MY BALL PYTHON HAS BLISTERS ALL OVER HER BELLY FROM HER HEATING PAD WHAT CAN I DO? PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!!!!?

Question

MY BALL PYTHON HAS BLISTERS ALL OVER HER BELLY FROM HER HEATING PAD WHAT CAN I DO? PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!!!!?

Answer 1

You can apply betadine to any open blisters to disinfect and help prevent infection. You might also want to keep her on paper rather than your usual substrate until she's healed to prevent possible infection from open blisters/wounds. Infection is the thing to look out for because it can mean life or death for your pet.

Take her to a vet experienced with exotics as soon as possible because there could be more damage to the underlying tissues that you're not aware of. Burns can be really bad and need to be addressed immediately. There is also the possibility that this isn't a burn but "blister disease". It's a bacterial infection that occurs when the enclosure is kept too moist or too humid.    

If you're going to continue to use a reptile heat pad for your cage, be sure to put it on a thermostat to prevent overheating in the future. Thermostats can be expensive, but they are vital when it comes to heating mats/pads. I recently bought a nice pre-wired thermostat from http://www.reptilebasics.com that can handle 6 independent heating elements. I'm using mine on a snake rack to regulate heat tape, but it works the same with the heat pads.

Answer 2

I agree with animalover1412 heating pads, after heating rocks, are the worst things to use for your snake. They can get very hot very fast and easily give them blisters and even kill them. If you are having trouble keeping her tank warm then get another light. But for now get rid of the heating pad and do what mariecollective and QuietTempest said and use those ointments for now. DO NOT hold her because your snake is in MUCH pain and needs time to rest. The only time you pick her up is to apply her ointment. If the blisters open, put an anti-bacterial cream on the wound and put a band-aid on the wound if it gets infected see a veterinarian. I hope i helped and i hope you ball python is ok!!

Answer 3

You need to take her to a vet ASAP. Then to you need to either cover the under tank heater more, make sure she can't get under the substrate or get a controller for it so it does not get hot like that and burn her again.  

Answer 4

You need to take it to a vet to get treated.

Then leave the snake there because you are obviously a very irresponsible owner and should not have a snake at all.

Answer 5

do not use heating pads, they can get over 100 degrees and your snake can get burned like yours did.  take out the heating pad and don't use it ever again for any animal.  get a heat lamp.  most of them only get about 80-85 degrees, so you don't have to worry about switching the heat.  you just turn it on and it does its job, that is what i have for my corn snake, and there has never been any accidents.  take her to the vet and have her looked at.  they way you explained it, it sounded pretty bad.  the vet will give you ointment for her blisters, and hopefully she will heal up nicely, and won't be in too much pain.

good luck and i hope she is ok.

Answer 6

if you can turn down the heat to the next lower level if that's not an option layer newspaper over it till it feels more warm then hot then cover the news paper with bedding

as for treating the blisters i buy this all natural ointment called pet sense from a company called young living (witch you can probably find on-line)  ive used on my horse cats dogs and my ball python when he had a sore on his tail

just treat the blisters with the ointment a little at a time and they should heel

Answer 7

First of all - a heating lamp DOES NOT work for a ball python since they need belly heat, not just warm temperature.  You can buy a dimmer for the UTH and a herpstat to control the temperature. If you can't afford these then you shouldn't have the pet.

In the meantime you need to bring your snake to a vet, your BP has suffered serious burns and need to be treated just like you would need to be.