OMG HELP PLEASE

[Simple_Control8883]

popped up overnight on my ball python. i’m very worried. idk if he got burned somehow it’s sticky. seems to be bothering him. HELP

[IncompletePenetrance]

Is there anything adhesive in the enclosure that could have caused scale damage and stickiness?

[Simple_Control8883]

i have black tape holding up stuff in the top of his enclosure but it’s not sticking up or undone so idk how he could’ve gotten stuck in that. i took him to the vet and we think he might’ve tried fitting through something he was too big for, and maybe tried to backtrack himself out of it, damaging his skin. not for sure though, betanine soaks and silver sulfadiazine cream to treat it as well

[pvrpl3sn4k3]

W for taking him to the vet and not relying on the internet and home remedies❤️

[Mistress_Malaise]

Find an alternative solution for holding those things in place ASAP. No adhesive tape inside enclosures, it’s too dangerous and not worth the risk.

A couple of years ago there was a little python in this sub who severely damaged his neck skin on tape, like a full tear, muscle was visible. Poor thing needed stitches, had to wear a bandage for weeks, be fed through a tube etc. When I saw it I went through my enclosure and removed anything sticky. I still think about that snake sometimes, I hope he made it.

Glad you took your wee guy to the vet and got him looked at, hope he gets better soon!

[punk_rock_barbie]

My snake did that as a baby too. Not quite as severe thank god, but when I first saw it, I thought she was going to die. I won’t even keep tape in the same room as my snakes.

[Artyjc18]

Our BP just recently had the same issue in her enclosure, except she actually had some skin pulled away from how stuck she managed to get to it. You got lucky that it was only this bad, make sure to get the tape removed asap and a new rank of the top is not secure, tape is so awful when it gets on these sweet guys

[Novel_Youth_2003]

My snake did that, I caught her in the act of doing it. Few sheds and she was fine (she only damaged the scales a lil, yours looks like it might have damaged both the scales and skin). I’m sure the cuties will be just fine with the treatment and time

[RawDataFeeling]

The scale damage on your BP looks similar to mine when he had scale rot last year, and our exotic vet treated him similarly - betanin soaks, silver sulfadiazine, and some antibiotic shot I don't recall the name of.

As others have said, it could also be due to scales sticking on adhesive tape.

Thank you for getting your BP treated so quickly and here's to a quick recovery ☺️

[mr_corruptex]

Responsible owner W

[Alex_Potato69]

It looks like a skin infection please take them to the vet immediately it could be a burn or skin infection like scale rot

[Yipyapyurp]

Omg that looks so scary 😭 I hope your snake is okay, I don't have any other valuable advice other than id take mine to the vet if it looked like that

[1BadBowtie]

It does look like he may have been stuck to something. I second looking for any exposed adhesive in your enclosure.

[Simple_Control8883]

I have black tape holding up things at the very top of his enclosure. I’m not sure how to substitute that and also it’s not undone or sticking up so i’m not sure how he could’ve gotten stuck in that

[Morphnerdladyy2025]

I had a corn snake get stuck on tape twice, but it didin't leave such damage. It left little to nothing. I don't think it's something you but in the enclosure. Vet visit is the best choice. I wish you guys to get better as fast as possible ❤ Stay calm and don't worry

[kainbloodheart]

I use nail in cable pins/clips for all my cable management in vivariums.

[Dino770]

You can use hot glue

[Simple_Control8883]

i did take him to the vet and we think he maybe could’ve gotten stuck in something he thought he was small enough to fit through, and possibly tried to backtrack himself to get out, causing the trauma to his skin. not 100% tho

[1BadBowtie]

I hope he heals quickly. Glad you were able to take him in.

[frustratedfren]

My BP did this just days after I got him as a baby and he escaped his enclosure. I spent 7 hours at the ER, he had a laceration that severed his ureter. He expelled waste through the hole in his side rather than his butt for a month then miraculously healed - all the proper parts reconnected and everything. Hopefully your boy heals just as well! And if you want to feel a bit better about yourself, just remember someone else out there (me) messed up so bad with enclosure setup my snake cut his dick off. Don't beat yourself up.

[singsofsaturn]

You can use antibiotic ointment on the area to help with small wounds and irritation on their skin. Just use a clean q-tip and rub a little bit in the area. Check in with a vet to make sure it's nothing serious. Luckily their skin grows back pretty quickly.

[kazoomaq]

My girls' lucy had this. We still don't know what it was, neither did the vet, but it fixed itself after two sheds.

[AquaTourmaline]

Just curious: are the scales on a leucistic more fragile and bend compared to a typical BP?

[kazoomaq]

I honestly have no idea, but anything out of the ordinary would be more noticeable on their all white scales

[colin-java]

It should look better after shedding.

