I think something is wrong with my snake's belly

[Agmcmurphy]

I have had Maddox, My ball python since Oct. of 2012. She is 4 years old, and 4 1/2 feet long weights 4.2 pounds. She eats 1 medium feeder rat (live) every 2 weeks. Her last meal was 5 days ago. I have tried to get her to eat frozen, but seeing as she was always live fed, she refuses pre killed prey. Also as a side note I have tried feeding her a little more often, but she will not eat more often than the 2 week mark. I have her in a 40 gallon breeder tank with screen lid. I fasten it to the top with 4 black metal lid clamps. For heat, on the hot side, I have a dome light, (white incandescent 75 watts, and up until recently I had a Zoo-med heat mat underneath. I cover the bottom with Repti-bark. The substrate is about 2 inches deep. I measure temp with a heat probe that stays in the tank. I also have stick on thermostats on each side. The room temp is 75 degrees. She has a half log hut on the warm side of the tank. I dont have a hydrometer, so i am unsure of the exact humidity. I do how ever spray down the tank and my snake gets semi regular baths. She has an ex large dog dish for water. She is the only animal in the tank. I normally hold her at least once a day for at least a few minutes. I do not handle her for 2 days after feedings. The only medical info I have on her is a clean bill of health, also we probed her and found that she is a she.

Today I noticed she had some redness on her belly. Normally i will see some redness right around shedding time, but she has shed recently enough so that should not be the case. After her shed the belly area cleared back up like usual. I checked the heat in and on the substrate, and the tank itself they were fine. how ever now i see that it appears she is burnt. or possibly her underside is being irritated by something. I have not changed anything in the tank to cause an irritation. I did pull the plug on the heat mat today, just in case. I am looking for some pointers on why she would show up red underneath. Also, i will post pics.

[cmack91]

Pics will definitly help alot. (Edit-Natural sunlight pics would be best).

Is her entire belly pink or just a certain area or spots?

Was your heat mat regulated by some sort of thermostat or dimmer switch? They can cause burns if they aren't.

How long ago was it since her last shed?

[Annarose15]

How wet is your substrate? When is the last time you did a full clean-out? Have you seen her soaking a lot recently?

As a side note - Don't bathe your BP, she doesn't need it as long as you provide proper humidity in the enclosure.

[Agmcmurphy]

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So her last shed was about 2 weeks ago. i don't know the humidity because i cant find a hydrometer in my area (about to order one online) i dont reallly bathe her i just kind of spray her down with a water bottle. her bedding was dry and she hasnt been soaking alot. Last full cleanout was 3 months ago i believe. Also it looks like there is some damage to her belly scales and dust is getting in. i need to find something better than the reptibark. i didn't have the mat on a dimmer or anything but i had the probe measuring the substrate over the mat. any help would be so appreciated!

[anwhit]

Doesn't look like a burn to me, but I could be wrong.

If not, it's just the reptibark. Whenever I raise the humidity for my girl's shed, the bark always rubs off on her belly. Nothing to worry about really. If it looks more brown then red, thats probably your answer.

[Agmcmurphy]

Thank you so much for your advice. another question. do her belly scales look damaged to you in any way? is there any way to reduce the dust in the bedding or another type i can use altogether because on closer inspection its looking like the dust is in between her scales. can i wash it off of her to make her more comfortable? im sorry for all the questions, Im just concerned because neither of my other two snakes are having this problem.

[NormanSnake]

They do look damaged to me, especially on the left side of that picture. I don't have any experience with burns, but I definitely think there's something wrong. What are you using to measure your temps and what kind of heat mat are you using?

[jsmorphs2]

That's what Repti-bark does to their bellies. It stains and causes their scales to crack. I would just put her on paper towels or newsprint and keep the humidity up a bit. It will go away, and stay away once she is off the repti-bark and sheds again.

[Agmcmurphy]

I am using a digital thermometer with a probe and she had a zoo med heat may a size smaller than the tank required. I unplugged the heat mat when I noticed the problem so I've switched to lighting for a heat source. I will be removing the reptibark today. Now I just need to find another substrate to use. What do you guys suggest.

[NormanSnake]

I use paper towels. Its much easier and more sanitary in my opinion.