Is this scale rot?

Hey everyone thanks for reading. I have recently noticed a problem with my diamond pythons scales in a small patch down her side. I am quite concerned but after looking through the Internet cannot seem to find what it is called.

As you can see it is a reddish white patch that seems have made a few scales flake half of, as well as many more look crusty around the edges.
my first thought was scale rot but pictures on the Internet suggest it looks different. she lives in a fairly large home made aquarium with a floor covered in gum leaves.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

Don't know mate, but perhaps put some kind of disinfectant on it (that is snake safe, otherwise honey can do) and see if it helps

looks to be a wound of some sort to me. scale rot will start to form ventrally where the reptile is in contact with a wet/damp substrate. seeing as this has formed on it's side it's more likely to be a minor burn or abrasion. with a burn i'd suggest seeing a vet for the simple fact that burns are painful. an abrasion can be treated by yourself by swabbing with diluted betadine to keep it clean until it heals on it's own. do you have an exposed heat source it could have brushed up against? or possibly removed it from a hide forcibly for eg, pulled it out of a hollow log in the enclosure? a photo of your setup may help find a cause if you're willing to put one up?

5hane said:

looks to be a wound of some sort to me. scale rot will start to form ventrally where the reptile is in contact with a wet/damp substrate. seeing as this has formed on it's side it's more likely to be a minor burn or abrasion. with a burn i'd suggest seeing a vet for the simple fact that burns are painful. an abrasion can be treated by yourself by swabbing with diluted betadine to keep it clean until it heals on it's own. do you have an exposed heat source it could have brushed up against? or possibly removed it from a hide forcibly for eg, pulled it out of a hollow log in the enclosure? a photo of your setup may help find a cause if you're willing to put one up?

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Thanks for the reply. I moved her into a new home made enclosure a few months which as of yet doesn't have any heating as in Brisbane its plenty warm for her so I cant see how she could get burnt. As for cuts, there is nothing sharp in her cage but I let her out in my room sometimes, that could explain it. My main concern was scale rot or some bacterial infection as I've heard they can be serious, so your saying its a physical injury? I'll have to find where to buy betadine, do pet shops usually sell it?
As I said thanks for the advice, any other thoughts on it are appreciated

chemists sell betadine maybe woolworths/coles and yes it looks like a physical injury as opposed to anything else. most bacterial infections produce a pussy substance after a short time as the animal tries to fight it off. dilute the betadine at 1:10 with water.

there are far more experience folk on here then me so don't take my word as gospel it might cost 80-100 for a consultation but a vet is the best option for an exact diagnosis.

It looks like mechanical damage to me. i believe the less drugs and intervention the better. Beterdine can kill good new cells as well as bad cells. The animal looks healthy and is in its own environment and so shouldn't be exposed to any new nasty bugs. Keep an eye on it and unless the wound looks infected let the snake heal itself.

I agree with Wokka - at first I thought "burn" but in the absence of a heat source (unless you have an open heat source in your room) it's most likely to be an abrasion. Looks a bit reddish, but that may be because it's new, so as Wokka says, just keep an eye on it and only if the inflammation increases, seek a vets advice. Probably important to keep it as dry as possible too. I suggested a vet visit because a systemic treatment with an antibiotic is probably better than a topical antiseptic swab, especially if infection is evident.

A heat source would help with recovery - it will speed up circulation, help accelerate healing and strengthen the snake's immune system - cold snakes are far more prone to a number of bacterial infections.

Jamie

Ok thanks everyone for your advice, I'll start heating up the cage a bit and Iv already made sure her cage is as dry as possible.
glad to know it's not rot, still curious to find out how she did it though lol maybe I'll find out one day.

Looks like a burn to me.
What heating you using?

I have to say I do really agree with Pauls_Pythons - from the way the scales have a "singed" look, my first thoughts are definitely burn, but you say the animal hasn't had access to heat? Anywhere?

Jamie

Admittedly I skimmed over the responses, (sorry), & missed the "no heating" comment initially.
However, I stand by the burn. As Shane has suggested a diluted betadine solution would be the typical treatment.