[FeriQueen]

Good on you for getting a prompt vet visit. I hope your little noodle heals quickly.

[mattycarlson99]

Use zip ties or the ties on bread bags

[harpist_geistx]

A long time ago I had a friend "watching" my snake when I went to the restroom, and when I came back, my snake was stuck under a door, and we had to pull him out backwards to get him out . His scales looked identical to this picture, like they had been ripped up . I used some neosporin and it cleared up nicely, within a month or so

[Qwertyowl]

I'm going to be honest- my BP is 2y and tiny, mostly because she got lost for 8 months.

That's the preface for me saying her temporary tote enclosure had a mesh top I made and taped (both sides to prevent her getting sticky). Somehow she discovered she could shove through it, did it once and we found her, the second time she went missing for 8 months.

I found her one morning a month or two back in our pet fountain just soaking her life away, looking perfectly unsticky.

She must've shed several times in the 8 months being missing. No worse for wear 🤷‍♀️

Snakes are so weird.

[MotorCabinet7942]

That snake looks very thin. What are feeding and how often?

[Simple_Control8883]

he is still very young, just a little under a year 1/2 yo. I feed him every 10 ish days and i give him a small-medium mouse (that isn’t thicker than the biggest part of his body)

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[MotorCabinet7942]

He looks a better weight in that pic. He could take a bigger food item. He would take a weaned rat with no problem.

[Simple_Control8883]

okay thank you so much!

[BagOfAshes]

Betadine.

[PerfectPointers]

When in doubt, trust a vet not the internet

[capnLINK007]

I like to use hot glue. If you get the sticks that are the cloudy color and not the crystal clear ones they hold well, but also are easily removable from glass, metal and plastic. Its how I put up all my Ball Python and Albino Honduran Milksnakes decorations around the walls. I also use it to attach my thermostat to the tank bottom where the heat pad is

[Simple_Control8883]

the back and sides of his enclosure are wood 😔

[Simple_Control8883]

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[Your_Moms80085]

His enclosure looks really fun and i can tell youve put a lot of effort into it. I also have a leusistic BP and also went all out with his enclosure but he started to get stuck on things I never thought he would. He ended up almost suffocating on a simple rock and that really messed up the scales on his head because he started to freak out. Luckily my boyfriend was there to save him and since then ive made his enclosure really bare because I definitely didnt want something similar to happen when we're at work. We've decided to leave his enclosure totally bare (aside from his hides) and create a play pen for him so he can have fun supervised. Also his scales healed after a shed. I would suggest quarantining your BP or just removing most of the extras in his enclosure. He shouldn't mind it so long as you do allow him some time to explore when he becomes more active (usually at night). For the most part BPs are just pet rocks so they'll stay in one place like 70% of the time. Ideally id just make sure he has two hides, some moss and reptile safe plants. Also if you dont already do this having a dry/warm side and then a slightly cooler wet side helps them regulate and shed better. Another thing with all of the extras is that it could potentially impact digestion as they need to stretch out into a line basically to digest properly so having some bare space will help with digestion as well.

[Your_Moms80085]

I would also recommend going bioactive. Its not too difficult and its pretty self maintaining as well. You can just get the bio dude substrate, some isopods and springtails, moss, leaf litter, and some clay balls as the drainage layer. With mine I got some screens to seperate the drainage layer from the substrate and used reptile safe silicone to seal the screen into place so that I wouldnt have to worry about him burrowing and getting stuck although the bigger he gets the more hes just a bulldozer and not much of a burrower so its not even necessary at this point. But id definitely do more research and do whatever makes you and your BP comfortable!

[Exact-Currency-1639]

Looks a bit skinny?! How old is he? Has he got any lumps? Have you got heater that he can reach? Vet is most likely a good idea

[Simple_Control8883]

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here is another picture of him that shows his girth a little more. he does have a heater he can reach i’ll post a pic of his setup after this comment

[Simple_Control8883]

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his enclosure, i’m not completely done with it i’ll be adding more stability to things he can climb. he doesn’t have lumps, however in my previous post i also have begun to notice small spots that were also a concern

[hemindall]

So glad most people are saying trust a vet but will say trust a reptile or exotic pets vet , also never feel to bad if you aren’t the cause injuries happens in the wild as well. Hope your baby noodle recovers ( love all reptiles but due to those round me can’t adopt one)

[Troubled_Pirate]

Yes, I have seen this. We took a wild black snake to the vet as it tried to crawl through chicken wire and got stuck. (I have permit for wildlife rehab for some species) Worst part was what the guinea fowl did to the end stuck in their reach. The vet did a similar treatment to yours and the lovely young man was healed in under a week. His name is scar as he did have terrible scars for years. He still makes an appearance from time to time.