Missing scale on head???

[JestersEye]

My adult female corn snake (~5 years old) has an injury on the top of her head (nose area) that looks like a missing "triangular" scale. I can't figure out how she got it, but more importantly what should I do to treat it??? It looks dry and doesn't appear to weep any fluid. I really hope it heals up and isn't a sign of anything worse. It would be nice if it she becomes as beautiful as she was before without a nasty scar, but I realize that's just me being vain in her behalf. Please advise me on what, if anything, I should do... especially if you've had prior experience With an injury like this!

[Eavlynn]

Any time my kiddos get hurt I use betadine to clean it. If you're concerned about the healing you could always put a little dab of polysporin on as well. One shed later and it should look much better. Her injury looks to be cosmetic and should heal up without any issues :)

[JestersEye]

Thank you, Eavlynn... That makes me feel a lot better! I will clean and treat the area as you suggested. ��

[Eavlynn]

Glad to help :) snakes are very hardy and I've seen them come back from some gruesome injuries. Your little kiddo will do great! Oh, diluted betadine, I might add. Add water until it looks like a medium brew tea and a small cotton ball or q-tip should do the trick!

[jagodzinski]

That looks like a rub wound - possibly from rubbing on the screen. My snake has a very similar wound I am nursing right now. After excluding all other possible causes, my vet and I agree that it is probably some behavior stemming from mating season.

Just keep an eye on it, as long as it is dry and not weeping, no reason for alarm. You can call your vet to talk to them if you want. Otherwise, the only other thing to think about is when she sheds, she may need help getting it off around the scab. Best of luck to you and snakie!

[JestersEye]

Hmmm, that's an interesting theory... I've never seen her rubbing against the screen, but I suppose she could have done it at night or when I wasn't around to see it.

She's never had an injury like this before, but this is actually the first year that I have attempted to breed her (a butter het motley female) with my sunkissed male. They were actually cohabbing for a while since I was trying to breed them and they wouldn't "perform" with me watching.

I guess it worked because she just laid a clutch of eggs over the weekend. (I found them on Monday morning.) I'm doing my best to incubate the eggs, so we'll see how successful I am around the first or second week of July. I have no idea what possible color morphs I can get out of these two, as it was simply a fun project for my science class. Wish me luck! :P