Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 4 year old Burmese python and something is very wrong. His underbelly is completely red...blood red and I don't know what it is or what to do. He had been battling mites previously and we took care of that over a month ago. Then he got an infection that we were treating with Tylan50. I'm so worried and confused at this point. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks so much!!

sounds like either a burn or the onset of belly rot

get some betadine/iodine and soak him

or i got a spray bottle of baytril i think-- from the vet for like 12$--- i'll check on the name tomarrow.... cleared the belly rot right up---

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

It sounds like belly rot/scale rot but you should call your Vet to see if it's a possible side effect of Tylan 50, even though I doubt it is. Better to be safe than sorry.

If there's any blistering you should definitely take it to the Vet. In fact, considering all things within your post, I suggest taking it to the Vet to begin with. I say this because a qualified reptile Vet will know what it is by looking at it where we are limited to your descriptions. You’ll also get one-on-one counseling from a qualified Vet, increasing your knowledge & eliminating guesswork.

If it's been spending a lot of time in its water bowl you need to make sure it’s not doing so because of mites or dehydration. If the substrate is wet you need to get it dried out. Continuous contact with water, moisture, is the leading cause of belly rot. You can treat it with anything/everything, Vet prescribed or not, but unless you keep it dry, you’ll just be spinning your wheels. Time for a good cage cleaning.

If it soaks in its water bowl a lot, use a smaller water bowl, just big enough to give it a sufficient amount of drinking water.

A few questions:
* Are you using belly heat, and if so, have you checked to make sure the surface temperature isn’t too high?
* Is there a chance that whatever you used to treat for mites could be creating a chemical burn on its belly?

Best wishes!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

Mike is correct, you should get this python to a vet as soon as you can. If this is a skin infection, Tylan or tylosin, will very likely not have any effect on it. It has a very narrow spectrum of bacterial activity and is almost exclusive to the treatment of RI's caused by Mycoplasma bacteria. Mycoplasma has been implicated as the cause in a number of cases of chronic RI in boids, however, tylosin will work well only if the causative organism of the RI is Mycoplasma. Otherwise it will usually be ineffective in resolving any other types of infections. Please let us know how things progress.

Kelly