Blister Disease

Blister Disease
Generally seen only in captive snakes, this is an illness that can most certainly be avoided through proper enclosure maintenance. When kept on dirty, moldy, and/or overly moist substrate, fluid-filled blisters may form on the underside of the snake. These are different than burn blisters, and should be correctly identified before treatment. At first only one or two may appear, but they will grow in number and can become life-threatening if it spreads to the mouth, nose, or cloaca. The best treatment is prevention: keep the substrate clean and dry, spot clean feces and urates as soon as you see them, and do thorough substrate changes regularly. One or two blisters can be treated safely at home. Sterilize a very sharp needle and gently pierce the blister. Using a clean cotton swap or bandage, absorb as much of the fluid from the blister as possible. Then, twice daily you should flush the blister and surrounding skin with hydrogen peroxide or Betadine and apply antibiotic ointment. Keep the snake in a hospital tank until healed. If there are more than a few blisters, or they extended to a delicate part of the body, an experienced herp veterinarian should be consulted for treatment.

On that, snakes that are prone to lying in a water dish or need to do so (anacondas for example) are going to be very prone to it. Make sure that the anbient heat is high enough.