burned, if it is a burn make sure to keep her somewhat moist but not too humid b/c an infection will be more likley to happen in a damp enviorment. Good luck with her.. keep us posted.
Kim

She is alert and active, that is always a good sign. Also the blisters seem to be getting a little better. To answer your questions...

1)She is still in a temp set up as I have only had her since Sept 16. For this I use a 17 X 35 ish sterilite sweater box.

2)For heat regulation I use Helix thermostats and heat tape. In addition to this I use night and day lights.

Can any one post pics of blister disease and also the fungal disease that was mentioned. I would like to compare and contrast these with what I've got here. Also the name of the anti-fungal would be good to know. Thank you so much for your responses. I really needed to hear (read) these things. I have never caused any problems before so I still feel very guilty but I think that is good. I am sure to learn from it if I feel bad right?
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I have Balls!

I am sure to learn from it if I feel bad right?

Unfortunately, feeling bad doesn't always guarantee learning. Many people make foolish mistakes, suffer the consequences, feel horrible, and then repeat the same mistakes. I'm speaking less about herpetoculture than about life in general, but the lesson should apply to snake-keeping as well.

The first step in learning is to get the facts. So far, we think that your snake may have:

1. A bacterial infection - the diagnosis of the only actual vet who has actually looked at the snake;
2. A burn - the diagnosis of a vet who hasn't looked at the snake and your fear because you found the snake sitting on a hot surface;
or
3. A fungal infection - the suggestion of a fellow snake-keeper who has had seen his snake suffer the same problem.

I hate to beat up on you for beating up on yourself, but you need to examine the possibilities. As I see it, you have three primary pieces of evidence.

The first piece of evidence is the condition of the snake. You found severe blistering and discoloration.

The second piece of evidence is that you found her on the tank bottom over the heat tape.

The third piece of evidence is that when you got her, she already had similar discoloration.

I think you need to consider the third piece of evidence more carefully. Did you do anything to investigate why she had this discoloration at that time? I'd like to suggest another possible explanation for everything. She had some kind of bacterial or fungal problem that came and went away for a little while just before you got her. Whatever it was was living in her system but occasionally came to the skin. There are Herpes-family viruses that can do this in humans. If you've seen the commercials or remember sex-ed from high school, you have at least some idea of how this works with the Herpes venerial disease, but other viruses in the family can live in our bodies and rise to the surface causing skin irritations when something stresses our bodies and lowers our immunity. Likewise, most of us have seen athlete's foot do the same thing. We have the itching and treat our feet enough to ease the itching for a week or so, but if we don't kill the fungi completely, we have another outbreak as soon as the fungi regroup and start to grow again. In this case, she may have burrowed to the heat source because the heat felt good against her irritated skin. I've had skin irritations that felt better when I held the skin against a light bulb for a second or two. I don't understand why it works, but I've sometimes found relief this way.

I'll admit that another possibility is that she just likes lying on hot objects for some reason and doesn't have the sense to avoid being burned. In that case, the previous discoloration may have been from a previous burn.

Either way, I don't see enough evidence to jump to the conclusion that you made a mistake. I realize that you've already turned off this heat tape. Would it be possible to put your snake in another enclosure and re-create all of the previous conditions to determine what the temperature on the surface was? If the temperature wasn't high enough, the snake did not suffer a burn.

I think there's a good learning to be had from this incident. Thank you for sharing the situation so that all of us can learn. However, until we know all of the facts, we don't know what the learning will really be. I'm not ready to conclude that you made a mistake.

Bill

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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

Yeah the viral thing and the stupid snake thing occured to me as well. She seems to be getting better and is alert and active so I think that she will be ok. I am following the advice of the vet that saw her and also keeping a close eye on her. I intend to have a follow up exam done regardless of how she apears to be doing. I am also keeping her enclosure SUPER clean. If her condition worsens she will be going emediatly (SPCH?) to the vet. At this point I am taking it minute to minute.
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I have Balls!

You seem to be doing everything right, and I appreciate that you're sharing the situation so that we can all learn.

Thanks,

Bill

PS. If you care, the proper spelling of the word that I think you meant is "immediately."
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

NP
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I have Balls!