Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My adult female has been in a small plastic makeshift enclosure for the past few days because I was treating her for mites and cleaning out her enclosure with a bleach/water mixture. Today when I was taking her out I noticed two blisters on her back. I pressed on them and they don't seem to be causing her any pain. As tomorrow is Christmas eve the Vet propably won't be open as well as the next day.
I was wondering how I should treat these blisters at home. I was tinking of draining them with a thin needle. These blisters do not seem very deep, they seem just under her scales, I think that if pressing on them doesn't hurt then draining by sticking a needle just under her scales won't hurt her too much.
The skin is not broken/damaged/burned on the outside, I think swabbing the area with some alcohol before and after draining would do the trick and wouldn't cause infection.
Your opinions on this?

Happy Holidays

Draining the blisters is not necessary and may be damaging to the snake.

What you need to do is to keep the cage clean, dry and warm. I'd get the temperature up in the 87-90 F range. High temperatures help the snake fight off bacterial infections.

You should also go to a drugstore and buy a tube of Betadine first aid cream. Active ingredient is providone-iodine (spelling?). Apply some to each blister each day till shedding, and once after shedding.

Severe cases may require injectable antibiotics from a vet to handle the systemic bacterial infection.

Good luck.

Paul Hollander