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Anyone treat really bad scale rot? I need help...

E

embers

New member
I have taken in a yearling female ball python that has seriously the worst scale rot I have ever personally seen. She was bought from a HORRIBLE shop here in town by a dad and his 5 year old son, first time pet owners. They have only had her three weeks, and the last week she has been in a vet office (a CLUELESS vet that has been treating this as a "burn as result from using an under tank heater". They were using a UTH made for reptiles and used in the proper way... The vet blamed them and the family has been heart broken. They did not know that ball pythons were not supposed to have brown flaky bellies when they bought her, and they brought her into the vet because her "belly was splitting open". In person it is really easy to tell that it is scale rot. The inner lining is covered in a white cream (hence the distorted appearance in the photo). The history is not clear, so there may be burned tissue there as well, but there is OBVIOUS scale rot.

She has, for the last week, been getting daily baytril injections and topical burn cream, and daily soaks...

So, what should I be treating her with topically?
Should I continue with the full run of baytril?
I have her on paper towel right now (in the laundry room, quarantined) with a heat lamp...
No more daily soaking... What should I be doing, though?
I am serious, this is BAD scale rot. She also has a lot of retained shed....
Her back end is stiff and she is not moving it.
She was tube fed while at the vet... I am upset that through all of this, the vet was force feeding her (she is not under weight or noticeably dehydrated).

How do I keep this snake alive long enough for her to recover?

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You started the Bayril, you might as well finish the cycle ( I am not a Vet, nor have I had any training .. but I know well enough, that as a human I might as well finish off the course )..

Bottom heat.. Proper bottom heat and husbandtry must be tops.. I had a BP that showed a line of scale rot, but not as bad as yours.. I treated it with proper temps and Neosporin applied topically a day for a course of a week..

Contact LadyOh, Heather is pretty darn smart concerning Ball's..

Regards.. Tim of T and J
 
I have her quarantined in a closed off laundry room. It is low traffic, too. I have been using gloves when handling her or any of her stuff, and then throwing the gloves away and washing my hands in hot water with antibacterial soap. I don't want to risk anything in case there is more going on that husbandry issues causing infection and rot. She may make it... lord knows we have a few that I was sure I would end up putting to sleep or that I would wake up to find dead... but she very well may NOT make it. It does not look promising, that is for sure!
 
Finish the Baytril. It is obvious there is some degree of infection there, and you don't want that bacteria to become resistant to the antibiotic. Neosporin is a good topical.

I dunno though...that looks awful...if it were mine I think I would put it down. :(

I think the pet shop should reimburse the man and his son for the purchase, and someone should make sure the rest of their animals aren't in the same condition (or worse).

:-offtopic I'm in a similar situation with a bird I took in from another breeder. She is blind and has obvious neurological problems, so she will never be normal. I have to put her to sleep this weekend. That is going to be tough.
 
I'd agree, finish the antibiotics - it's not going to hurt. Neosporin is good for scale rot although with that much I'd apply it multiple times a day. Newspaper and heat are good as well. What are the odds of being able to get some of that retained shed off? That might be a little bit of the problem if it's cutting off blood flow to her back half. You'd have to be careful though because if there's a ton of retained shed most likely some of it is on the stomach with the scale rot and you don't want to make the scale rot worse. I've brought back BPs from scale rot but haven't had anything that bad. You said she's good weight which should help and maybe try feeding a very small meal to see if she'll eat voluntarily for you (my guess would be live). Good luck and keep us updated!

~Katie
 
TandJ said:
You started the Bayril, you might as well finish the cycle ( I am not a Vet, nor have I had any training .. but I know well enough, that as a human I might as well finish off the course )..

Bottom heat.. Proper bottom heat and husbandtry must be tops.. I had a BP that showed a line of scale rot, but not as bad as yours.. I treated it with proper temps and Neosporin applied topically a day for a course of a week..

Contact LadyOh, Heather is pretty darn smart concerning Ball's..

Regards.. Tim of T and J
Click to expand...


Awwww, Thanks, Tim!!!

Here I am!!!

As for the scale rot, I agree with most.

Finish the Baytril.

Keep her on White Paper Towels to monitor drainage of the wound. Change EVERY DAY.

Keep it clean, treat it with your topical cream and make sure that it is healing and not becoming necrotic. If it is, then you need to take her back to the vet ASAP. (I would suggest finding another one if possible, if you are upset over the forcefeeding....)

Good luck. I've seen you post this elsewhere, and I hope you find the magical treatment.

Keep us updated!!!
 
I just have faith in you Heather.. I know you have spent a great deal of time studying these creatures.. In short I have confidence in your opinion on the subject of Ball Pythons ..
:cheers: There might have been someone else I might have missed, it would have been unintentional, just that Heather was the firswt one to pop into my mind...

OT Hopefully I can attend the BBQ ...

Regards.., Tim of T and J
 
I've treated several snakes for scale rot. I would add Betadine to the treatment regimine. It's kind of expensive, about $20 per bottle, but you dilute it with water and it goes a long way. You can buy it in any drug store - its sold were peroxide and rubbing alcohol is sold.

Mix the betadine in about a cup of water so that it looks like a dark tea. Dab it on the belly liberally with a wad of cotton balls or a rag. Once it dries, you can treat with your topical ointment. Betadine is a powerful topical antibaterical and it will get deep under scales and wrinkles.
 
Definitely finish the anti-biotics. Scale rot is responsive to it unless it's resistant. All the other advice is good. Hope she comes around poor thing.
 
Hey! I have been BUSY (with her, and with our other animals in general), and I will sit down and write out a good response to this thread... But I just want to clarify up front that this snake HAS been to a vet, and stayed there for several days. I am not just doing this "bathroom cabinet" doctor style with internet help. Granted, I am very concerned that the vet did not do a good job, and instead of saying "I am not experienced with snakes, here is a reference to someone that is" they did little, charged a lot, and gave limited advice. Through our local herp club I have a recommendation for a better vet, but I wanted to clarify, she HAS been to a vet.
 
Who said you hadn't taken it to the vet? The only reference was one of the people suggesting you try another vet. No one was criticizing that I could see. We all hope she makes it.
 
I do not feel criticized at all... I feel like I am in a group of people with great experience, and I feel helped! I was only clarifying, because another forum I posted this to included many replies like "take her to a vet!", and I wanted to be clear that she had been to a vet... just so that there was NO confusion.

A quick update - she is doing really well. I cleaned out her wounds, was able to carefully get the retained shed off of her, made sure that she was completely dry, and treated the area with antibiotic cream very well. She is already looking and doing better.
 
Good news! Hopefully she'll continue to improve with the combination of anti-biotics, clean dry skin and good care. Let us know how she's doing.
 
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