Pete can you help me?

[Amanda]

Any constructive info much appreciated. I posted it on a reptile site and am getting nothing but bobba in return. Thanks Darl

I have an eastern Bluey who was given to me about three years ago. She came to me in a bad way, very thin and covered in 3 month old scars from a dog attack. Since then I managed to heal most of her scars and put weight on her. She has a stump with one toe but other than that and being a fussy eater she seemed fine.
With the heat wave we had up here in QLD she came out of brumation early and she also shed her skin. Problem is her new skin wasn't quite ready for her shed. She shed her feet and body but her head hasn't yet. I think that because of this shed her problems started.
We moved her entire enclosure a week after her shed to where I live now. Her enclosure, along with most of QLD was very dry and dusty. When I picked her up I noticed the bottom of her feet were very pink, I was a little concerned and checked them and nothing appeared to be wrong with them and dismissed it because she has a very vibrant pink underside to begin with. Big Mistake on my part. Because we set her back up (BTW it's an outdoor enclosure, tin sides etc) and put her plants back in and it's dry.... we watered the plants!
So now she has scale rot on her feet and despite my best efforts, appears to be spreading.
I've read publications (Bluey books etc) on how to treat it and the moment I spotted it She came inside, is on paper with heat, no water and is painted with Betadine twice a day. I even went to the trouble of painting each infected area with a different swab to try to stop cross contamination but like I said it has spread to the sides of her mouth.
I want to take her to a vet but therein lies the problem, none of them in Kingaroy have much if any experience with reptiles. I know she will need something like baytril injections but I'm hoping someone here can help me with how much baytil, how often and for how long. Can anyone also tell me what this thing looks like when it's starting to heal? Her feet are still very raw and look slimy. She is the quietest, sweetest bluetongue and I do love her dearly. If only I could get her to eat!
Thanks for any help.
I'm hoping to get her to the vet on wednesday if possible

the vet gave me Prednoderm cream.

Full thread here
www.aussiepythons.com/forum/herp-help-38/eastern-bluey-scale-rot-help-118304#post1523942

[Peter]

Honestly Matt would actually know more about this then I would, as he is reptile keeper at the zoo at the moment. However, I will try and think give you some tips that should help in general about bacterial infections, hopefully matt can shed some more light. You would probably already know all this.

Clean the cage out often! Use antibacterial cleaners, or Alcohol (the cleaning stuff if you can get your hands on it) or ammonia cleaning products. These should all help to kill bacteria living in the cage.

Can you get you hands on any other antibacterial stuff? Betadine is good (do not dilute it), but obviously isn't working. Maybe try some other washes etc. Basically it is the Iodine in betadine that kill bacteria. Maybe you are being too gentle. I know it will get messy, but try dipping the entire foot in a cap full of betadine, and let it sit so it can get right in between scales.

The thing with bacterial infections you need to know is that they love warm humid environments, they multiply exponentionally and fast. They are EVERYWHERE. You are probably looking at a billion bacteria on one little reptile. So you may be killing some, but you need to kill them all.

Baytril is 1ml per 10kg body weight. So I would imagine she would be about 0.1ml. Have you got some? If so I would probably use it.

Prednoderm may cause some pain but may work, but you need to be aware that the bacteria under the scales is causing necrotic dermatitis. Basically it is killing her skin slowly. So I think the small pain of the Prednoderm is worth it if it works.

WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE AND AFTER TOUCHING HER! Use antibacterial soap, then dry your hands, then wash with those gel formulars (the alcohol ones)

Hopefully matt can help too

Good luck