Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Seems like snake skin is very similar to Human skin, so I would not think hesitate to use it as an antibiotic ointment.

In the past when I have dabbed *small* amounts onto small spots of rough scales, it seems to help keep them moist and I noticed no subsequent problems.

Other times when a snake had bad shed problems and I applied Neosporin to larger areas, it seemed to dry up entire areas where applied, and made the skin look infected.

Experts only, please: What is your experience?

I have used Neosporin on infected areas or lacerations on snakes skin and nothing else. Never have I just used it on dry scales and such.
I have had snakes make full, unoticeable recoveries from some pretty nasty wounds with Hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin.
Just my personal experiences.
If the use of neosporin is drawing moisture from the snake's skin then I would stop the use of it except for open wounds and the such.
Hope this helps,
John Lassiter

Thanks! You seem to be one of the more seasoned veterans.

Hi,

I have been using Neosporin and Polysporin ointment on snake wounds for the better part of 20 years. I have only two complaints, one is that it tends to cause some snakes to lose the top layer of skin on the scale and give the scales a dull dry look sometimes, until the next shed - not a big deal; two is that these ointments seem to make burn wounds worse because they smother the site and don't allow much oxygen in to heal the burn - very bad. There are much better therapies out there for burns.

Over the past couple of years though, I have been just soaking affected snakes in a weak hydrogen peroxide/water solution. I use just enough peroxide to allow the wound to bubble a bit. I'll let the animal soak for a half an hour or so. I then allow the snake to dry thoroughly before returning it to its cage. This technique has worked to heal up the snakes very quickly without the greasiness of the ointments. Good luck.

Will

Thanks!

my female blue Tegu had her nape knawwed by her overly amorous male partner last spring she was lethargic,off food for a while and eventually shed a scab the size of the palm of my hand ,i would soak her in a LITE solution of betadine and swabed the wound w/bottle strength betadine. she made a full recovery and laid 23 eggs and has a white nape of scar tissue.Chris