Missing scales on a Milk Snake

Question
QUESTION: Hi There!

I recently bought a 3 month old milk snake and foolishly ignored all the signs telling me not to buy it and i did it against my better judgement (it is a gorgeous snake so i couldn't resist).

I noticed when it was in the shop that there were some standard tree branches in the tank. This immediately made me think that they could have stupidly put wild branches in the tank which could be infected with anything but then wrongly assumed that they may have been sterilised before being put in the tank because they should know better.

I also noticed that they were overfeeding the snake which indicated that they didn't really know how to look after it properly and finally when i took it out it looked like it had some scarring on its body which i said nothing about (I assumed it may have had a small fight with one of it's brothers after being born).

Anyway... I took it home and it appeared to be pretty jolly and happy but i noticed when i handled it it tended to excrete a white wet chalky substance which i presume was excrement now. From research it seemed that this was just because it wasn't used to being handled and was afraid.

It has now become used to me handling it regularly (like 3-4 times a day) and has become very calm.

I did however notice about a week ago that it had mites on it. I immediately took action by cleaning it with frontline spray (it's actually for cattle but works well on the snakes) and nuking the tank with the spray and also disinfecting it with F10SC. It then shed its skin the next day and i checked to see if the mites had gone (which it seemed they had).

I kept checking her constantly and then finally two days later i noticed them on her again. I repeated the process of cleaning her and the cage and disinfecting. I also have two corn snakes which weren't infected but i took the same precautions with them anyway just in the event of infection.

The Mites haven't returned since last week.

Now i notice some grey patches on her body where there are missing scales which i assume is where the mites were breeding. I tried to investigate closely today but she keeps squirming and it's hard to do... But i noticed that when i touch that part of her body (near the stomach) she tries to shoot out of my hand so i assume there's still an element of pain there. There is absolutely no evidence of recurring mites so i don't think this is still a problem.

When touching the wound this morning i noticed the snake again excreted the wet chalky substance on my hand so i'm not sure if it was afraid of me holding her down for inspection or if it was in so much pain that it excreted this stuff.

Is there something you would suggest i do to help this wound heal better or is there something that i'm clearly missing here?

Thanks for your time!

Ken

ANSWER: Hi Ken
Wow...it sounds like you have had some dilema with your new snake. I am so sorry to hear about all you have gone through with him.  But I will tell you that you have done a fantastic job of ridding him from mites and taking care of him.  It is a bit hard to say what exactly the grey patches are on his skin.  If you can, I highly recommend getting a magnifying glass and looking closely at these patches.  They sound as though they could be burns or blisters. The frontline you used on your snake, that is normally for cattle, would have been way too strong for your snake.  Unless of course you diluted it.  Normally, frontline for dogs/cats is diluted 50% with water before using on snakes.  So frontline for cattle would have to be diluted much more. It is obvious your snake is hurting.  Put a very small dab of neosporin ointment on each area daily until you see improvement.  If no improvement be sure to take him to the Vet!  Also, you should let the pet store you purchased him from know about the mites.  Good luck and keep me posted on his recovery :-)

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

QUESTION: Hi Jennifer,

I couldn't find any Neosporin ointment at any chemist here, it must'nt be sold in Ireland. The chemist recommended "Burnshield" however and said it would be safe for a snake.

I'm in doubt about it but i bought it anyway, the active ingredient in it is tea tree oil which i believe is highly toxic to cats (according to http://www.messybeast.com/teatree.htm) but says "Safe for use on children" on the package. Do you think this would be ok to use on the snake?

The package also says *non-adherent* and *non-toxic*. I assume if it's non-adherent i should be worried about it washing off in the water bowl? and I also assume that *non-toxic* means it isn't toxic to humans but would it mean the same for the animal?

Regards,

Ken

Answer
Hi Ken...I am sorry that I didn't realize you might not have Neosporin in Ireland.  But I will tell you that Tea Tree Oil is from the Melaleuca tree. It has wonderful healing effects.  Just be sure not to get it anywhere near your snakes eyes, nostrils and mouth.  Use VERY little and just dab on the areas that need it.  Tea Tree Oil is all natural and the non-adherent/non-toxic properties in "Burnshield" make is safe.