Ok, so here's the background scoop first. I've been treating my eight year old for a fairly bad case of septicemia (blood poisoning) for a month, on Saturday. Cause is still undetermined. It was either from the last live meal I fed him, a week before his problem started, biting him or the rat had septicemia itself...there was no bite wound or site of infection. So, after spending enough at the Vet. to get myself a nice Het., I'm working on saving this guy. Here's a list of what I'm currently doing: Nolvasan soak twice daily (half gallon of water/5cc), Silvadene after the soaks, 20 units of Flagyl once daily and 20 units of Fortaz injected in the muscle of his first 1/3.
Now, for my problem. Dexter just went through his first shed since starting treatment and it wasn't complete. There's still some old skin stuck to a few of the larger blisters, but I can deal with that because they won't massage off and they don't seem to hinder his movements any. The part that worries me is his head, he only shed half of it and still has an eyecap on. It's on the left side of his head, pretty much the whole top and side...the other side took a day or two but came off. I've tried soaking him for an hour in warm water, raising the humidity in his tank for the last few days, spraying his head directly and I even tried massaging it off but no go. I'm going to try putting him in a bag with a warm and damp towel in a little while, but the Vet. doesn't want him getting overly humid. I've thought about trying a little bit of tape, but I'm concerned that I might hurt him if the skin isn't ready to shed.
Oh yeah, temps are spot on and I'm keeping him on clean towels. He's also drinking on his own and still eating. I tried taking a picture, but my webcam sucks too much for the detail I need. Thank you.
