Hello I am waiting to put more plants in till he sheds as yesterday he when in blue. I was bathing him to help with shed when I realized this demormities on his under skin. I stopped the bath and placed him in his enclosure and he is zooming and exploring and climbing like normal.
This looks like scale rot…
What substrate do you use for this Ball Python? It looks like these spots may be stained by a dark substrate.
He might be going into shed because of the scale issue and it may be a reason for why he is not eating but thats not a guarantee, there are other factors that could play into him not eating.
Whats the humidity % at? It should be 50-60% going no higher than 70%. Temps should be 84-86°F on the warm side and 75-80°F on the cool side.
What does he usually eat? Live? F/T? Does he eat rats? How often do you offer him meals? Where do you offer him meals?
And back on the scale issue… I’d go around his enclosure and look for any areas that may be excessively damp or anywhere that has standing water. If you have any sphagnum moss in there you need to make sure it is only damp and that no water can be squeezed out of it if you hold it in a fist. Areas to look out for are around the water bowl and under hides. Soiliage can also cause scale rot so I’d look around to make sure there is no feces or urates that haven’t been cleaned up as well.
If you notice these areas starting to become red, swollen, oozing, having a foul odor, failing to improve or worsening he needs to be seen by a vet. Scale rot can be a mild issue that can resolve by itself but it can also lead to very serious bacterial or fungal infections that will contaminate other organs of his body and potentially become fatal.
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Thank you
This his enclosure he recently ripped out all live plants so I am getting fake ones it is cyprus mulch he used to eat live but is now eating frozen. He hasn’t eaten in 3 months It is really cold right now in Michigan the ambeant temp is about 78 I have a heater coming today to warm the enclosure the basking spot is about 86 and at night 76 is abmient I thought maybe scale rot but cyprus mulch drains so fast it never sits stadic or damp in there. I have had a ruff experience with this ball python compared to every other herp in my collection, at the expo he was sold to us at a discount and the excuse was that he wasn’t going to be breeding this ball python anymore because he had other projects he was working on and new morphs, about after month we realized he had snake mites, he was treated and had them no more was eating great thought good time to move him in a new home and hasn’t ate
This is the biggest issue with BPs and live plants. They will either crush or pull out most species. Fake is definitely the way to go.
It does! Although it looks like an older issue and not as fresh to me.
With a history of mites, this may have been an issue before but you may not have seen the scale edges and roughness being this messy until the cage change and the dirt got under there.
I definitely agree to keep an eye out for any redness, swelling under the scales or oozing. If so, a vet visit should be done.
So this is still what worries me a bit. 3 months is when he was moved into this enclosure, correct?
The ambient temp of that’s the ‘hot side’ is a bit low. I like mine up around 80-85 ambient with the hot/basking spot at 86-88.
The other issue could just be the enclosure in general. What was he living in prior to this when he was eating? We sometimes mean well with giving a big space with room to move…but sometimes an individual snake may not be happy with that.
If he was in a smaller space or a tub, you may want to try putting him back in that setup for a bit exactly as it was before when he was eating. If he starts eating again after a few days to two weeks, I think that may be the answer. He may just be one of those snakes that feels less secure in a big open area and just wants smaller cozy spaces.
If he starts dropping weight then I would still consider a vet visit. Maybe have him tested for parasites or bacterial infection.
I hope that a good shed, maybe a change in temps or the change in enclosure gets him on the right path back for you though!
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He used to be kept in a rac system when I got him. I moved him to a 40 gallon with a few fake plants and the plastic hides found in racs with logs and a hamock. Wounce he sheds I am going to move him to a rac to see if he will eat. I really don’t know if he enjoys the space he mostly stays in the warm cave in the league or curled on a stick
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Yeah going from a rack system to a 40gal enclosure could have been quite a big shift in this snakes life, plus the old scale rot that he is recovering from could be just too much stress for him/her. Maybe as a simple fix you could fill in the enclosure with more stuff for cover to make them feel more safe/secure. Also put the enclousre in a less trafficked area to keep from spooking them and keeping stress levels down. I also picked up a trick feeding F/T rats to try feeding a little smaller rat size to build confidence in the snake. Also Try to heat the rat up via heat lamp over top a table or some other hard surface with a paper towel underneath it to avoid water/blood from getting on surface, keep heat lamp between 12" to 18" away from rat (I can’t recall the power out put of my bulb I bought. Sorry) but a small rat for me to defrost this way takes 1 1/2hrs to 2hrs so be patient. I also get the rat temp gunned up to 105-115 degrees. If you dont have a temp gun the rat should feel warm in your hand, but not really hot. Plus put the rat head up to the heat lamp for 5 seconds to help the heat pits on their face pick up that extra heat and instincts kick in. If at first he seems a little intested but doesn’t take, don’t give up take rat away and try again. And while its defrosting have a fan going on low setting towards the enclouser for the snake to pick up the scent for the whole duration of the defrosting. (My snakes start going wild when I do this) Not saying that yours will, but if he does start look like he/she’s searching around for the delicious smelling source (To them, not to us…lol) then that is a good sign of hunting instinct. Its all about tapping into their instinct and them being comfortable and confident. If you decided to try this please let me know if it works. Your situation is different then anything ive delt with at all but I do want to try and help! I’m sorry you are going through this by the way and hope the best for you and your snake friend. If anyone objects to anything ive said please say so and I will surely listen.
Thank you. Best of luck amphibious11!!
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