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Q:
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how do I deal with scale rot?
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I have a burmese python that has some scale rot and I need some advice. I have taken her from where she was and brought her home to a larger cage. she has about 25 scales that look waxy and dark yellow. she is eating and drinking but I am wondering if it is true that I can use a weak peroxide solution to bathe her? I also need some advice about substrates please. I have pine wood shavings but am not sure if that is ok for the snake. just using newsprint and a bath towel for now.
thank you.
Attached Photos:
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Points:
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150
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Topics:
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Skin
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Infectious Disease
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Caging
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Tags:
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Bivittatus, Caging, Infection, Molurus, Python, Rot, Scale, Substrate, Treatment
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Species:
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Pythons > Pythons > Python molurus bivittatus
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Administrative:
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Show/Hide
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Member Comment
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8/3/2010 1:40:23 AM
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Jeremys reptiles
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just use newspaper for a sick snake, this way it is easier to clean up and wont hurt the snake by poking the eyes or if it was to eat some of the shavings and its body couldnt digest it it would regurgitate which isnt healthy, and best of all its CHEAP =]
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Accepted Answer
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8/3/2010 1:53:28 AM
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Katie M
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you can soak her a few times daily in a weak betadine solution (betadine = iodine) and it can be picked up at any pharamcy/drug store. By weak, I mean weak tea colored. Do this daily for several weaks. Keep the cage very dry, and very clean, with water presented daily to drink from, but not to soak in. The idea is to keep the area as sterile and dry as possible. If it gets really bad, you'll probably have to go to the vet to have them clean it out and prescribe injectable antibiotics
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Member Comment
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8/3/2010 1:53:55 AM
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Katie M
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oh, and DO NOT use peroxide, it will DELAY the healing process
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Member Comment
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8/3/2010 1:54:39 AM
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Katie M
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and as mentioned, paper towels or newspaper substrate is ideal during the healing process, lol, I should think before I post.... sorry for multiple posts
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Member Comment
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8/3/2010 8:18:04 AM
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Jeffriey
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As Katie mentioned the more common treatment is soaking in a diluted betadine solution. I actually use hyrdogen peroxide all the time to clean any type of infection and put on polysporin afterwards for things like scale rot. I have never had any problems and it's always been effective and healing very quickly. Different owners have different experiences which is not uncommon. Definitely try to keep the snake dry until the scale rot comes out over the next shed or two. What I'm a little concerned about is that the scale rot is on the side of the burm versus the bottom ventral scales where it's normally seen. It could be something other than scale rot like a bacterial infection in the skin and although being as you discribed waxy and yellow it could be scale rot. It was a bit difficult to tell with that photo. I'm dealing with this right now with a rescued burm that I took in (photo below). It had several areas affected on its sides and back and most likely caused by poor husbandry. It was on anitbiotics from the previous owner who asked me to take it and bring it back to health. I stopped the antibiotics and went to treating it externally using the same procedure as I mentioned above and it seems to be quickly healing up very well. Just watch out for other small areas that might look a pink. This should be easily noticeable with an albino burm.
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Assisted Answer
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8/3/2010 9:23:56 AM
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Sonja K. Reptiles
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Pine shavings is a no no for reptiles - in the future, after you have the animal healthy again, if you want to go with wood shavings, use aspen instead.
Perhaps others will chime in to agree - or not - with me : ) but, I would think Neosporin (or generic equivalent) would be helpful.
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Assisted Answer
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8/3/2010 10:13:52 AM
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Bree
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The entire issue with scale rot is that it will flourish with moisture. You need to keep this away from your snake.
What I would suggest is to set her up in an environment with newspaper (or unprinted newsprint..aka packing paper available at Home depot or Lowes) and offer her some water to drink twice a day. She should be soaked in a betadine solution twice daily which consists of about 1 part betadine to 9 parts water --this will result in a weak solution but one that will allow for the treatment of the fungus. Soak her for about 30 minutes. She will not be harmed by drinking this water. After you have soaked her, dry her off with a paper towel and toss it away (I would not use cloth mainly because you don't want to harbor the fungus on a cotton towel).
In terms of the Antibiotic ointment- You really should not need the ointment. Remember any ointment will hold moisture against the skin, that is one of the properties of an ointment. Betadine itself is active against most gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, as well as most fungi, protozoa, and viruses. Scale rot can be cured with the above, and the additional ointment really could cause more harm than not.
And sorry again to differ but Hydrogen Peroxide is a very harsh chemical and can actually delay healing in damaged or even healthy skin. I'd stick to the betadine solution, I personally have used it as well, and it works with following the outlined plan.
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Member Comment
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8/3/2010 1:08:34 PM
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Member Comment
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1/25/2011 11:38:29 AM
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abi21491
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This question has had no activity for 14 days and will be closed by an administrator unless the original poster takes action. Recommended Action: Points awarded An administrator will select responses and assign points at their discretion. Original poster, please close this question out and assign points. If you have any further information in the resolution of your problem, please post it here so that others may learn from it.
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