White Spots all over Green Anaconda suddenly. Help identification and treatment...

[Mickelpython]

Hello Herpers,

I am in a situation where I am working with two adult green anacondas. They have been great so far. They are at a facility that has two big pools for them to sit in, plenty of space, and a few hot spots for them to bask. This facility also has many other species such as birds and primates.

The larger anaconda shed a week ago. Today I noticed all of these white spots on her. They are very hard and disconnected, only on top of individual scales. They scrape off, and almost feel like cement. After they are pulled off the green anaconda and exposed to the air, they lose their white color and turn that darker shade of black (seeming to die).

I thought it might be some type of fungus. I just don't know where she would have gotten it. The other anaconda in the same exhibit does not have any spots. The exhibit is kept very clean and the pools cleaned out completely weekly. I also worry that it might be something internal (maybe why we are not seeing it on the other snake) and it is just starting to express itself externally.

We don't think they are mites or any type of macro parasite because they do not move at all.

I attached 3 pictures. 1) Section of the anaconda with white spots all over (this is all over her body) (her body is underwater for this picture, but those are the white spots on her scales). 2) A bunch of the spots I picked off carefully sitting on a sticky note dried out (no blood or anything, scale underneath still intact on anacondas body) 3) Look closely: A few close up spots on the scales.

Does anyone have an idea about what this could be and how it should be treated?

Right now we are thinking about going ahead and scrubbing her down well (getting off all of the spots), wiping her down with Dawn soap mixed with water, spraying off the soap, and then putting her back in the enclosure with no pools of water, only water bowls big enough for them to drink from (in case this is a fungus coming from the water). We figure if it stays away for a week, then we can put the pools back (we all know green anacondas without their pools of water are not happy animals, for good reason). We also plan on treating the other green anaconda in the enclosure just in case she has spores on her.

Any ideas as to whether this might work?

THANK YOU!

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[DVirginiana]

That.... almost looks fungal to me? I've never seen fungal infections on a captive snake before, but I've done some labwork with fungi, and that's just really what that makes me think of.

I'd swab the area with betadine (I've used that to knock out fungal infections on fish before, plus betadine is just a go-to for any sort of non-viral infection) and consider a vet trip if a large area of the snake looks like that and not just one spot.

EDIT: I realize it might not be possible considering the size of these guys, but if you can it'd probably be a good idea to separate out the other one until you get this cleared up just in case. Also, if it is fungal, probably deep clean the enclosure as often as possible until this clears up. Fungi has a habit of hanging out on other surfaces.

[Albert Clark]

IDK what it is personally. I would agree with DVirginiana since she has worked with funguses. I would also want to ziplock bag a small amount as scrapings to be viewed under a microscope at the vets office right away. Just so you are identifying the right pathogen. It should definitely be viewed microscopically. Good luck with it and please let us know how things work out.