Thing on Head

[abcat1993]

I found this: http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o25/abcat1993/MattsPics2742.jpg
on my snakes head, if you can see it. The picture makes it look like pus or something but when I look it looks like dirt or something. Maybe the new substrate? I did get one tiny splinter when I was unpacking it, but that is a lot harder than just going around on the surface. And if it was burrowing it would be on the tip of it's nose. The snake, however, is acting like normal though. You can look at what it's head looked like a month or two ago in the photo contest for reference.

[Cazador]

Are you talking about the scale on the very top (dorsal side) of its head directly between its eyes?

[Thamnophis]

I can't see anything on its head. I put on my readingglasses but that didn't help.

[Cazador]

I didn't see anything either, so I was completely guessing that the "frontal" scale may be coming off. I've see it before, and it just takes daily antibiotic (neosporin) treatments to heal the damage. If this is the case, it will expose muscle tissue when the scale is removed, but it will look as good as new with daily neosporin treatment. I could be way off base, though.

[abcat1993]

On the top of it's head in between the eyes it has two whiteish cracks.

[Thamnophis]

Look closely if there is a scale that did not shed.

[abcat1993]

My garter has never shed - not while in my care.

[Cazador]

First, rub the scale with your finger nail, and look closely to make sure there isn't an extra scale on there from a previous shed (before you owned it), like Thamnophis. If you don't find an extra dried up scale, you can be on the safe side by providing a bit of harmless, preventative medicine. Put a little bit of neosporin on a Q-tip and rub the neosporin on that scale (the fontal scale). If the scale eventually comes off, you'll have to put neosporin on the raw spot every day for a week or two.

[abcat1993]

Sounds nasty. I really don't think I could get her/him to stay still long enough for a Q-tip to go on it's head without getting everywhere on the face. I'll try the fingernail thing first though, and maybe the bathtub method.

[Thamnophis]

Maybe you can make a close up picture.

[Cazador]

I nice close-up would be great. Whenever I'm giving any sort of treatment that takes a while or that the snake may dislike, I always restrain them. For small snakes, you can put them in tubes, like 1/2" (1.5cm) aquarium tubes. It's a bit of work, but the trick is to get their heads inside and not let them back out. Then they can only continue to move forward until their head sticks out the other end.

For larger snakes, or when dealing with the cloaca, you can put them in a pillow case with just the part of the body that you're interested in sticking out. Then, if they try to thrash around, the pillow sheet gently restrains them and keeps them from musking all over you. It won't "tame" them, like the bathtub trick, but even calm snakes sometimes freak out when being examined/treated.

It's really bad to have them thrashing around wildly when you're holding their head because, unlike mammals, they only have one connection point between their vertebrae and skull.

[abcat1993]

Woohooo! my snake has blue eyes! :D I will see if shedding helps or not, I am guessing that it will since it has been a while since it shed and it probably was just dead skin/scales/whatever it is.
I guess that is why he didn't eat last night... ... ... ... ... ...

[Cazador]

Congrats, but you should wipe it down with a wet, white paper towel to check for mites BEFORE it sheds. It may be nothing, but I've read that mites can cause that whitish appearance in deep scale creases. They'd be a lot easier to treat before the shed, if they're present because you'd kill most of them with treatment, and the shed would then eliminate any eggs that are stuck to the skin while you're thoroughly cleaning the enclosure. It's probably nothing, but it can't hurt to check.

[abcat1993]

And how do you do that? just wipe his head with a moist paper towel and look at it to see moving things? I don't know if him/her being practically blind right now is good or bad for this. Will it freak him out if he is grabbed and wiped?

[Cazador]

There are a lot of times when you have to weigh the benefits of one action against the negativity of another action. To me, the presence of mite have priority over the possibility of agitating a sensitive snake.

You dampen a white paper towel and either wipe the snake's head a few times really well , or hold the moist paper towel around the snake (in a circle) and allow the snake to crawl through it. There should be more mites on the head, and near the vent/cloaca. Ideally, you could wipe the snake's entire body a couple of times, but I understand your situation. Then look on the paper towel for small, black mites crawling around.

[abcat1993]

Can mites ever be white? On one corn snake or ball python I saw at Petco they had moving white things on them. Or maybe I was halucinating or remembering wrong. Also how long do I have until he sheds? the tip of his nose already looks different, but I would rather do this tomorrow. I guess I should probably start right now though, just in case.

[abcat1993]

Never mind, I did it, and got musked on. Now I know what it smells like and unfortunately I will reinforce my knowlege of that smell the rest of the night since the snake is in my room. And I didn't see anything.

