Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I picked up a beautiful little red chinned indigo tonight, with a rather severe tail laceration.

I don't have any photos of it yet, but its about 1-2" down from the vent, goes all the way around the tail, then theres 2" of tail left after the scab. The scab looks horrible, very hardened and stiff. I'm hoping he doesn't lose the last part of his tail.

I'm making a vet. appt for him tomorrow morning. There does not appear to be an infection, and from what I was told, the cause was "the breeder got overly aggressive in assisting a shed."

I'm soaking him right now, as he has a stuck shed.

Any ideas on what else I can do?
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My collection and herp photography

www.lowergroundreptiles.net

Put him in a plastic shoebox or sweaterbox (depending on how big he is)that is full of wadded up damp washcloths or hand towels. He will burrow through the wadded up towels and the terrycloth will gently tease the skin off. You may have to leave him in there for 24 hours or more. That will also get some of the scab off and hopefully make it bleed a little so you can see exactly how bad it is. If it looks like the end of the tail is still oxygenated and viable, then ask your vet for some Silver Sulfadiazine Cream (SSD). Put some SSD on every day. If the tail is necrotic, it may have to be amputated. Snakes are notoriously difficult to keep antibiotic creams and such on. If its a baby or juvenile, you may just have to apply the cream 3 or 4 times a day to keep some on him. For bigger snakes, you can use a condom as a bandage to keep the antibiotic on. Just roll the condom out over the tail end of the snake until you have the medicated part covered and secure it with some medical adhesive tape, or with Band-Aids. Just be gentle removing the tape.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

What I wanna know is, who let this happen , and , how did it happen?!!!
T.
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"No tree would have branches foolish enough to argue amonst themseleves".

>>What I wanna know is, who let this happen , and , how did it happen?!!!
>>T.
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>>"No tree would have branches foolish enough to argue amonst themseleves".

My thoughts exactly. It did NOT happen in the care of the person I bought it from, I want to make that clear. I know the person I bought him from, and he would never do that to a snake.

From what I was told, it happened while it was with the breeder, and unforunately, I do not know who the breeder is.

Believe me, I'm as angry about it as you are. I've always wanted an indigo, but didn't want a rescue.

-cat
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My collection and herp photography

www.lowergroundreptiles.net

To my dismay, I discovered he was covered in mites when I brought him home. Treated him with Reptile Relief, and sprayed down some paper towels with Provent-A-Mite, let them dry, and put them in his enclosure with him overnight.

Got to work on him this morning, getting the rest of his shed off his head and his tail after giving him a good soak last night. Part of the scab came off, and the flesh underneath is orange-yellow and pink. There are still veins there, undamaged.

He still has movement in the tip of his tail-that is a good sign. I changed his bedding, removed any dead mites I found, and replaced his paper towel with a fresh papertowel, sprayed with Provent-a-Mite. (Dried off, of course.) I also swabbed his tail with a hydrogen peroxide swab (Thanks for the idea, Doug), and put him back for the day.

No sign of any more live mites so far, just dead ones. Here's to hoping I don't have mites in my collection. So far, I haven't seen any after that provent-a-mite sprayfest last night. I sprayed every carpeted area of the house, as well as any areas him or his bag had been in. The bag he came home in went into the washing machine with a spritz of PAM and the hottest water I could wash with (3 times over.)

I'm very angry that this happened to him. Even though there was nothing I could do to prevent it, as I just got him yesterday, I feel his injury could have been prevented with proper diligence and care. I don't even know if he will eat for me yet, as I have not attempted to feed him in fear he may regurgitate from the stress.

I won't name the breeder here, but if someone asks me about it, I'm not going to lie.

-cat
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My collection and herp photography

www.lowergroundreptiles.net

>>To my dismay, I discovered he was covered in mites when I brought him home. Treated him with Reptile Relief, and sprayed down some paper towels with Provent-A-Mite, let them dry, and put them in his enclosure with him overnight.
>>
>>Got to work on him this morning, getting the rest of his shed off his head and his tail after giving him a good soak last night. Part of the scab came off, and the flesh underneath is orange-yellow and pink. There are still veins there, undamaged.
>>
>>He still has movement in the tip of his tail-that is a good sign. I changed his bedding, removed any dead mites I found, and replaced his paper towel with a fresh papertowel, sprayed with Provent-a-Mite. (Dried off, of course.) I also swabbed his tail with a hydrogen peroxide swab (Thanks for the idea, Doug), and put him back for the day.
>>
>>No sign of any more live mites so far, just dead ones. Here's to hoping I don't have mites in my collection. So far, I haven't seen any after that provent-a-mite sprayfest last night. I sprayed every carpeted area of the house, as well as any areas him or his bag had been in. The bag he came home in went into the washing machine with a spritz of PAM and the hottest water I could wash with (3 times over.)
>>
>>I'm very angry that this happened to him. Even though there was nothing I could do to prevent it, as I just got him yesterday, I feel his injury could have been prevented with proper diligence and care. I don't even know if he will eat for me yet, as I have not attempted to feed him in fear he may regurgitate from the stress.
>>
>>I won't name the breeder here, but if someone asks me about it, I'm not going to lie.
>>
>>-cat
>>-----
>>My collection and herp photography
>>
>>
>>www.lowergroundreptiles.net
>>
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

>>To my dismay, I discovered he was covered in mites when I brought him home. Treated him with Reptile Relief, and sprayed down some paper towels with Provent-A-Mite, let them dry, and put them in his enclosure with him overnight.
>>
>>Got to work on him this morning, getting the rest of his shed off his head and his tail after giving him a good soak last night. Part of the scab came off, and the flesh underneath is orange-yellow and pink. There are still veins there, undamaged.
>>
>>He still has movement in the tip of his tail-that is a good sign. I changed his bedding, removed any dead mites I found, and replaced his paper towel with a fresh papertowel, sprayed with Provent-a-Mite. (Dried off, of course.) I also swabbed his tail with a hydrogen peroxide swab (Thanks for the idea, Doug), and put him back for the day.
>>
>>No sign of any more live mites so far, just dead ones. Here's to hoping I don't have mites in my collection. So far, I haven't seen any after that provent-a-mite sprayfest last night. I sprayed every carpeted area of the house, as well as any areas him or his bag had been in. The bag he came home in went into the washing machine with a spritz of PAM and the hottest water I could wash with (3 times over.)
>>
>>I'm very angry that this happened to him. Even though there was nothing I could do to prevent it, as I just got him yesterday, I feel his injury could have been prevented with proper diligence and care. I don't even know if he will eat for me yet, as I have not attempted to feed him in fear he may regurgitate from the stress.
>>
>>I won't name the breeder here, but if someone asks me about it, I'm not going to lie.
>>
>>-cat
>>-----
>>My collection and herp photography
>>
>>
>>www.lowergroundreptiles.net
>>

That is sad. It sounds like he's getting good care now, though.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson