Underside Redness

[zmd0827]

I have a male pastel BP and a granite BP that are a mating pair... They reside in a tank, as opposed to a tub on a rack system. They have adequate water, heating, and live on wood chips and have wood structure. Their heat supply is by heat lamp well above the snakes, and a heat pad on the adjacent side under the tank.

I haven't seen this issue, but I have seen scale rot before, in pictures, but my snakes both have gotten a red/pink hued underside, when it used to be white. I am concerned for them both, and could provide pictures if necessary.

Is this something I should be worried about? I know the temperature within the tank is within the norm, and that the section of wood sitting on the glass that has the heating pad underneath it, is no where near hot enough to cause a burn. I have even taken precautionary measures, and added more wood bedding on top of the location where the heating pad resides.

Please advise me, if possible.

Thanks,

Zachary.

[turk621]

could be the start of the shed cycle

[K2exotics]

could be the start of the shed cycle

thats what I was thinking too both my girls turn pink.

[zmd0827]

Honestly, I haven't really picked them up and taken a look at their undersides prior to a shed, so I wouldn't know. Right now they're being jerks, as I just tried to pick them up to take pictures to post here, and they're throwing a fit. So I'm going to leave them be for now... as they are both sitting on the place where the heating pad would be with a low heat IR light is on, above them.

I guess the pictures will have to wait.

[dryates]

If u just got them then it sounds like a shed, especially if they are moody, just keep an eye on it, if it looks like a faded red/ pink it's probably just about to shed, up humidity a little

[Austenh96]

Hi,

My snake is going through this exact thing as we speak. About 4 days ago she developed a red/pinkish color all along her underside, and I assumed the worse. I was wrong, and the people here at ball-pythons.net told me she was going into shed. They were right, and dead scales are starting to peel off as expected, along with her eyes clouding up in a blueish tint. I am expected her to shed any day now. This is probably what is going on with your snakes. However, I could be wrong, so until your snakes show other signs of shedding, I would keep an eye on it.

P.s. if you see tiny specks of scabbing along with the pinkish skin, that is normal.

[Vypyrz]

I know everybody seems to think that they are at the begining of a shed, but think about the other possibility. Thermal burns. You have an unregulated heat pad covered by some type of wood and more substrate? How and where are you measuring the temps. If the substrate is too thick, it will act like an insulator and the heat will build up under it, and when the snakes move the substrate and touch the glass, they can get burned. You might want to invest in a thermostat. Do you keep these snakes together all of the time or only for breeding?

[zmd0827]

I only keep these snakes together for breeding. The male has a separate tank. I also separate them ever so often to let him regain his strength and to feed. There is a Zoo Med heat pad under the glass, but on top of that glass sits what is clearly about 3-4 inches of reptile bedding. The wood is not getting nearly hot enough to cause burns. I have three thermometers at different points on this tank. There is one under the basking light which varies in temperature from 86ºF to 79ºF (depends if it's on or off), one under the IR light and above the heating pad but close to the ground, which stays at 81ºF degrees, and one near the water bowl, which stays at a nice 79ºF. They're well within acceptable temperatures.

I was worried about the wood causing burns as well, however, I have indeed seen a snake that experienced burns before... I do not believe that's the case here... I did stick a thermometer into the wood until it was touching the glass, to see what the glass was reading out to be. Keep in mind, this was with the IR light off, to ensure no residual heat was affecting the read-out. It came out to only 84ºF on the actual glass. I could only assume that the wood that is in contact with the snake on the top of the region is only less.

And I would believe that if a snake was experiencing burns from that region, they would stay away from that region, as the other sections of the tank do not have heating wires or pads or anything underneath. But they love that corner, even when I clean the cage out, as I did today, I'll drop them where there is not a heat pad, and they'll always go towards the pad and ball up there.

[zmd0827]

So I finally pulled them out, to have a better look. They're not being pissy any more. Upon closer examination, the female is not nearly as pink as the male. The male, a pastel, has splotchy, although pretty consistent, pinkish hue to his underside. However, some of his scales have become slightly flaked on edges, and some have notches in them, as though he's been creating a lot of friction on certain scales. I have never, honestly, looked underneath the snakes in all the time I've owned them when they were about to shed, so I don't have anything to relate to.

I do not know if this means I'm overreacting or being paranoid, but I'm trying to provide more details to help you guys help me. I'm just worried for the well being of the two of them, as they are practically children to me.

Thanks guys for your help, in advance.

[jbean7916]

If the scales seem to be flaky I would go with pre-shed. Some of my snakes get pinker than others

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