Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I picked up 2 red tails over the weekend from a guy who was unable to take care of them anymore. They both appeared to be in good health ecept they had some old scarring. It looks like it's from rat claws and bites. I'm guessing from too much feeding live rats. Well one of the babies I just noticed has a pretty good"bite" mark on her side about 4 inches from her head. I can see muscle tissue under it when she flexes. It isn't bleeding but it looked like it had some opaque fluid built up. I tried to clean it up a bit with a q-tip. I've never had to dealw ith an open would before on a snake. Should I take her to the vet imediately or can I treat it with a store baught antibiotic? I am posting a pic, it's not the best but it's what I can do with the camera I have. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. She hasn't been handled in almost a year and is still a very gentle girl. She is about 6 1/2 feet and very very calm. Thank you!

Widj

Widj

The image doesn't show the wound very well, but it get's pretty big when she straches to the right. And it looks realy deep. Bue it's not actively bleeding or anything.

Widj

Sorry for all the posts, I'm worried about her and nervous.

Don't get Neosporin Plus, just get the regular kind of Neosporin. Put it on the area with a q-tip or your hand, and leave it alone other wise. Keep an eye on the wound for swelling or redness (signs of infection). Keep the boa on newspaper until it is healed up too, so strata will not get into the wound and also so you can see it better. They heal up pretty quick, maybe in 3 sheds or so you won't notice it so much.

You can also use a deluted iodine (Betadyne) wash too but I think Neosporin is easier.

I have several snakes that were fed live prey before I got them with some pretty bad scars. I highly recommend that boas be fed frozen thawed. It's a shame that these snakes had to go through these rat wounds needlessly.

Good luck,
Caden