Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I noticed that one of my females removed all of the substrate I was using to one side of her tank. She completly removed the 4-6 layers of newspaper I used above her heatpad. I pulled her out as soon as I noticed to fix this minor problem and I noticed she had thermal burns on her belly. It looks awful. I really wish I would have been home to catch this sooner than I did. How do I go about treating this? I've never had a problem like this before and I thought before reading a book or someone elses site for the answer I'd ask people who truly love their animals. Thanks, any help would be great.

Well since no one has replied yet, I'll tell you what I think I remember seeing on the rosy, rubber and sand boa forums last year. Someone last year went to see a vet about the very same thing with a sand boa and the vet told him/her to apply an ointment that the vet had given him/her. It turned out that the ointment prescribed was generic/hospital/vet burn ointments that you can buy over the counter. I'm no expert and this all going by memory so take it with a grain of salt. Hopefully some one more knowledgeable will pipe in some wisdom.

use polysporin/neosporin. It will say burn ointment on the package. Make sure your snake is clean each time you apply it. (When I dealt with this I applied ointment three times a day, and had a good fast heal) Be generous, since most will be rubbed off as the snake moves around. Also, I recommend trying to be quick, and leaving the animal alone, other than treating to minimize stress.
Watch your husbandry very carefully. Too much humidity can encourage infection, and too little will cause scabs that rub off prematurely. I would say 50-60%. (just go with what you use when they are shedding, but no higher)
Good luck!
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James.....
"Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought the beast back."

neosporin twice a day.
change substrate every day.
soak in warm water and hydrogen peroxide (about two ounces per half gallon ) every other day for a half hour or so.
change water bowl in tank everyday.
within a few weeks she will shed.
you will probably need to do this for some time, depending on damage. i had to do it for five weeks straight. it was tedious, and at first the animal made it difficult, but after some time it didn't seem to mind, it seemed to accept the assistance.
i have successfully helped a ball to full recovery using this exact treatment. though one year later, black scar tissue is still evident.
good luck, let us know how it's going after the first shed.

ck

see a vet for a proper and first hand diagnosis.

what they will probably give you is Silvadene cream, which is the cream of choice in burns. it is NOT neosporin.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

burns do take long time, as above said ointment of choice is silvadine ointment-neosporin is too greasy and you neeed air to get to burn. soak daily AND CLEAN DAILY. UNFORTUNATELY SILVADINE IS PRESCRIPTION -dont know why--so maybe find a contact you can get from or try online. yes technically all should see a vet--but unless you can find an actual certified herp vet most dont have too uch reptile experience.. just my 2 cents
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GOOSEBALLS

lamina1982@hotmail.com

robyn,
you're assuming this person has access to a good herp vet.
a urologist would be more qualified to give advice about a snake than your average useless vet.
god bless us all !
ck

...and if anyone needs a good urologist, i've heard dr. richard berns is the guy to see, his mom named him richard, but his patients call him dr. dick.

there might not be a million vets out there that are trained reptile breeders, and i am sure there are some that could be better, but still, they are trained in animal medicine, and the vast majority are much smarter than the Wide Wide World of Web gives them credit for.

there are vets that lurk on this very forum, and i am sure they get tired of folks dismissing their training and knowledge so casually : )

most importantly, a hands on diagnosis is going to be more valuable than a internet diagnosis based on a couple of sentences, with no details or pics.

silvadene is most likely going to be the basic treatment of choice. that comes from a vet. it is a widely used cream, good for many applications and species, and any vet will be familar.

if the burn is severe, there will probably be a need for Baytril as well, as the snake may be looking at a deeper systemic infection. that is also going to be above the head of the majority of snake keepers.

burns are a serious deal. if we want this animal to live, it needs the best care it can get. whether or not the local vet knows the proper combination of breeding snakes to create a Borneo Bat Eater is not relevant to the health of this animal, ya know?

