Avulsion on a Ball Python

I just picked this girl up tonight and could use some advice. The story as I was told is the owners decorated the tank and used duct tape on the inside of the tank. The snake ended up with the duct tape on her and her skin was ripped off. I do not know if the injury was caused by a person removing the tape or if the snake managed such damage on her own. I only know this basic story and that it happened "about a week ago". The wound is ugly but could be worse and has been treated with Neosporin daily. At first I thought this would be a minor injury with a few missing scales but the skin itself is torn and there is a large "open wound" type area.

As you can hopefully tell in the pictures there is a good amount of ripped skin hanging near the belly and just to complicate matters the snake looks like she's about to shed. Any advice on treating the wound or how to make the shed any easier for her would be appreciated.

You saw that, and you took her anyway? Without knowing what is involved with the care of such a wound?
I'll try to remember to check back, when I can view the images on a bigger screen - I don't want to comment on the wound & treatment until then (other than to suggest that you seek the care of a qualified vet).

The first shed, aside from being painful, will probably not be particularly problematic. Once she starts healing, however, it is likely that she'll reopen the wound if you aren't careful.

Honestly, I think I would take her in and see what a vet would say. We have a very, very good vet here in Tucson.

Dr. James Jarchow
Orange Grove Animal Hospital
3091 W. Orange Grove Road
Tucson, AZ 85741
(520)877-2626

That is pretty ugly...and neosporin (IMO) will do about diddly. Aside from wound closure, you've also got a serious risk for infection to deal with. I know people like to think they can manage without a vet, but that wound merits a visit. Good luck.

I would say vet ASAP. That's horrible. Like Harald said serious risk of infection. Keep us posted on her condition.

Originally Posted by hhmoore

You saw that, and you took her anyway? Without knowing what is involved with the care of such a wound?

Yes, I thought the snake would have a better chance at recovering with me than with the people who clearly were not going to take her in.

It was pretty late last night when I got the snake and wasn't sure when I'd be able to get a vet appt, so I thought I'd come on here for advice in the interim. I've since been able to schedule an appt (with Jarchow) for tomorrow.

I'll let you guys know what I find out

That's a horrible wound, good luck and keep us posted

The vet appt yesterday went well. He used wet gauze to clean up the area and remove the dead skin, said the wound was just superficial and that he was not concerned about infection. I got a tube of silver sulfadiazine and instructions to apply daily.

He seemed very confident she would be fine and said he expects everything to heal up nicely.

That's fantastic news! Does her wound look better after being cleaned up?

I think it cleaned up pretty well. Here's a picture I snapped on my cell, its not the best pic so I'll try and grab a better one with the real camera tomorrow.

He did tell me this is actually one of the most common injuries he see's on snakes. Apparently lots of people use tape around snakes and learn the hard way its a horrible idea. I am completely baffled at how common place he said this is