no skin on my snakes face

[chezza]

hi. i need some advice please.. i mentioned before that i rescued a carpet python from some guy who stupidly fed her a live rat before we took her.. the rat had bitten through her face.. its been around 3-4 weeks since we took her. last night she shed.. we can now see just how bad she had been bitten. her poor face is completly ruined. her nostrils have been bitten through aswell. all around the nose area is completly pink with no skin what so ever.. she looks raw. its not an open wound anymore, just pink skin.. do you think she will ever have her skin back in that area again? will that area be sensitive? its such a shame because shes a lovely snake. its bad enough she lost the end of her tail too because the rat bit through it. her face looks that bad, that it was a big shock to see. i felt pyhsically sick:( i will never understand why people feed a captive snake live food when these are the results. i would be grateful for peoples opinions and advice on this. thankyou.

[Nafun]

Some of my snakes won't take freshly killed or frozen/thawed rodents. Some people disagree with this, but that just means they've never met a truly stubborn imprinted snake. My largest ball, Dodge, absolutely won't take dead rodents. They can be freshly killed, bleeding, and offered with tongs, it doesn't matter, he's not interested, he'd rather go hungry.

It's possible to feed live responsibly. Never leave a snake unattended with a live rodent (with its eyes open), and be ready to grab the rodent at the first sign of trouble (accepting that you'll probably get the crap bit out of you by the rat, but better you than the snake). Always put food in with the "food" so that it doesn't bite out of hunger. Feed in a large enough tub that the rodent can "hide" and not be forced into confrontation with the snake until the snake decides to go for the kill.

The only time I had a snake lose any scales, he died. But he died due to an unrelated infection. I don't know if they'll grow back. If it was me, I'd take him to a herp vet.

[presspirate]

I'd have to agree. Any rescue should probably go to a vet.

[infernalis]

with proper care and treatment, the snake will heal up, but it will be scarred for the rest of it's life.

[shaunyboy]

I'd have to agree. Any rescue should probably go to a vet.

he's been to the vet its all on another thread mate


the pinkness will fade in time but theres a good chance the scars will remain

have you got any pictures we could see please ?

i would like to see the extent of the damage

also i can learn from it and see just how bad things can get yet the snake carries on regardless

its really good you took this guy in as his last owner was an arsehole...!!

once all the scaring heals he should go on to lead a healthy happy life with you

kudo's to you for all the work your putting in

i wish i could slap his previous owner though.....!!!

cheers shaun

[infernalis]

Snakes are very resilient, I have friends with snakes that got ran over by lawn mowers, They are scarred up but they healed and are doing fine.

Just won't win any beauty pageants.

[marvelfreak]

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/4905/anaconda3088.jpg (http://img543.imageshack.us/i/anaconda3088.jpg/)

The mark on her head was from her biting and wrapping a frozen thaw rat. The way she wrap pop it's mouth open and as she tighten her squeeze it just push the rats teeth in farther. I actually had to force her to let go and pull it away from her face. Any way that was about a year ago. Putting Neosporin on it once a day for two months real seem to help it heal.

[chezza]

thanks all for advice.. yeah, the previous owner is a complete idiot! idiot is the only word i can think of because i cant swear on here. ha! shes done really well over the weekend... she seems to be alot better in herself and she can breath properly as with the shedding, her nose unblocked. so she has not once opened her mouth like she use to.. imagine a snake getting run over by a lawn mower and surviving? i dont feel so worried after reading that.. marvelfreak, that snake is still beautiful. looks well healed.

[chezza]

11109 here is a pic from last night.. dont know if its clear enough.. dont think it looks as bad as it was last week.

[chezza]

11110 as you can see, she has no skin around the nostril area.. she actually ate last night so im very happy about that.. :)

[percey39]

She will heal but a trip to the vet's to get some med's would not be a bad idea to help fight infections. There will always be a scar but it will heal.

[chezza]

i dont know what you can tell from these pictures shaun, it looks worse in the flesh i suppose. one of her nostrils is larger than the other, but i think shes gonna be ok which is the main thing, shes done good considering whats happened.

[pythonman]

11109 here is a pic from last night.. dont know if its clear enough.. dont think it looks as bad as it was last week.Your doing a great job there mate, sure looks like its improving to me, i know snakes ar,nt the easiest animals to treat, but they are certainly extremely resiliant, the,ve been on this planet a long time. 3 or 4 sloughs down the line and i think the animal will be first class. Often with the odd scale lost or wound the animal will shed more frequently to aid the healing process. Good work:)

[chezza]

thanks percy. shes been to see the vet..we have been keeping the wound clean for her. doesnt seem to look as bad, as days go by. ;)

[chezza]

thankyou pythonman. shes done well. its amazing what a bit of help can do for an animal. she would have been in a right state if she was still with that bloke.. i live not far from kings reptiles in camden and theyve been really good giving advice aswell. im grateful for everyones support. ;)

[marvelfreak]

It looks bad now, but give it a year and with each shed it get better. She'll have a nice scar, but that just gives her character. At least she in good hands now.:)