i really believe that a good "dog vet" could do more for this animal than some random internet diagnosis, and i hope the right steps are taken to find some great care for this snake : )

best of luck!
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

N/P
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Ryan Sherman
Scottsdale, Arizona
www.ThePaintedPython.com

i work in the verterinary field and though very competant in furred animals they could do more harm than help in the scaled world--so internet info often is way more valuable than a furr vet. its like asking a chiropracter to perform a vasectomy. I think not!
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GOOSEBALLS

lamina1982@hotmail.com

not to belabor the point, but really?

you think it would be a better choice to AVOID a vet altogether and look for help on the internet?

you wouldn't want to at the very least speak with a local vet to have a first hand opinion of their knowledge and helpfulness?

what if the snake in question was in Greeley Colorado, and the local vet was world renowned Dr. Klingenburg? should you really dismiss him out of hand because the internet suggested so? what if the best reptile vet in his/her state was 2 blocks down? we don't know because no details were given, but you want to dismiss it out of hand?

again, that seems very shortsighted.

we need MORE details to help this snake, not less.

the context of this situation is usually that the keeper LACKS experience and is seeking answers. it isn't typically an experienced keeper asking this kind of simple, no detailed question. an inexperienced keeper needs some experienced help in keeping an injured snake alive, in this case, with a burn. first hand experience is going to be much more helpful than online experience that amounts to "clean it" and "neosporin it".

you say that you are in the "vet field" and i am not sure what that means, but if so, where is your advice? we want to help this keeper, right? so why not give a full breakdown and regimen to treat a snake burn for him/her?

and being in the vet field yourself, you REALLY want to dismiss the vet field as a whole? i don't get it.

not trying to give you a personal hard time, but you just made a very curious post- "i am in the vet world, and i would never recommend a vet, better to get advice online".

i take the advice that i give online VERY seriously. i feel directly repsonsible for the advice i give, and i am willing to stand behind it. that is much different than folks that throw out advice and answers so casually with no context, no background, and in this case, no useful details, not even a picture of the burn in question.

if it is a bad burn, it will probably need Silvadene and Baytril. if it is really bad, necrotic tissue may need to be cut away before it kills the animal. the best option is to see a vet, they are more directly qualified than AnonymousTeen13 in Cincinnatti to give advice, ya know?
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

first off if you read my above posts carefully you would have answered all questions. above i stated treatment. i said IF a herp specific vet was not avail than would be wasting money. i never said avoid all vets. i then said a dog vet is in no way a herp vet. you said any vet is better than any and i disagree to that. yes if a herp vet was avail is best to go there if not look elsewhere. so read my previous posts before commenting
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GOOSEBALLS

lamina1982@hotmail.com

Your not going to believe this....went to reptile vet..he just acted like it was no big deal, told me to keep doing what I'm doing, bathing her daily, and no ointment of any type. He said the "minor damage" would go away over time and over a few sheds, and in 2 years you shouldn't be able to tell anything ever happen. I asked about cream and he said I wouldn't need any...so I guess maybe I got lucky or the vet doesn't know his butt from a hole in the ground.

I don't know if you guys have polysporin in the states, but I was told it is the same as neosporin. The stuff intended specifically for burns is not too greasy. In fact it is designed to allow the burn to breathe.
I agree that the animal should be seen by a vet, as with ALL health related issues, when it is an inexperienced keeper, but that is not always possible.
If a person cannot get to a vet immediately, they need to start treatment on their own. The polysporin I use has been very successful. I may not be a big breeder, but I have done lots of rescues, and this is one of the more common things I see in the snakes I bring in. My advice is from experience, I guess I just don't know what you can get over the counter in the states.
Robyn is right about the ointment....too greasy, so try to find a burn cream. (just about everything I have ever seen that is meant for burns only is a CREAM. The antibiotic ointments are the consistency of vaseline)
Good luck!

P.S. like everyone said...clean, clean, clean!
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James.....
"Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought the beast back."