[Cazador]

Good job, Matt. It's a small price to pay to know that your snake doesn't have mites, and now you know what musk smells like :D. The eyes will probably be blue for about 2 days. Then they'll clear rapidly, and it'll be about 2 more days before it sheds. This is a typical pattern, but there are exceptions. If you don't have your water bowl under/over your heat source, you should do so until your snake sheds. You might also consider misting the substrate once in a while. It's a bit of overkill, but you want to make sure your snake's enclosure isn't too dry during the shed.

[abcat1993]

But placing it under the light sounds like it will get too hot. Is it ok to have your snake swim in 90+ degrees water?

[Cazador]

If the temp under your light is 90+, in or out of water, you should reduce the heat ;).

[abcat1993]

I thought directly under the basking spot it was supposed to be 90. There is plenty of variation as it gets down to about 70 on the cold side on the surface.
And is it OK not to feed him until he sheds? I haven't fed him for a week since he refused to eat on tuesday, his mouse day, and I can't find my other mice. But I was wondering if most garters refuse to eat while shedding or before shedding (which I think is true).

[abcat1993]

And my snake already has clear eyes so it will probably be soon, or maybe I'm halucinating again.

[abcat1993]

OK, I'm hallucinating. They are extremely blue. How humid should it be in there? Currently it is between 40-50.

[Cazador]

The humidity sounds fine. If the temp is up around 90, that's fine. Upper 80s are even better, but you should lower it if it gets over 90 (unless you're doing it intentionally to treat illnesses).

[abcat1993]

Will a garter feed when in shed?

[Cazador]

They're really individuals with individual habits. I've had some refuse food before shedding, and some refuse food after shedding. I never even offer it when their eyes are blue, though. Refusing food around shedding is common, but I don't think I could say that mine refuse it more often before or after. It seems to be a mixture. Come to think of it, I haven't even noticed whether an individual snake continually refuses food more prior to a shed, for example. Anyone else?

[Snaky]

When I see that their eyes are blue, I don't give them anything to eat. So I can't say much about that. But I've never had any problems before or after the shed with my thamnophis. But I've noticed that my thamnophis are very good eaters.

With my lampropeltis though I usually have problems right before the shed. If she refuses you can bet she will have blue eyes in a few days. I think this may also be the case with individuals of thamnophis. Don't worry if they skip a meal, just try again in a week or so.

[abcat1993]

I was wondering how long a 12 inch garter can go without eating.
PS: I measured it on the computer and it was a lot smaller than I thought

[Gijs & Sabine]

We feed our garters 1 or 2 times a week wether they have to shed or not. Most of them will eat anyway. But when they have blue eyes they don't see very well, so that's funny to see when they make a fool of themselves.:p
And if they don't eat, like Snaky sayd, it's no big deal.

[ssssnakeluvr]

I don't feed mine when I see blue eyes or dull coloration...like after the eyes clear. It could cause problems with shedding..being fat could possibly affect it. some will eat smaller meals, as long as they aren't too fat from a big meal. a lot depends the snake itself, some will eat, some won't...

[Gijs & Sabine]

I don't feed mine when I see blue eyes or dull coloration...like after the eyes clear. It could cause problems with shedding..being fat could possibly affect it. some will eat smaller meals, as long as they aren't too fat from a big meal. a lot depends the snake itself, some will eat, some won't...

That's interresting. I also think that a snake depends itself if he want to eat or not. Because sofar we've never had any shedding problems at all. And we've got quite a collection;)

[abcat1993]

Well it shed and looks REALLY good. No shedding problems that I could see. Now it's time to figure out were to find some worms in winter...

[Odie]

The bait shop?

[KITKAT]

Well it shed and looks REALLY good. No shedding problems that I could see. Now it's time to figure out were to find some worms in winter...

I prefer my bait shop, but wanted to remind folks that Petsmart is also carrying nightcrawlers now. They are priced high, but sometimes the gasoline to go to the bait shop makes them cost less overall...:rolleyes:

[abcat1993]

My local hardware store sells worms, and in the summer it has those coke machine things where you put in a dollar or two and press whatever button you want and your drink comes out, but it's filled with nightcrawlers, waxworms, redworms, maggotish looking things, mealworms; everything.

[adamanteus]

My local hardware store sells worms, and in the summer it has those coke machine things where you put in a dollar or two and press whatever button you want and your drink comes out, but it's filled with nightcrawlers, waxworms, redworms, maggotish looking things, mealworms; everything.

Random thought....I wonder if that store has many partially sighted customers....:eek:

[RedSided]

ummm nothing like a nice cool...........cup of......nightcrawlers:rolleyes:

[drache]

I don't feed mine when they're going into shed
it's not that they won't eat
they might
but if they don't, I've wasted a rodent
or overfed one of my greedy snakes