I hear ya....I'm the same way. I spent at least 5,000 last year in vet bills. I've learn a ton and hope this year is a healthy one.

Let us know what they say. In the mean time, check out this site....it will explain all about what collasate is and does http://collasate.com/what_is_collasate.htm

I'm hoping for the best, for your little' un.

Well, as I mentioned my husband didn't like the look of the way the wound was healing, so we decided a vet visit was in order.
The vet decided to put Talyn under anesthesia, clean out the wounds and try to sew them up. I was there for almost 3 hours this morning!
Here's one before pic and the two after surgery pics.
Thanks for the link, Herpmom: I ordered the collasate from that site. Do you think I can put it over these stitches? Talyn's not supposed to get them wet, but she's alread tipped the small water dish and when I replaced it with the bigger one, she dragged herself through it. My vet never heard of collasate, but it sounds like it could serve as extra protection now that the wounds are cleaned out and closed up... any ideas??

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	wound1 sewn up.JPG (31.0 KB, 15 views)
	wound2 sewn up.JPG (33.2 KB, 11 views)

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Andrea

i hope he recovers soon.
tell talyn I told him tobe strong and heal quick

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MY PALS
0.1.0 BALL PYTHON-JERRI
0.1.0 AMEL. CORN-BAYBE
1.0.0 GHOST CORN-BOSS
0.0.1 BLUE TONGUED SKINK-DOUGLAS
2.1.0 CATS-POJO, CHEDDAR, SAMMIE

oh definately and it will keep the wound from further contamination & heal it much faster

Something you might try in the meantime is a trick I saw in Reptiles magazine recently. There was a case where a snake required medication being put on its skin and they couldn't keep it from getting rubbed off. They used a condom and slipped it over the area and secured it with a stretch bandage. The attached picture is from that article.

Attached Images

condombandage.jpg (31.5 KB, 11 views)

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Thanks for the tips everyone. Ryan I've already passed on your message. She's definitely being strong...for good and bad! Hopefully she'll also decide to heal quickly! I feel a lot better now that the wounds are closed.

The daily antibiotics and painkiller injections should be interesting!! Good thing my husband is a doctor and knows how to do injections. I'll be the one holding her still and hoping not to get bit!

Thanks Herpmom: I ordered the collasate FedEx next day express but it hasn't arrived yet. The shipping cost more than the gel!! I hope it gets here by tomorrow!
This is a bit late, but $5,000.00 in vet bills?!?! OUCH!! How many animals do you have?
This visit will probably run me around $200 plus the cost for the next few follow up appts.

Merlin, I've heard of the condom trick, but I'm a bit skeptical about getting it that far down. Also she's looking a bit cloudy, so I'm going to wait a bit to see if she's going into a shed. I'll keep it as a back-up option though; thanks for the pic!

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Andrea

I hope you get it soon. The more I read about that stuff, the more I like the sound of it and plan to keep it in my first aid kit always. Most animals won't keep bandages on and with it's natural pain management....I can invision it's potential.

I have 51 right now: 5 snakes (3 corns / 2 balls), 2 mountain horned dragons, 1 club-tail agama, 3 mali uros, 2 iguanas, 1 savannah monitor, 5 leopard geckos, 2 rankins dragons, 30 bearded dragons. (not to mention 1 pionus parrot, 2 sugar gliders, 1 rabbit, 1 mainecoon cat and 1 shepard).

I take any new animal I get in for an initial check up and fecal. But I also do rescue work (some I've kept some I've found good homes for), so alot of money went for their vet fees.

VERY fitting name then "Herpmom!" 51 ?! Wow!
I admire you're passion and dedication and that you don't scrimp on the check-ups and fecals in spite of the costs!

Thanks for all the help. My two snakes have really put me through a major "crash course" in reptile medicine and care these last few months. I think 2 is my ultimate limit for the next few years at least!

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Andrea

((blushes)).....thank you. And you are most welcome.

I've had a few crash courses of my own and suffered conflicting advice from inexperienced vets....which propted my purchase of some reptile medical books(Dr. Frye's "Biomedical & surgical aspects of captive reptiles" & "Reptile diseases"), not to replace a professional herp vet, but to know everything I can to help my animals. They've helped me when I felt something was not quiet right & in determining the most qualified vet for my babies.

I want to commend you though.....not everyone can admit or recognize their limits. It takes a very strong willed person....If there were more people like you, there would less animals in need of rescue. (((stands & claps)))

Now I'M BLUSHING
Honestly, I should have stopped at Talyn and waited at least a year before getting the baby BP, Monty. But although these two have put me through the wringer; I love them both to bits and am doing everything I can to keep my footing.
In the big picture we're doing OK. They both have enviable-sized terrariums and I really keep an eye on the temps and humidity levels, keep meticulous records of every feeding, urination, defecation, shed, water change, etc. As well as instant clean-ups of messes ... and LOTS LOTS LOTS of love.
We are going to get the new edition of "Reptile Medicine and Surgery" when it comes out in February. Like you, not to replace a vet, but just to get as informed as possible!
My vet made a surprisingly good impression today. But I hope not to need her too often in the future.

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Andrea