burn or what?

[joey]

I put her in a longer rubbermaid---changed the substrate from newsprint to aspen and turned the heat down.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v310/dawnell/ouch.jpg


...someone else recommended I soak her in pedialyte? :(

I feel like such a bad parent. Her temps on the warm side were set to 93. I have her in a rubbermaid...warm/cold side.

[joey]

...she's fine everywhere else. I had her in the same enclosure for 8 months now and have never had any problems. :( Could it be something else?

[CARLiTO_]

that definitely looks like a burn

maybe the temps spiked for a few hours while u were not there.

I would suggest using a dimmer.

[sapphire_moon]

if she is in a rubbermaid and the temps spiked high enough to burn her like that, wouldn't the plastic have melted?!!

a vet trip if it isn't a burn?
HOW are you measuring the temps? (do not soak her in anything right now, if you do take the advice from a very expierenced bp person like mykee or one of the others, or a vet)

not sure what it could be. goodluck.

[jfmoore]

Hi Joey -

Based on the photo and your description, yes, that is a burn. And the affected area comprises more than just the obvious blackened/charred tissue. If you’ll look cranially to the discolored areas (to the right in your photo), you can see that scales adjacent to the scutes appear to have blistered. At any rate, they are abnormally engorged with fluid.

If you are not going to take this snake to a veterinarian, I would recommend that you:

Correct the husbandry problem. This burn did not occur from a temperature of 93 degrees. I’m guessing at least 110-120 degrees where the snake was coiled. If you could precisely describe your set-up, someone will tell you how to fix it properly.

Put the snake on a plain paper substrate until it has healed and keep the surroundings scrupulously clean.

Slather on an antiseptic ointment. I like Betadine ointment (the generic name is povodine-iodine ointment), but I’ve found it hard to find on occasion. Otherwise, use something like a standard triple antibiotic ointment. I think Silvadene cream may be best of all, but is more expensive and usually requires a prescription.

Change the drinking water often to encourage plenty of fluid intake.

Offer food as normal. If all goes well, with each succeeding shed, the area should heal up, but may not have totally normal scalation.

Please bear in mind though, that the main problems with bad burns come from fluid loss and with infection. We have no way of knowing from looking at that photo if your snake now has some systemic infection that only injectable antibiotics would cure.

Good luck,
Joan

[joey]

thank you. My bp is doing better. I have been using polysporin on her burn. She has not eaten for about 4 months now and I'm concerned. I have her in a longer rubbermaid and am using a human heating pad under the enclosure, I have the temp set at 93 and have a temperature guage---although I'm seriously doubting the accuracy of it.

Her burn seems to be healing a bit.