Belly burn?! Don't know what this is!! PICS

[png_lovebirds]

About a week ago we noticed that our Anery's belly was pink for about 7 inches of her belly. We were not sure what caused it.....but thought it might be a mild belly burn(never seen one in person) b/c the thermostat had come up from the bottom of the tank a few days earlier causing the heat pad to get very hot.
Please see the first 2 pics. These pics were taken the day we found her pink belly. I meant to post about it then, but I ended up having a baby!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/png_lovebirds/AneryBelly001Medium.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/png_lovebirds/AneryBelly004Medium.jpg

So, today I'm cleaning the tank and I pick up the Anery to take a look at her belly. Well, the below pics are what I found....:( I don't know what this is.....scale rot(which I've never seen), scabbing....
You can see in one of the pics that the area is swollen. She is also missing one of her scales(bright pink spot in one of the pics)

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/png_lovebirds/AneryBelly2001Medium.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/png_lovebirds/AneryBelly2002Medium.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/png_lovebirds/AneryBelly2003Medium.jpg

I've been in the hospital for the majority of the past week, which made it impossible to check on her. She is eating fine and isn't acting any different!

Any insights?!?

[Kokopelli]

Seems like a burn to me. I suggest going to a vet ASAP. I would suggest putting on a bit of Iodine ointment for starters- but still make sure to visit a vet.
Burns cause cellular destruction which allows for infections to easily take hold...
keep us posted

[Allison]

My goodness take out that heater, and get her to the vet. That burn looks terrible!

That being said, you had a baby? Well, Congratulations!!!:cheers:

[kathylove]

Although I have never seen a belly burn on a corn, I have seen them on boas and pythons. And it looks like you may have a burn on this snake. As long as you can keep it from getting infected, the snake will probably go into one shed after another, and it will heal eventually. Feed all you can when the snake is not in shed, since it may not eat a lot of the time as it tries to shed out the injury.

A vet may want to prescribe a systemic antibiotic to prevent infection. Be sure the vet is a herp vet, since reptiles metabolize medicines differently than cats and dogs, and the dosage may be very different between mammals and snakes.

Good luck!

[Nanci]

OW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We need to save this to post for everyone that thinks they can get by without a thermostat... Poor baby!

[kathylove]

It is true that anything is possible. But - I have never had a thermostat, although I have always had a rheostat, for any heat tapes I have used. And so far, after many, many corns, I have not actually had a burn on a corn. Of course, not all of my corns have had heat tapes over the years - some were in a room that was heated and cooled. But many had tapes. A thermostat is never a bad idea, but I think a corn getting burned from a normally functioning heat tape is really, really rare. Don't forget - some people using thermostats have had them malfunction and cooked whole racks of snakes. So to everyone using a thermostat - it isn't foolproof. So far, my rheostats have never malfunctioned (knock on wood). However, my room heaters (during the winter) have occasionally gone crazy, and once I did lose some overheated babies on the top shelf of my room.

So my advice is to use thermostats and/or rheostats, but nothing is without risk. So always be on guard when using any kind of heat.

[png_lovebirds]

Thanks everyone!

I do have a thermostat....but the probe came up from the bottom of the tank....making the thermostat think it needed to heat things up.

She just shed 2 days ago. She consistently sheds once a month, so I don't know if her body will try again to shed away the injury or if she will wait till next month for her next shed.

I was VERY surprised to see her belly this morning. You can imagine my shock b/c her belly was only a light pink the last I had seen...:( Poor baby... We are going to try some antibiotic ointment on her belly and see if that helps. If her belly doesn't improve in the next few days or it looks worse, we will be going to vet.

Thanks again!

[Kokopelli]

Please don't try taking care of things on your own. a Vet should really have a look and prescribe the optimal ointment.

[Iguanagirl8662]

Good luck with your snake hope it heals up.

[Nanci]

I wasn't blaming you for the burn- just saying it's a good example. BUT it's a good idea to have a temp probe fastened down right next to the thermostat probe. That way, you always know what the temp is, not just what the stat is set at. In the future.

I agree, that looks like a serious burn and I would definitely seek a vet's care.