Wounds and Burns

What causes wounds or burns:

A wound can be caused by feeding your snake live prey. If you put in a live mouse with your snake alone, the snake may start feeding (constricting) the mouse but what usually happens is that the mouse will be able to move its head around and bite the snake back. This usually is the cause of most wounds. A burn is usually caused by a basking lamp that has been placed too low in the cage, so when the snake goes over to get bask under the light it gets burned. Another cause of a burn is by a Hot Rock overheating. A snake will go and lie on it and get seriously burned! If you want some more information on Hot Rocks Click Here!

How to treat them:

Small wounds or burns can be treated at home by applying a antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin to the injury. Snakes have a remarkable natural ability to heal all sorts of wounds so long as the area is kept clean and disinfected with an antibiotic, it should then heal without further attention. However, if the wound is very large or gaping, the services of a vet are needed. He/she may have to stitch it up.

How to prevent burns or wounds:

The best way to prevent these things are to set up the cage properly. Make sure that the Basking lamp is placed well away from reach and to never to use Hot Rocks! Aggressive snakes should not be housed together, like you cannot keep a King and a Corn snake together because the King snake is carnivorous and will eat the Corn snake.. One other cause which should be avoided (if possible) is to feed your snake live prey, rather feed them pre-killed prey or you could just feed them live Pinkies since these do not bite. If you really must feed it live mice, keep an eye on what is happening. (more in the Feeding Section in the Snake Specialist.)

Mites and Ticks

What are they:

Mites are like tiny red dots positioned between the scales. Ticks are bigger and also position themselves between scales. Mites and ticks are the most common cause of diseases givers on snakes. If you see tiny red dots moving around the nose and mouth these are the mites (you may find them in other places). Mites are host-specific and do not come from dogs or other animals, they can only be found on snakes. Ticks are bigger and look like black or brown seeds. Mites and ticks are both easily transmitted from one snake to another.

What do these parasites do:

Both mites and ticks live by sucking the blood from the snake by using their needle-like mouthpieces to pierce the thin skin between the scales. The loss of blood will not kill the snake, but it does weaken them to a point that they will catch other diseases. These pests should be killed as soon as they are found.

How to get rid of them:

If you want to get rid of mites, you must use a pesticide strip containing the insecticide Vapona. Remove the water from the cage and put the strip in a cloth bag then put it up in the cage where the snake cannot reach. Leave the strip there for tree days. To kill any new eggs or mites this treatment should be done one a week.

Unfortunately ticks are much harder to get rid of. You follow the same procedures when a human has a tick. Take a drop of alcohol to kill the tick by dabbing it, then carefully remove the tick with a pair of tweezers. Do not pull the tick out too roughly because the head may be left behind. If it is left behind it might go septic and will lead to an infection.

Skin Problems

What types of problems are there:

The two main types of skin problems are the result in poor shedding or boils forming on the underside of the snake.

Information about Shedding:

Usually before shedding the snake will stop eating and spend most of its time soaking in its water dish (sometimes). Usually about three weeks later the snakes skin will get darker and its eyes will turn a "milky" blue as the outer layer of the skin is separated from the inner layer. After a few more days the snakes eyes will return to normal. About a week after that the snakes lips will be getting noticeably larger and then finally burst. The skin is then pulled of inside out in one continuous piece.

Why then is it considered a problem:

Some snakes like the Boids family will shed in a whole lot of different pieces. This can be stopped if the humidity levels are normal or higher and a good sharp rock so that the snake can hook its skin. More than often a snake will leave some of the old skin attached to its body. The old skin is a great breeding place for mites and other bacteria. They can be removed by soaking the snake in luke-warm water and then gently rubbing it off.

What you must look out for:

Once your snake has shed, have a look at the place where the eyes should be. As we know that snakes lack eyelids and instead they have a see-through scale protecting their eye. You should see the two "eye-scales". If both or one is missing you should spray the area with luke-warm water then rub the eye gently until it comes off. If you didn't check the eye caps the snake will start to become a bit aggravated because it cannot see. Usually the cap will stay in place after many sheds after that if you have not noticed.  A veterinarian should deal with this problem because you might damage the eyeball of the snake if you try to remove it by yourself.

What about the Boils:

Boils are usually caused by humidity levels that are too high. These can be treated by lowering the humidity to the right level. Maybe the vet will put on an antiseptics to keep it clean.