Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I found this girl a while back and she had this problem that you can see in the picture. Does anyone know what this is? Im getting a little worried. She hasnt eaten in 5 months despite trying everything in the book, including brained pinkies. She dropped some babies a few weeks after I picked her up, and now she's getting extremely thin. I applied antibiotics a few times, but it doesnt seem to do any good. Should I keep this up on a more regular basis (every day), or try something else?

Also, any suggestions on getting her to eat would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Looks like nose rub, common in poorly aclimated specimens. I would treat it with silvedyne cream and work on acclimating her. Create as natural environment as possible with good hiding places, and avoid handling.

A quality vet should be the only one making a diagnosis. Silvadene is indeed a great product and can treat many types of burns and abrasions, however, if this infection is now taking hold, this snake will need injectable antibiotics. The pinkish look to the underside of the injury could indicate septicemia; a fatal condition if left untreated (blood poisoning). This snake needs some veterinary attention.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>Looks like nose rub, common in poorly aclimated specimens. I would treat it with silvedyne cream and work on acclimating her. Create as natural environment as possible with good hiding places, and avoid handling.
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

There is nothing less productive than irregular antibiotic usage. This is why I shiver whenever prescriptions are recklessly made available by whichever means.
The other posts mentioned creating an optimal versus an adequate enclosure, which I whole heartedly agree with, and this will greatly help the next thing that should be done, and that is a vet visit to properly treat the injury/infection. In addition to injectable antibiotics, a proper examination should be done to reveal the extent of the injury and to consider if surgical debridement is necessary.
How is the snake generally doing? If this snake is otherwise acting ill, general diagnostics will likely need to be done to assess the animals condition (ie, bloodwork)

Good luck!
Ian

np