Scale injury

[manda_neko]

Recently I put a 'toy' of sorts into my snake's tank.. He had been very restless and was determined to climb the humidity gauge and fall off of it in an attempt to get back down.. repeatedly.

He loves that humidity gauge. So cute, sometimes he stares at it, like he's reading it.

So I took out his tree (the tallest thing to climb, and what he uses to reach said gauge) and replaced it with one of those boxes you get to take your new pet home in from Petco, and a paper towel roll that I had cut into various lengths and taped together into sort of a 'jungle gym' for him, hoping to give him something new to do that didn't involve falling off of the humidity gauge.

He loved it.


Only problem is, I didn't plan on- didn't even think about that space under the tape.
Of course he'd manage to stick his head in there and get stuck.

So the tape was stuck to the back of his neck and after cutting the tape so I could get to him, I pulled it off as gently as I could (more like held the tape while 'Dini pulled himself free). There was still some damage to his scales, though.. The ones affected seem 'ruffled' and don't look well. There were small patches of scales on the tape.. Like I peeled off a layer before it was time to.

Anyone had anything similar happen? Do scales heal relatively fast/well? Think he will be back to normal and nice and smooth in a few sheds or have I scarred my baby?

 

[Susan]

Well, I just had a female scrape off a ice section of skin on one side of her face. I kept her in a clean tub lined with paper towels, changing it frequently, applied a topical antibiotic a couple of times and simply waited for nature to heal the wound. She shed twice in fairly rapid succession and looks pretty good now. The color is different in that spot now, but it may come back as it heals further. See this thread for pics:
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48376
It's the spot just behind her right eye where the yellow is in the same spot on her left side. Your little one should heal just as nicely, or probably better if it's only a few scales.

 

[DeadMouse]

This is a great reminder that if there is even the slightest most unthought of means of an animal finding a potentially harmful spot to get itself into, it will :crazy02:

I agree with what Susan said, if there's some exposure to the skin area, apply some mild antibiotics to the skin if it looks red or sore and just wait for a few sheds to get back to normal

I have a rescued corn that was beat up pretty bad with a shovel (from a neighbor who thought it was a poisonous snake, silly neighbor) and had several cuts in him that healed up quite nicely over the course of a few months.

I'm just glad your snake didn't get that tape stuck to his eyes, now that would have been far more serious. Something to think about...

 

[manda_neko]

wow, his eyes.. That would really suck..

In any case, looking at Susan's snake, mine's injury is not nearly as bad. The scales are still there, but they're roughed up and 'thin' looking.. As the top layer of scale has been peeled off, the scales themselves are not as wide as the others, so if you look closely you can see more skin that you would normally.
I couldn't get a picture with detail 'cause he's only 5 or 6 months old and is quite squirmy.

He is in his blue phase now, and actually this mishap happed a couple of weeks ago. There was never any redness or irritation, or anything.. and his behavior/eating habits haven't changed, so I knew that physically/mentally he'd be fine, but ever since, I've been a little curious about how well snakes heal from that kind of thing.
Glad to know there's a good chance he'll get those scales back and he'll be lookin' good again.

2.0.0
Harvey - Normal
Houdini ('Dini)- Hypomel