Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Our retic lunged and accidentally bit himself while feeding. We dosed him with Baytril, dosage for a 5 lbs. snake, and now he has this ring at the injection site. The spot is about 1 1/4 inches long and about 1 inch wide. The pink ring is about 2 mm thick. The injection site is at the top left portion of the ring just inside the pink. We have never had this reaction to baytril in any of our snakes that we have dosed with baytril prior to this. Does anyone have any ideas? I am speculating that the Baytril may be contaminated. Does that sound like a possibility? I have tried to attach a pic of the area.

Baytril can be somewhat necrotic at times. Some vets dilute the baytril with saline to prevent that. It is pretty common, the baytril can cause scaring like that. I had a burm that got a sore like that and when she shed some of her skin came off and she got stitches. It's always a good idea to dilute the baytril rather than give it just straight. Another antibiotic that wont cause the scaring like that is called ceftazadime. Works well too. Hope this helps.

So what should I do? Should I take him to my rept. vet to get treatment?

I've had this kind of "Baytril burn" happen to an albino retic I had. Exactly like your snake, she developed a sore right where the injection was given. The spot healed with the next shed, but it has remained discolored to this day (it happened over a year ago). She's a lavender, and where the spot was there is now no yellow color, just some lavender and purple. I've also had friends who've had this happen with their burms, and they always healed just fine on their own, but it did leave scarring. I guess you could say that it'll give your snake 'personality,' lol, but I wouldn't be worried about it harming the snake. If you're concerned, you could apply a topical antiseptic, such as Betadine solution, to keep it disinfected until the snake sheds. Shedding should be soon, as snakes tend to shed more often when they have skin injuries. Hope this helps.
-Chance
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Chance Duncan
www.rivervalleyexotics.com

"Our retic lunged and accidentally bit himself while feeding. We dosed him with Baytril,"

" If you're concerned, you could apply a topical antiseptic, such as Betadine solution, to keep it disinfected until the snake sheds."

Thats what he should have done the first time around!!!

Baytril burns are so common i am suprised your vet didnt argue against it for such a minor problem.

Still you live and learn

...and I would've addressed that in my earlier post, but I must've read over the exact reason for using the Baytril in the first place. I never used Baytril or any other major antibiotic on any organism for minor problems. Small wounds caused by biting, prey, thrashing, etc., are best treated with over-the-counter stuff. Only use Baytril and the like for potentially life-threatening illnesses. It's too risky to be used lightly. That's my take on it anyway.
-Chance
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Chance Duncan
www.rivervalleyexotics.com

We have over twenty snakes together, and this is the first problem that we've had with Baytril. Granted it would have been nice to know about this "common problem" earlier, but know that we know . . . . it won't be used so "freely".

Thanks for all your help.
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