Injured mom...or is it dad?

[Jayson]

That looks pretty nasty, If I were to guess what has done that; I would have to say it was likely a bird that tried to make a meal out of that snake, I see snakes in the field all the time that have had their bellies pecked by birds, that is just my opinion though.

I would leave it be and let nature take its course, as was said earlier, unless you plan to make a pet of it, it can not afford the added stress of being handled right now.

[drache]

there is something about the placement of those lesions that brings to mind a large mammalian maw

[adamanteus]

Here are Cheryls pictures.

[KITKAT]

I know how this looks in the photo, but I wonder if this is scale fungus or scale rot, rather than mere injury.

At any rate, I would NOT use an antibiotic by itself... I would use a preparation like PANALOG, that has BOTH antibiotic and antifungal properties.

Just my $.02

[drache]

see
that's at least one cent more than I had to give

[cheryl]

Thank you everyone!
My effort to find a treatment for the snakes sores led me to our local small animal hospital. I had with me the pictures that I had taken to post on this site. The vet looked at them and sold me a cream for fungus problems. His advise was virtually identical to what I got from you good folks. 'Baby' is in a large plastic enclosure in our camper. My husband is less that thrilled, but he'll get over it. Per the vet, I washed the sores with baby shampoo and applied the cream. I am to do so at least once a day. I also put a goldifsh in it's water dish. 20 minutes later the fish has disappeared, and the snake has a suspicious lump in it's belly. I understand from the forum that goldfish are to be used very sparingly, if at all. Will try to get her to eat a nightcrawler or possibly some trout next time. Is it safe to assume that I can wait a few days to offer food again? Don't know if she'll make it or not, but I know I've tried.
Thanks again.
Cheryl

[KITKAT]

Just a tip I had from someone in the past... the lavendar baby shampoo actually has mild anti-fungal properties... apparently the lavendar oil does that.