Help stuck shed or beginings of scale rot?!?!?!?!?!?

[kylestl]

She as stuck shed and I will be giving her yet another soak. Doesn't scale rot start on the bottom of snakes? her belly is perfectly fine. A small patch though it is like she is discarding the scales and they are coming off? What should I do? Hydrogen peroxide, power feed until next shed? Will she grow the scales back? I have repti wound healing aid that someone gave to me. It is just oils but i can' find it right now but I don't see it helping too much. please help! The pics were taken before the scales started to come off. Right now she is in aspen. Should I switch to newspaper? any input helps

http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/kylestlcards/100_5524.jpg
http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/kylestlcards/100_5525.jpg

[Helenthereef]

I'm no expert on this, but until experts chime in, what I'd do is give her a soak in a weak iodine solution - Betadine is what I know but I'm sure there are other names. I'd use a capful (maybe 2 teaspoons?) in a large bowl of warm water.

The water would help soften a stuck shed and the iodine will act as an antiseptic if it is rot, without drying the skin like hydrogen peroxide.

[kylestl]

Where can I get that at? Ok see her discolered scales under her chin. I think it is scales that haven't got their shed off yet. I just took a bunch of pics and if you see anything wrong tell me. She has a weird belly pattern that is like her pattern on top gets darker the farther it goes down. And there is a picture of her "bald" spot
http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/kylestlcards/100_5534.jpghttp://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/kylestlcards/100_5533.jpg
http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/kylestlcards/100_5537.jpg
http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww146/kylestlcards/100_5528.jpg

[Helenthereef]

I'm sorry no one else has replied to this yet- I'm not the most experienced at this, and to be honest, not knowing the snake, I don't see anything wrong with the scales under her chin. :shrug01:

The bald spot on the side is strange but doesn't look like pics of scale rot I've seen. Has she burned herself against a heating pad or anything? You might be best advised to get her to a Herp Vet.

Betadine (or any other surgical scrub/wash such as Chlorhexadine) is sold in regular pharmacies for human wound disinfection. Check this thread out for a good discussion of scale rot treatment
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187720

[Helenthereef]

Oh and per your original question, if it was me I probably would switch to newspaper for the moment, just to be on the safe side, in case it is an irritation.

[kylestl]

I never thought of a burn. I just checked out her heat pad and it seems to be retaining heat. Her scales under her chin are yellowish and dry feeling. I turned the heat pad to low so it should be ok. The heat pad goes out everytime there i a power surge and I have to turn it back on and I accidentally put it to high so it was hot. What is typically done with a burn. Im just so glad it wasn't scale rot. You don't understand how worried I was for her. She is by far my favorite snake I have. Thanks for all your help helen you don't understand what it means to me.

[Helenthereef]

Hi again Kyle,

I'm glad I was able to help - sometimes it just talking it over with someone else, you come up with the answer yourself. :)

The obvious explanation is that it was a burn from the heat pack up too high. In that case, I think it should heal itself as long as you keep it clean and dry, and keep an eye out for any sign of infection such as reddening or weeping discharge. (In which case it's back to Betadine/ antibiotic cream and probably the vet.)

I don't know whether the scales will grow back or not - this may depends on the depth of the burn. However, if they don't, it probably will not affect the health of the snake - I have one with an scarred mouth who just leaves a patch of clear skin in his shed.

I have a lot of problems with power surges too - I'd advise that you buy an (inexpensive) power board with surge protector to stop surges getting to your heat packs and burning them out. Also check over your heat sources to make sure the snake cannot rub up against, or sit on a naked bulb or heat pack. If I use a heat pack I put it under an upturned ceramic dish so that the snake cannot make direct physical contact with it.

I'd keep that photo of the bald patch handy, so that you can compare whether it is getting worse or better, and if there is any further sign of a problem, you should keep on looking for an expert diagnosis for the scale loss.

I get a lot of information just from reading around the forums, so you might keep looking through other threads in this Veterinary forum and see if you find anything that looks or sounds similar.

Also, although the Vet. forum is definitely the right place for this thread, often it is not the fastest moving, and you might get more responses by posting in the relevant snake discussion forum (you haven't actually mentioned what type of snake this is). People often want a lot of information about how the snake is being kept, so I'd include: species, age, size, how long you've had him/her, type of cage, bedding, temperature range, humidity etc.

However, hope we've found the cause, and that the problem is solved. Do post more pics later if there are any changes. :thumbsup: