Oh my god...better or worse?

[Shelliebear]

Cheesecake just shed. Some parts felt like chunky, thick scabs and were red colored. :( It looks awful. She has finished her antibiotic. This is what she is left with after this shed:
http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y346/shelliebear17/cheesecake%202/135554_10150160055047516_801322515_8674333_925965_ o.jpg
http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y346/shelliebear17/cheesecake%202/134021_10150160055727516_801322515_8674342_4287363 _o.jpg
http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y346/shelliebear17/cheesecake%202/133696_10150160055437516_801322515_8674339_3303763 _o.jpg
I don't know if this is better or worse. I have no clue. It still looks horrible.
:/
I had her on newspaper (printed) and changed it every other day. Now I have her no newspaper, I just switched today. I've been disinfecting her tank like crazy and changing out and cleaning her hides and waterbowl.
What am I doing wrong? :(
Shellie

[Shelliebear]

I don't get it! WHERE have her scales gone??? They disappeared and all that is left is that purplish gray white color. :( It's very rough and dry feeling...urgh!

[CarlieLynn]

Awh poor thing, what had happened to her? It looks like just the skin under the scales. That happened to one of my boas.

[Shelliebear]

(I have her on paper towels right now, is what I meant to say. she is no longer on newspaper)

[Shelliebear]

I don't know what happened--her belly had been looking yellowish for months and all of a sudden after a shed she looked AWFUL, had those patches of weird color and stuff. ;-;
:( It's making me really upset. I took her to the vet already and I thought the antibiotics would help.

[CarlieLynn]

I had a similar thing happen to my boa, when i took him in they gave me an antibiotic to rub on his patches that were discoloured, he shed once, it looked similar to that but darker. She said that was the scaring left behind, and depending how bad it is it may go away. Fortunatly his came completley off after a few sheds, though the scales that took its place were odd shaped

[Shelliebear]

I don't mind if she has scars. She's still beautiful to me. I want her to be ok. :(
Do I need to have her put down? I don't want her to suffer. It looks so painful. It tears my heart apart to look at her. :(
How many sheds did it take before your boa started looking better?

[CarlieLynn]

I see no reason why you would have to put her down, unless she is stressed there may be problems. Though, this is just my opinion, as something that looked similar happened to one of my snakes. It could be something else, but if it is the same, what was taking the place before was dead and damaged scales, now the skin is showing. Since the skin doesnt look broken I dont think she is as prone to getting infection as she could be. You should probably take her back to the vet. If it is indeed scaring it may get better with each shed, or it may be permanent, i have no idea. My boas scarring didnt have the same depth yours appears to have, it took him about 4 sheds for the area to look almost normal again.

[CarlieLynn]

My boa though still had some remains of scales left, some were dried out, some were scraped and partically missing.

[Shelliebear]

I'm scared. :(

[CarlieLynn]

Well I beleive it is just scaring and you shouldn't get too worried about it, but I would definatly recommend revisiting your vet, and/or talking to someone more experienced on the site.

[bitsy]

I'd say head back to the vet and let him see the latest, just to check. He might recommend something to rub into the exposed patches. Although they do look odd, they seem very clean and not infected.

With any luck, the shed is the start of the healing process. You can probably expect some more sheds in quick succession. Sounds like you're doing all the right things.

[Tinkerbeller87]

It looks a lot like possible scarring to me. I would also recheck with your vet though. Don't get too freaked out until you know for sure there is a problem. I do understand your concern but it may just be part of the normal healing process. The pictures are very blurry and hard to make you for us to let you know for sure. So schedule a recheck and let us know how it goes.

[Tinkerbeller87]

The pictures are very blurry and hard to make you for us to let you know for sure.

**out** not you.

[Shelliebear]

Thank you guys. I will definitely schedule another appointment with the vet and keep you updated.
I appreciate the feedback.
Shellie

[Shelliebear]

Yay!!! Huge update:
Cheesecake ate today for the first time the lesions appeared! :)
She ate two pinkies, what she had been eating before the whole thing started.
She did poop before I fed her, and it was green and a little runny. I'm wondering if that was from the baytril she was given (in oral form)? can that cause it? Like I said she took it all on an empty tummy.
I'll keep an eye on her poop and when she goes next I'll see if it is better or not.
I'm very pleased that she ate, and she loks and is acting better. :)
We also got her a new hide, one with a waterbowl on top and a hide carved into the bottom area, so at least if she pees under there some air will get in there and dry it. It's perfect and she seems to love it. :)
She's still on paper towels. Her scales on the lesions haven't come back yet, but there are lines where the scales would usually be, and they weren't there before, so I'm wondering if perhaps the skin is going to grow back.
I know she might have a scar but she's still beautiful. I just want her to be ok. :)
She's a gorgeous corn snake.
So yep yep! That's the update for today. (:

[Iguanagirl8662]

The scales probably won't grow back. The skin may take on the color of her scale but not grow actual scales from what I've seen. My Ball Python had burns before I got him and his scales haven't come back but his skin is black with some white.

The pictures are fuzzy but it appears to be healing fine but it's always nice to have a vet check. Could she have had scale rot which caused this? Also if she ate that's a good sign she is healing.

[bitsy]

The eating is a very good sign indeed. A stressed/sick Corn is perfectly capable of starving itself to death so she must be feeling a bit better.

[Shelliebear]

I think it was scale rot that caused it. As I said she is an ultramel motley so her belly should be clear, and it had been steadily turning yellow/orange red for months. :( The scales felt and looked smooth but the color change was interesting as the upper third of her belly is normal (clear).
She didn't regurge or anything, held the pinkies down for 2 days or so now. I'm very happy. :)

[Dreamsnake]

It was hard to tell from the pics, but it sounds like she is getting better. She hides, eats, and poops at least. I have a neonate anery that's had three regures, weighs 20g, shouldn't be alive, but is thriving. As long as they have the will and strength to survive, they can be tough little critters.

How long did the other people have her before she got this condition?

[Shelliebear]

Sorry if I worded it wrong--I've had Cheesecake since she was one month old. Nobody else had her, just me. :(
The ball python Zatarra with the RI was the one my brother owned.
I messed up with Cheesecake, no one else. :( Blame me.