My baby reptile has exposed skin & discharge on feet. Is it scale rot?

This could be due to a scale rot, a superficial bacterial infection that can affect the skin. I would strongly recommend to immediately place Lenny with in a dry environment with dry substrate, good ventilation, and correct ambient temperature and humidity and then take him to your veterinarian for a check up to confirm this clinical suspicion and treat appropriately. Antibiotics may be needed. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Mild scale rot can be managed at home by controlling humidity and treating the affected area topically. Keep the enclosure and substrate dry and provide adequate ventilation. Use a diluted betadine solution to gently clean the affected area once or twice daily. Dry thoroughly afterwards. A dab of a triple antibiotic ointment or silvadene cream can be applied after each cleaning. More serious rot or rot that does not respond to conservative treatment should be addressed by your veterinarian or a vet experienced in treating reptiles.

This could be due to a bacterial or fungal infection. Swab the infected area with a diluted povidone-iodine solution twice daily. Scrape away the infected area gently with a blunt tool or a cotton pad. If this time of first line treatment does not help and you do not see any improvement in 48hours a check up at your local veterinarian would be required as antibiotic ointment and more aggressive treatment may be needed. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

Thank you for the follow-up and photos. Now both the photos have come through. This is very concerning. I look at those photos and would have thought the other way around. The one of the left I thought was the day of diagnosis and the one where he is pink was now. This is really bad :( I think he need injectable antibiotics (enrofloxacin) at this point so you need to get him back to the vet to get the injections. I would also ask your vet for a topical cream called Silver Sulfadiazine to use in place of the Neosporin. Hope this helps. If you have more questions you can always opt for a private consultation where we can chat back and forth. That way you can ask as many questions as you'd like. Best wishes.

It sounds like she either is trying to regurgitate a meal or she has a respiratory infection. When was she last fed? How large was the prey? How often do you feed her? Do you hear any wheezing? Any bubbles coming out of the nose or mouth? I don't really have enough information here to be helpful. The yellowing of the scales appears to be mild scale rot. You can try treating her at home with dilute betadine solution (1 part betadine to 10 parts water). If she has yellow scales all over her body you can soak her in a betadine solution bath for 20 minutes TWICE a day every day until the infection clears up. If it is just the location in the photo you can just apply the dilute betadine directly to those areas with a cotton swab. The betadine solution should be 10% betadine and the water should be lukewarm (80-85°F). After bathing, rinse the snake off and apply a topical antibiotic ointment (something like Neosporin will work fine). If the infection doesn't get better or even worsens, discontinue the betadine baths and seek professional help immediately. If you would like to post again with more information or opt for a private consult we may be able to help you better. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Thanks for reaching out about Rizzo and including photos. This does appear to be a deep shell infection. First, water quality is incredibly important. All substrate (rocks, soil) should be removed. Water changes daily. Next, a dry environment needs to be set up to allow the wound to dry. Aquatic turtles can stay out of the water for very long periods of time. Rizzo can be kept dry all day and allowed two periods of time to be allowed to eat (1-2 hours each time) as turtles will not eat if dry. This will all allow the topical application of a anti-microbial cream, and not have it wash off. A soft towel or T-shirts can be used for bedding. Lastly, a veterinary visit is needed to prescribe systemic antibiotics, likely injections, as creams don't penetrate too deeply. These will heal over time if therapy is aggressive. Good luck.

I would be concerned about possible fungal infection. If you cannot make it to a vet I would recommend placing them in a dry environment three times a day for 20-30 minutes. You can buy iodine and dilute it a lot and apply small amount to the lesions. Also some pet stores have drops to place in water of tank to help with fungal growth.