Scale rot treatment

[Skits]

So my carpet python definitely has scale rot, she came to me with stuck shed and mites and once the shed was off, she felt sort of dried up and I noticed now her belly scales have slight browning. How do I treat this?

[SSSSnakes]

I treat scale rot by keeping the snake in a clean dry enclosure. I use either paper towels or news paper for substrate until the problem is gone. You can use neosporine , but I normally do not use medication unless I have to, it normally heals on it's own.

[shaunyboy]

can you please post pictures mate ?

it may be the latter stages of a burn.....

they start off looking pink,sometimes there are raw bits,like when you graze a knee or an elbow

this drys out to a brown crispy/dry scab

the scab will fall off,some parts may be healed,others grazed looking

just keep an eye on it,and i would apply a diluted iodine souloution twice per day

that said,you may be 100% correct

cheers shaun

[TheZoo]

there are pics in his thread ripped belly scale

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by TheZoo

there are pics in his thread ripped belly scale

thanks for the info pal


cheers shaun

[Skits]

Here are some better pictures.







I did an iodine solution soak and put some aloe vera on her about three hours ago and she seems a bit better. I'll see if that helps or not. I know that the other carpet python I rescued with her had a few badly healed burns on his back but I think this looks like scale rot to me. Correct me if I'm wrong of course.

[Tsubaki]

Picture number 4 looks like water-blister damage, seems to be a early stage. It can be very painful and dangerous for an animal if the underlaying skin gets infected too, it could kill them. It will keep returning and getting worse, as long as you don't find what caused it in the first place. Several things can cause water-blisters and scale rot, but it all comes down to this. Too much moist in combination with bacteria. Check this to see if there is anything you did/did not do. Since you said your enclosure is clean, ill skip that.

It can be caused by damp bedding due to misting, high humidity for prolonged times or tipped over water-bowls. And even unnoticed pee (for example, in a hide) could be the cause for the damage on the belly scales. However, that damage on the back probably came from something else. Misting the animal directly, or misting with dirty water is also bad idea. Could irritate the skin, especially if the spray bottle is not cleaned every day. Water from spray-bottles/misters and bowls, should be changed every day. (just like water bowls)

To get the animal to heal. Keep the it on clean dry substrate, with a non-tip able water-bowl (plastic, stone harbors bacteria) that you clean daily. Take the animal out to clean it if you have to. And make sure if the animal is in the water, the bowl is deep enough not to spill the water everywhere. Keep the humidity at a normal/low lvl, not at the max. And don't try to give it soaks, humidity causes this problem... More is not going to fix it.

My experience with this? Rescued 2 retics out of a very bad home.. Had tons of water-blisters and later stages of infected skin and scalerot. All from lying in damp bedding all the time, and being sprayed daily with water from big cannisters that was only filled, never refreshed. The male had one severely infected 8 inch long gap, he died. The female had several smaller infections, she lived. This is a picture of a skin deep infection after months of healing (7 sheds)

[Skits]

Thanks for the advice and info. When she came to me, she had mites and when I went to pick her up at the guys house, she was soaking in her water dish. Something I have no doubt she was doing constantly so I'm guessing that's where the water blisters came from. I didn't give her a big enough dish to soak here so she couldn't do that. I'll keep having her on dry paper substrate that's for sure and will keep going with the scale rot treatment and see how it works for her. Also sorry for the retic loss, that sucks.

[Tsubaki]

Hope she has a good recovery, and yea it was pretty sad. Would of been happy if i could of saved him, he was a lost cause though. According tot he previous 'owner'... He had not eaten in 2 years. I was kind of relieved he passed the night after i got him, i was going to put him down but he decided to go on his own...

[Skits]

Thought I'd give a good update. Basically, two or three treatments and she looks great. She shed as well so that helped a lot. She's looking brighter than ever!

[Tsubaki]

Looking much better, the scars should fade away completely in time

[EL Ziggy]

Looking good!