Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I always have a few every year break out with blisters. Can any of you guys tell me what causes this. Ive always heard it comes from to much moisture but I keep my eastern hognose babies dry. I dont even keep water bowls in with them. I offer them water a couple times a week let them drink what they want then remove the water. So what else can cause these blisters, and is there a way to help prevent them from getting them?

Micah Stancil
http://eastcoasthognose.tripod.com

I've had "Provent-a-mite" cause blisters in neonate kings, do you treat your substrate?

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Jamie W.

(url)http://rosyboas.tripod.com(/url)

Actually, in the 4 yrs or so I've been on this forum, I can honestly say that there are very few reports of sickness in hogs. They seem to be very hardy. I don't recall anyone reporting "blisters" on hogs.

My only experience in this area is with water snakes, like you say, they like to stay wet. Often the skin infections have been secondary to injury or other infections. I strongly believe that husbandry plays a role. With your watering schedule, that can be ruled out. I always feel that people keep most herps too cool, try upping the temps, and increase your cleaning schedule!

You don't say how you have treated this problem, and you have to understand it is not something that can be treated with a home remedy or just go away. If you are getting reoccurring bouts, it needs to be cultured by a vet and the proper course of treatment (most likely injectable antibiotics) be dispensed.
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

I keep my babies very clean and dry. I use paper towls for the first 6 months to a year because it want hold moisture keeping them in the rack system. Also it is very easy to keep clean when they stool take the towl out wipe out the shoe box put in a fresh one. Ive only had 2 babies so far this year break out with the blisters but thats two more than id like for sure. It could just have something to do with the area im in and the humdity in the air. I find a lot of WC hognose with blisters in my area. But in saying that my adult easterns never get blisters and I leave a water bowl in with them and keep them on cypress go figure.

Micah
http://eastcoasthognose.tripod.com

I am going to make a big assumption here so excuse me if I am incorrect: although it seems your basic set up is adequate, you haven't mentioned anything about your disinfection procedure in these past two posts. You may be tending to the containers frequently, but simply "wiping out" is not in any way sufficient for disinfecting. Positively, an accumulation of all sorts of microbes is likely to happen without any type of disinfection, and it stands to reason that a significant portion of those microbes could be pathogenic.

Assuming that you are not indeed frequently disinfecting the containers and ALL furniture, I insist that you do so. The simplest method that is used in zoos and aquariums around the country is simply submerging the container in a large container of one part per 10 bleach and water for 20 to 30 minutes. Assuming the container and furniture or not porous, they can be rinsed off and wiped out. If an object is porous, you'll need to let it soak longer, and then soak it in a different container with dechlorinator such as sodium thiosulfate. Most hobbyists simply scrub the tank with bleach water and let it set, although it is not as effective because you can easily reinfect the container with pathogens if you don't clean the outside as well as the inside. Nolvasan is another chlorine based disinfectant that is used widely in the zoo industry, and is safe to use even around amphibians.

Given your chronic problem with skin infections, I would definitely have to say that a major change in your cleaning and or husbandry has got to be made. Like I mentioned before, the next step is to get the lesions cultured, sometimes knowing the exact species will let you know the route of transmission.

One other thing to consider is that I continually find people under estimating the effects of internal parasites on captive herps, and especially hognoses. If you are feeding any amount of wild caught foods or foods that are not frozen for more than 30 days, you have a reoccurring routes of parasite transmission. I recommend that hognoses not being fed exclusively frozen/flawed mice be given a prophylactic treatment for internal parasites every six months.

If you are indeed seeing numerous wild hognoses with skin infections, I highly recommend you make someone aware at your local university or at your state nongame Department. I am currently involved with a research project in Virginia that started after a high occurrence of skin infections were observed in wild black racers and other species.
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

The link I was trying to make from the endoparasites to the skin infections, is that the parasites could be a primary stressor on a snake, and the skin infections are secondary.
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

Sounds like its either too hot, too humid, not sufficient ventilation, or a combination of all of em. Wild ones blister in the spring and summer after long days of wet conditions and them hiding in the wet ground. Seems like the shoeboxes and humidity and perhaps summer temps are not providing sufficient ventilation. Perhaps relocate the blister ones to an air-conditioned room in a ten gallon and they might just go away over night.

Dan

I use bleach and water to clean my cages, and im pretty sure the blisters come from the heat and moisture. Im pretty sure the two Im having trouble with got the blisters because they came out of the eggs early and hadnt soaked up there yoke. So I put them on wet paper towls until they soaked up the yoke so the yoke wouldnt dry up. I think the moisture and heat was just to much. Thanks for the imput guys.

Micah Stancil
http://eastcoasthognose.tripod.com