Hey everyone.
So I was changing all my snakes water today and went to change my 6 year old female Maleficents water when I noticed what looked like swelling on her side.
I picked her up and found a pretty swollen wound and am shocked and at loss for how it could’ve happened.
I last check on her 2 days ago and she appeared fine. She doesn’t act like the area hurts at all either.
She has a hide and fake plants in her tub, and is on paper towels.
I removed everything and cleaned it all and put her back in there on fresh paper towels.
I took her hide and plants out because I figure the hide did this to her?
Maybe she pulled back really hard and it ripped her scales backwards?
I soaked her in a water Chlorhexidine mix and cleaned the area with a water hydrogen peroxide mix.
I’m gonna call a vet tomorrow. What can I do for her until then?
Here’s pictures of the area.
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Keep the wound as clean and dry as you can outside of the chlorhexidene baths. I’d advise against hydrogen peroxide as a lot of evidence points towards it causing more damage than good for a wound.
Do the Chlorhexidine bath 1x daily until you can see your vet.
I’d definitely check the hide your girl has… I’ve had a very similar experience with a rock hide for one of my Kingsnakes, it had a sharp protrusion I hadn’t noticed before putting it in her enclosure and it gave her a nasty wound on the belly 
Ended up having to cut the piece off and sand down the area for a while…
She was just given oral antibiotics though as the wound was superficial and I did a few betadine cleanings of the wound.
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Do not use peroxide, it damages tissue. Keep it clean and dry. Dilute betadine on the area may help but I wouldn’t suggest much else if you don’t know the cause. Honestly this one might be significant enough to warrant an exotics emergency vet, if you have one available. If not, you’ll need an appointment first thing tomorrow. If they can’t get you in, find someone that can. Looks significantly infected.
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Alright, I won’t use peroxide again!
I’ll soak her again tomorrow morning and call the vet when they open at 7:30. Hopefully they can get us in tomorrow.
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Hoping for a speedy recovery for your girl and that no significant damage was done! 
Considering where the wound is I’d also probably avoid feeding her any large meals if any at all until the wound has resolved a little bit, it does look pretty bad on the underside and eating meals might exacerbate the pain, unfortunately they hide it very well so its hard to tell when something is painful or not…
Hopefully the vet will be able to take you in quickly
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She normally eats a small rat and I think I’ll just skip feeding her this week. The next week I’ll offer her a rat pup if I do feed her.
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When you call, if they don’t have anything available, ask if they can have a vet or technician call you back to speak about it, or if you can email photos to be passed on. Sometimes that can get you a faster appointment if they see the severity of things. Wishing you both the best, hopefully she can be seen and on the mend quickly!
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Oh, okay! Thank you for helping!
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Alright, I have an appointment for today at 2:15. Wish us luck!
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Good luck! I hope things go well for you and Maleficent today.
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Best of luck to you both, sending all the healing vibes her way!
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We just got back from the vet. She said she thinks that somehow Maleficent got punctured by something and then it got infected.
I’ll be picking up Ceftazidime injections tomorrow and in the meantime I’ll be putting this cream on her twice a day as well.
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Good stuff, that should definitely help!
Regarding the ointment… I find it easiest to just do a good rinse to get the sulfa off and offering a good soak for hydration before the next application. Give her a smaller dish so she can’t soak in there and drink the water with ointment in it. You may have to pick up the dish entirely if she keeps getting her water full of it.
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Oh, okay, that’s a good idea. So far I don’t think she’s gotten in her water bowl but I’m sure she will.
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You can always just give her a smaller water dish that she can’t fit inside.
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Awesome that the vet could get you in, and it looks like they gave you all the first line stuff for this kind of injury. She’ll be feeling and looking better in no time!
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Thats some really good stuff, used it along with a few other things while helping my sister treat a rescue horse with a raw spot that was staring to go into deeper layers of skin (he got a wire wrapped and tangled around his leg that stayed for a few weeks before his previous owners did anything about it. He’s ok now!) and the wound healed up within a few days, and this was a pretty gnarly wound when he first got to my sister.
You’ll definitely want to wash it off between applications and make sure the area is dry before reapplying. I’m glad she got help from a vet quickly! If it is indeed a puncture wound there is a chance it could turn into an abcess if any bacteria remains after treatment so its very important for you to stay vigilant with her and check on the healing spot frequently even after her treatment courses are done.
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I tried that with mine and he still smeared silversulfa all over it. He did have a lot of it though XD;
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D’oh! 
Yeah, I can totally see that happening. Snakes are definitely that derpy and uncooperative with medical treatment.
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Yeah. I really hope she doesn’t have too much of a scar, as she already has a scar on her belly from a burn from her previous owners.
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