Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I left on a vacation for a week and my red-tail boa who has never had a problem eating live prey was attacked by a small rat that my girlfriend gave her. She said she gave my red tail the rat 2 days ago, and now that I have returned, parts of the skin are missing =(

I put some jojoba tree oil on her wounds, this has helped with minor bites, but im still worried.... he head had a small bit and her poor tail is down to what looks like the bone at the tip =(

I cant get her to a vet until wednesday, cause thats when they open... anyone have any help they could give?

Sorry to hear about your boa. The wounds should heal. Lucky it didn't kill your snake. My advice is to not introduce live feeders. Try to get over the cool factor and and give your snake frozen/thawed rats. It's cheaper to order a quantity of rats and keep in the freezer. If you want some excitement then also purchase a pair of long tweezers and try not to jump when the boa snatches the rat off the end of the tweezers. Good luck.

Forget jojoba oil, use regular neosporin (not neosporin plus), twice a day until you can get to the vet. And NEVER feed live prey.
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Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com
http://slitheringserpents.com

Definitely flush the wounds with either 50/50 hydrogen peroxide and water solution, Betadine solution (mix w/ water until the color of tea), or chlorhexidine gluconate solution (mix w/ water until very light blue). As said in above post, THIN coats of triple antibiotic ointment after flushing twice daily.

Very good info.
In the past I didn't dilute for wounds, sores, or scabs. Should I have?
Thanks
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

Chlorexidine (make sure its gluconate and not diacetate too) and Betadine definitely dilute, hydrogen peroxide you can use straight.

Chlorhexidine glutonate -- that's what I use to clean my snake containers/tubs. Haven't heard that one on this forum until now.
Hold over from the 90's. Things have moved on since, I guess.
I do wipe my snakes down with it too, when they really need it (Greasy Stool or Regurge).

Sometimes I wipe down containers/tubs with Betadine and with Hydrogen Peroxide when really fouled (Regurge or Greasy Stool).

I use dilute solution of Chlorox Cleanup and antibacterial dish soap for water bowl disenfection nearly every time I change water.

jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

Just use plain ole clover honey and keep the animal on clean substrate for a few weeks,its seals and protects. The animal can do the rest.Hopefully a solid lesson has been learned ?

Best of Luck !
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TnK

Yeah, I was just watching that show Bear in the Wilderness, something like that. Survival show. The guy was tromping around in the Panamanian jungle with a bunch of Indians, eating live snakes raw. Stuff like that. He was saying Honey was a great healer of all wounds, that the Indians used it for first aid.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

Be careful with holistic remedies! What is good for people is not always good for other animals. A good example is tea tree oil. I use it every once in awhile in my bath as it sooths skin irritation. Cats can absorb the oil through their skin as well, but it causes liver failure and death in cats! I'd stick with neosporin If you choose to feed live, watch the snake and rat until the rat has died!
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Thanks,
Amy
My Boids

Nothing holistic about honey,its more commonly used in treating prolapse in snakes then actual wound treatment.
Ask your Vet.

>>Be careful with holistic remedies! What is good for people is not always good for other animals. A good example is tea tree oil. I use it every once in awhile in my bath as it sooths skin irritation. Cats can absorb the oil through their skin as well, but it causes liver failure and death in cats! I'd stick with neosporin If you choose to feed live, watch the snake and rat until the rat has died!
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>>Thanks,
>>Amy
>> My Boids
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TnK

Sorry I forgot the link,

http://tinyurl.com/2zsorz

>>Nothing holistic about honey,its more commonly used in treating prolapse in snakes then actual wound treatment.
>>Ask your Vet.
>>
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TnK

The reason honey is used in treating prolapses is because it's a hypertonic solution. At work (I'm a vet tech) we have used water mixed with salt or sugar too to form a paste.

As far as your boa goes, if bone is showing you NEED to get it to a vet ASAP! Honey will not right that, most likely it will need to be amputated.