Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a couple of snakes (WC) that are kept warm & dry, but just prior to shedding they develop several large fluid or puss pockets just under the skin (sometimes they prefer to fester around one of the eye balls too, causing large swelling). When the skin is finally shed, a lot of fluid is present and at the surface of the (new) skin, between the scales, some very light bleeding appears??? Never seen this before, Any ideas??? Is this a type of blister infection, if so what type of virus/bacteria causes this? (Currently two of my eastern kingsnakes are victims of this). I treated blister disease before (the type that occurs on the belly scales from moist enclosures), but this seems different as it occurs even in dry conditions!
But most importantly, what is the drug of choice for treating this condition? What type of anti-biotics do I need and how much do I administer? Thanks for the help, since I don't have a vet here that specializes in snakes. I have treated & wormed snakes in the past successfully. I basically just need to know how much and how often to administer. I want to make sure the rest of my collection does not get this! I have a lot of snakes in my collection! Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. (pic of my niece holding my Eastern Indigo, a 23 month old male over 5 foot already!)

Carsten "Zee" Zoldy

A vet would have to do a culture to figure out what sort of bacteria is causing the problem. Or a *reliable* psychic. And I'm not a vet or a psychic.

Here is a shotgun treatment that has worked for blister disease in king snakes for me.

1. Raise the hot end of the cage to 85-88 F during the day. (At night it can cool off a little.) Raising the temperature either stimulates the snake's immune system or inhibits the bacteria or both.

2. Get some Betadine first aid cream. It is over the counter in many drug stores. Apply the cream to the blistered areas daily as soon blisters appear.

3. As soon after the shed as possible, clean the fluid/pus off the skin with rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. That fluid is probably loaded with the bacteria, and you want to get rid of them. Then apply Betadine to the formerly blistered areas, and repeat the Betadine every day for a week.

The problem may clear up after the shed, though I've had at least one king go through three shedding cycles before kicking the blisters. On the other hand, at that time I did not have access to a vet who could do a culture and prescribe systemic antibiotics, which would have cleared it up quicker.

Good luck.

Paul Hollander

Silvadene cream can be prescribed by your vet and is ten times better then betadyne at treating this type of infection. Also I would get liquid multivitamin to add to the water after a feeding. The liquid vitamins like reptisol or avitron are much better then the powders in my opinion. Most snakes drink soon after eating so adding it to the water for that day, tends to do the trick. If there's nothing wrong with your husbandry, then it must be the diet. You can usually see the difference in the sheen of the skin between a snake on liquid vitamins and one that is not. Vitamins alone probably won't cure it, but it will probably aid recovery, strengthen the immune system and prevent reoccurrance.

Thanks Rick! I appreciate your advice. I will start treating as soon as possible. I've done this before and succeeded. But this is the first time I've seen blisters on other areas, not the belly scales. Once again thanks!

Zee

Thanks you very much Paul! I DO appreciate your advice. And I am thinking that this is just another form of blister disease and I will go ahead and treat it! I was just making sure, since I had blister disease many years ago, but the symptoms always attacked the belly scales only (this is due to ROOKIE snake keeping of course!) This time I believe it's something I've brought in to my house from a WC snake. Once again, THANKS!

Zee