Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How does a big boa get blisters? The little pockets of fluid that seem to just show up out of no where? What causes those?
And how do you prevent/treat them?

Brought home a 7 ft female (I believe BCI) that has some serious rat bite wounds, and she's got tons of blisters. Some of them seem to have ruptured. I cleaned her off and swabbed some silvadine cream on everything, and she's now resting on newspaper covered by papertowel.
She ate a jumbo rat yesterday, and is pretty calm and nice for such a beat up snake. I am hoping that keeping her clean and humid, but with minimal actual water resting on her, will help her shed and heal quickly.

Input appreciated! Thanks!

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

Figured this was an easy way to answer the question....follow the link for the full story.

Any snake with suspected blister disease should be immediately placed in a dry environment, with dry substrate and good ventilation, and correct ambient temperature and humidity. Since appropriate antibiotic therapy is critical to correct treatment, it is important that the snake be seen by a herp veterinarian ASAP for diagnosis, which may include a bacterial culture and sensitivity, biopsy or cytology, in order to choose the correct antibiotic for administration. A snake that is still eating and is active has a good chance of successful recovery. Please don't try to medicate a sick snake without the expertise of a qualified herp vet, as over-the-counter medications may not work and can cause a potentially life-threatening delay in seeking professional help.

Blister Disease

Thanks so much for the link!

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

pictures?
We've got 2 snakes right now- in super-quarantine at a reptile-free friends house-- they both have lumps under thier scales.
waiting on biopsy results to see what they are...

i'd love to see some pics of your blisters.

Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

Here's a few pics of her funk. She is already doing better - instead of a tight coil on the warmest side of the cage, she is loosening up and taking advantage of the space given to her. More thermoregulating activity that before, which makes me happy. I like to see snakes doing more than just sitting like lumps under/on their heat!

My thought is that she is BCI, but if anyone knows better, let me know.

Headshot:

Big blister:

One of the really bad spots (the whitish stuff is actually the remnants of silvadine cream):

So there y'go!

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

Don't know what that is, but it sure looks purulent. I'd keep that snake far far away from any other snakes and I'd wash my hands up to my elbows at least twice after handling it. Use Betadine and some other disinfectant (Chlorhexadine)to wash with. Discard and wash with bleach any clothing you're wearing that may come into contact with the snake while handling, as well.

Put Betadine on the snake's sores, too. Give the snake some daily UV light, if possible.

Be sure and take that snake to a qualified reptile vet as soon as possible. You may have already mentioned you would. Don't recall.

That is a Bci, by the way.

Good luck.

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

Yeah, she is a wreck. She has already been to a vet prior to entering my care - I don't know the full story on her, other than at this point "all she needs is a whole lot of TLC". She gets to come into my care because I live in an area where I can do things like bring her outside, bathe her, etc, without alarming the neighbors because the nearest neighbors are a good 1/4 mile away!

Thanks for the advice - I feel better already because what you described is essentially what I've been doing, except for the outside time. I've kind of wanted to wait for her to stop oozing before handling her a whole lot.

The folks posting pics on this forum have been absolutely wonderful in helping me learn to distinguish basic boa ssp and locales.

Thanks again!

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

Make sure she is kept far away from all of your ball pythons, etc.! Even if you don't take her out of the enclosure, she shouldn't be housed in the same area unless you know for sure what she has as diagnosed by a qualified vet.
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Thanks,
Amy
My Boids

She's not even in the same part of the house as my collection! Thanks for the concern, though. It's a very understandable one!

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

Jenny, You needn't handle her and/or take her outside for the UV. I was referring to a Full Spectrum Fluorescent light, same as used for Lizards. Illuminate her enclosure with that. Make sure she has a good hide to escape the bright light.
The light needs to be within about 6 to 12 inches distance to be effective. Read and follow manufacturer's instructions.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer