Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was inspecting my 4-1/2 ft. male BRB last night and found several "sores" on his belly.

A little background: he is kept in a very large rubbermade container with coconut fiber as a substrate that is about 1-1/2" deep. I keep the fiber very moist, and it keeps the humidity up around about 80 percent. I also replace the fiber every week with fresh sterile and boiled fiber. He is kept with a female of equal size, and she is in perfect condition. The male just had a very poor shed, in fact, i only noticed the (nickel sized) sores while i was helping with the un-shed skin removal. It appears that the scales are pulled away, bloody or red and irritated, and kind of torn up. What should I do to resolve this. I will post photos of this as soon as I can take some, but will accept any suggestions of what you may think this is from my limited description as well as a treatment.

thanks,

Matt

Hey Matt,
Don't have your answer, but was wondering if you had a picture you would be willing to post?

Sorry to hear about your BRB. I'm just going to venture a guess here because I'm no vet (take him to one right away if possible). It's possible he suffered burns to his belly. I'm guessing your using a heat pad of some sort under the container. The male may have burrowed down and rested right on the plastic whereas your female did not.
I would take out the substrate immediatly and put in newspaper to keep the wounds clean. Check the temp. on the plastic above the heat source, if its hot to the touch this may be what happened. He'll go through some rapid shed cycles as he heals, thats normal.
I had a colombian RB once that I left with my girlfriends son to take care of when I went away for three months. He left a mouse in with it for three days and the mouse chewed 9 holes along her spine in evenly spaced increments. They used Neosporin to treat the wounds and they healed beautifully (actually created a pattern of sorts). I'm not recommending Neosporin, talk to a vet.
Good luck,
Paul