Nose irritation

[Karen]

Sylvia has been settling in well, though I found out last night she had mites and started treating her and her tank for that today.

I also noticed she has some substrate dust stuck in her nostrils and in the scales around her nose. She's been trying to sneeze it out, but hasn't had much success. It's starting to look a bit red and irritated. Normally I wouldn't start poking around her head to try and wipe it off, but could the irritation get worse and cause real trouble?

Other than the frequent sneezing she is breathing alright.

[Katrina]

I would keep it clean and just monitor it for now. It doesn't look too bad, you can wipe it off with a damp cloth. If it starts looking worse or infected then you probably want to see a vet, but from that pic it doesn't look too bad so I would just see if it heals.

Sorry to hear she has mites. Sounds (and looks!) like she really wasn't very well cared for, so it is great that she ended up with you.

I'm surprised that you said the zoo wanted a 'younger' animal. They can live for a long time, so unless they have had her for a couple decades she probably has lots of life left.

[Susann]

Are you sure it isn't mite-related? It may be something that gets taken care of when the mites and eggs and mite-poop disappear?
However you are treating your BTS you may want to wipe that area with whatever solution?
I've never dealt with mites so I really have no clue, just a thought.

[Katrina]

However you are treating your BTS you may want to wipe that area with whatever solution?

I'd be very hesitant to do this, depending on the mite treatment you are using. But most mite treatments you would not want to put on any red / irritated scales - in a product like Nix the active ingredient is a neurotoxin so definitely keep away from any kind of sore or wound.

[Karen]

I'm surprised that you said the zoo wanted a 'younger' animal. They can live for a long time, so unless they have had her for a couple decades she probably has lots of life left.

They estimated her age at around six years, but after seeing problems with her basic care I'm not really in any mood to believe what they said. I'm just focusing on getting her comfortable.

I'm not using Nix to treat the mites at this point, though that is my Plan B. I'm using Natural Chemistry's Reptile Spray but I would still rather not get around her eyes, mouth, or nose.

I gave the nostrils a quick wipe with a rag to clean some off, nothing too intensive, but she's sneezing less and the nose looks better. I think it could have been dust from the Reptibark I had her on before I noticed the mites. She's in another tank right now while I treat hers, I'm just glad I caught them quickly.

[Zach]

I would gently clean it off as well. In that area to the right of the nostril, sometimes I will gently use a toothpick to get hardened gunk off if the area is not already raw or irritated. If it's already irritated and red, clean the area with a damp cloth so there's no gunk, and it should heal on its own.

[Karen]

I would gently clean it off as well. In that area to the right of the nostril, sometimes I will gently use a toothpick to get hardened gunk off if the area is not already raw or irritated. If it's already irritated and red, clean the area with a damp cloth so there's no gunk, and it should heal on its own.

I'm giving her another mite treatment tomorrow, so I'll go ahead and use that time to clean it off a bit more. Thanks for the advice everybody!