Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Drymarchon32]

Hi all,
has anyone ever seen blisters on their snakes, in particular Burmese pythons?
I have seen it sporadically,but only on the Burmese and have always attributed it to mites, the enclosure they are in is too big to treat 100% effectively but I treat the snakes instead and this seems to keep the blisters away. If anyone can shed any light on the subject I would really appreciate it.

Thanks
Al
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Complacency killed the keeper

[Peter Parrot]

I have never encountered the problem myself but have seen water blisters on snakes in other collections twice. The animals were spending far too long submerged in water (possibly due to mites also) and had developed blisters as a result. Wasn`t nice to see, but aparently they faded away after treatment for mites. That`s all I know about it I`m afraid.

Just thought I would add, in both instances the blisters were on carpet pythons.
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[Drymarchon32]

Thanks Peter,

I have always considered it an allergic reaction to the mites, our Burms don't spend much time in the water, just usually cruise through it. I know in the past there were a couple of Burms that died when the blisters became infected and subsequently infected the muscles below, which spread down the whole snake

It does seem to occur at, or around, the same time that we feed them, which leads me to think that the mites are coming in on the chickens, which are freshly killed and fed the same day, although it seems to happen with f/t chickens too.

I have recently changed their diet to rabbits and I'm hoping this will stop the blisters completely. Which do people prefer to feed out, rabbits or chickens?

Al
_________________
Complacency killed the keeper