Personally though not pretty I don't think it is a particularly bad injury, (have seen much worse). It should reduce over time with shed's but take care the animal sheds fully, it might need some help for a few sheds.

Id change the gum leaves out for news paper until it gets better.. also apply some F10 ointment daily.. just till it clears up

alexbee said:

Id change the gum leaves out for news paper until it gets better.. also apply some F10 ointment daily.. just till it clears up

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Agreed. Potential source of bacteria.

As far as I know there's nothing in my room that could burn her. The hottest thing being my computer, but i make sure she is away before turning it on because she's taken on the habit of heading straight there every time. I'll change her leaves out now for the newspaper and I'll make sure to give her an hour or two out each night to give the cage some air flow. So this f10 ointment is brought at the chemist I assume?
Once again thanks for the replies and advice.

New photo as I am curious to see if it is a burn, and I realise the first was a bit of a bad photo (she never listens when I ask her to stay still ), hope this shows it more clearly.

@Noodles, Did the previous enclosure have an exposed heat source or a heat rock in it? that last pic you put up shows that injury to be a non contact burn, if you look at the puckering in the center of the scales that is fully indicative of a burn from reflection, it is not scale rot nor an injury from abrasion, Jamies first response was spot on, if it had of been an injury from trying to get it out of a hide or it getting trapped somewhere and had to struggle out the scales would be misaligned or missing or a full bare patch could also result. As others have suggested a 2:1 solution of Betadine (available at the Chemist) applied 2-3 times a day augmented with heat (32-34 deg C) should fix it within a couple of weeks, as also suggested it's also going to need help shedding in that area for the next 2-3 sheds..........if this injury does not start to look better within 2 weeks please take it to the Vet as infections can start vary quickly under those scales. ......................Ron

If it was my animal, I wouldn't put anything on the wound at this stage - keep it as dry as possible and let it scab over. When it sheds (which may be fairly soon as a response to the injury), if the old skin remains in place at the wound site, leave it in place. It indicates that healing is still going on underneath the skin, so if you try to remove it by physical means or soaking, you risk "opening old wounds" as they say, and exposing it to infection. I know there's always a temptation to pick at scabs, but they serve a purpose in keeping infection out while healing takes place.

Having said that, applying an antiseptic cream or solution probably won't do any harm, but in my opinion it's not warranted if the wound is drying out nicely.

Jamie

last time looked for F10 ointment i found it at a vet... you could try pet shops..

Give her a bath in warm water with salt. It could be a wound from injury or a burn. Take her to the vet as it's best to get these things looked at sooner rather than later just in case. The vet may want to put her on a course of antibiotics to avoid septisaemia or may just get you to continue with salt or betadine baths. If you are using substrate or fake grass I suggest switching to paper towel until it's healed.

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kittybelle said:

Give her a bath in warm water with salt. It could be a wound from injury or a burn. Take her to the vet as it's best to get these things looked at sooner rather than later just in case. The vet may want to put her on a course of antibiotics to avoid septisaemia or may just get you to continue with salt or betadine baths. If you are using substrate or fake grass I suggest switching to paper towel until it's healed.

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Do NOT bathe with water, with or without salt - this is a sure way to introduce infection where there is probably none at the moment. Wounds such as this are far better left alone to dry out and scab over. Repeat, DO NOT bathe with salt water. If it is not infected, it does not need antibiotics. Septicaemia isn't even on the radar at this point in time.

Jamie

pythoninfinite said:

Do NOT bathe with water, with or without salt - this is a sure way to introduce infection where there is probably none at the moment. Wounds such as this are far better left alone to dry out and scab over. Repeat, DO NOT bathe with salt water. If it is not infected, it does not need antibiotics. Septicaemia isn't even on the radar at this point in time.

Jamie

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Just relaying info from the vet from when my snake had an injury that looked similar. It is not a sure way to introduce infection if there is enough salt in the water. But whatever, I'm not going to argue. The owner should take the snake to the vet.

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