tea tree oil

Question
QUESTION: I have a baby California king snake, and a adult 6 foot red tail boa. My cali.. king snake, sheded all wrong and had been laying in his water dish a lot. It ended up rotting and his scales falling off. I am wondering if tea tree oil is okay to put onto his effected area,a and if that will help with healing/helping keep affection away? Also if there is anything else i could use. Also my Boa, he has been sitting in his water bowl and will not leave. I don't know why, he has not been on heat much before i got him and now he has a good home with heat ect. also wasn't fed for 40 days, the guy didn't take care of him properly. But he does not have mites,a as i can so far see. But i am wondering if he is getting a fungal infection or something :(
If you have any idea please help :)

ANSWER: Hello Jeanelle,

Hm, can you post a picture of the king snake's areas that have no scales?  I just would like to get an idea of what that area looks like.  The tea tree oil would be fine, as long as the skin is not raw or an open type of wound.  You will need to dilute it though so it doesn't get applied full strength.  What is the humidity in your king snake's tank?  A really good cream to get for all types of ailments is Thermazene.  It is a silver based cream that really helps with healing.  You can get it from www.amazon.com   

Also, we should probably go over your tank setups for both snakes, just to make sure everything is good for them both.  Normally, when they begin sitting or laying in their water dishes routinely, they may have worms, or parasites.  Since you have not had him for very long, he may need to be dewormed.  Is your boa eating right now?  


Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


cali.   QUESTION: About the boa. No he is not de-wormed, didn't know you could do that to a snake eaither. Also the cali.the pics arent that great. only have a cell phone to take them with. But i house my cali. in a tub. with paper towel and a water dish with half heat mat. He has the correct humidity ect. most of my smaller snakes r house in tubs, and larger, well there in my large extra tanks. The cali. is way to small for them. :) also his wound/thing is open, showing the skin, so tea tree will probly hurt him right? but i am worried it will get infected is my main concern. Its starting to bleed and there is more coming off, and its turing kinda yellow in some areas.

Answer
Hello Jeanelle,

Yes, you can deworm snakes, it is pretty routine actually.
The tea tree oil I think may be too strong.  Personally, I think the best thing would be the Thermazene, it is a nice, rich cream that smooths on really well & coats the area.  I would get that as soon as possible as it sounds like it is getting infected already.

Let me know how he is doing.
Tracie