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Ball python needs help burned/raw underbelly

S

stkpaintballer

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I had sold this guy to a family friend who said they knew how to take care of ball pythons boy was I wrong when I got him back a few days ago he had multiple layers of shed stuck at least 3 layers total maybe 4. I noticed on his belly there were also several layers of shed which were turning yellowish brown so when they started to peel off I noticed there was moisture that was underneath causing it to turn yellow and had a bad smell to it. So now I am confused did they burn his belly or is just raw from the moisture being trapped up in there and what should I be doing for him I have been putting on triple antibiotic ointment on it and giving him fresh clean paper towels every day.





 
That looks like a fairly serious burn to me; I have treated some like that on a couple or red tail boas many years ago when I worked at a pet shop. One of the less impressive employees had bumped the rheostat and the heat was turned up too high for a few hours before my shift had started. The 2 red tail boas were the only ones to get burned. The burns were not apparent for a couple days but showed up exactly like what you have on this ball python.

The main thing I did was to keep the wound clean.
Every day I would soak the snake, first in plain water in case he wanted to drink, and then in mild betadine solution.
After drying the water off with a brand new clean towel I would remove any tissue that was dead so that it would not decompose and infect the snake; I found this to be mostly skin, but sometimes underlying tissues and scab material.
Finally, I would apply neosporin or triple antibiotic to the wound.
Keep a really close eye on the tip of the tail as it is the area that may have been cooked fully. If it is dead you may need to have a vet amputate a portion of it.
Any bad smell is decomposing dead tissue, and that has to be carefully removed on a daily basis.
Any areas that looked like they were making progress in healing were left alone except for the application of neosporin.

This treatment seemed to work well and both snakes recovered fully, although one did lose an inch of tail. It took a couple of sheds for the wound to seal up to where I did not have to soak and clean them daily. there was some scarring but it was minimal except near the tail of the one that lost the tip.

I hope you are able to treat this guy effectively and I hope he can make a full recovery.
 
OMG I would be livid! Is the former owner at least going to pay the vet bill on the poor thing?

If you can't get a vet appointment immediately...

Baths in betadine tea (water + enough betadine to make it the color of weak tea) once a day will help ward off infection.

Neosporin/triple antibiotic ointment for a few days only since it's oil-based - eventually it will soften the scales and cause them to deteriorate and fall off. Use the kind without the topical painkiller.

Get your hands on some silver sulfadiazine cream. Normally it's prescription only from a vet or doctor, but I contacted Mountainside Medical in NY a while back and they said they sell it without a prescription. Unlike neo/triple it uses a water-based cream so it won't hurt your snake's scales.

Paper towel as substrate, and keep the enclosure as clean as possible.
 
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