Hey guys. I have 2 ball pythons, both female, and both have a some kind of scale issues on their backs. I'll give you some info on them first.

I got Lilith about a month and a half ago and I got Eve just over a month ago, both from petsmart. They both eat extremely well (Eve isn't a big fan f/t, but Lilith will eat anything). They both shed about a week to a week and a half after getting them. Lilith needed assistance in her shed as not all of it came off and had a strip of skin along her back. Eve got everything off except a small patch on her head which I helped with as well (I was extremely gentle and cautious on both counts, I used warm water and proceeded painfully slow).

They both looked great after their sheds until about 1-2 weeks ago. As I can't accurately discribe what's going on I'll post some pics.

This is Lilith. Eve looks similar.



I looked up scale rot, and it doesn't appear to be that. All the pics of scale rot I've seen have been on the belly. Both of their bellies are perfectly healthy and beautiful. Here is a pic.


Unfortunately as a first time owner I housed them both in the same enclosure for a while. Once I learned that was a no no, I fixed it promptly.

I keep them in separate 10 gallon tanks. With reptile bark as substrate. Both have UTH's under their hides and a heat lamp with 75 watt (purple) light over their hides. They both have a large water dish (big enough to soak in if they like, although I've never seen them do it) that gets changed every 2-3 days. The water bowls take up the width of the tank on the cool side, so there isn't room for a hide on the cool side. They spend most of their time on the cool side pressed against the glass and water bowl. Ever once in a while I will catch them in their hides on the warm side. The temp in the hide is about 99, middle of the tank is about 91, and I'm having problems getting a reading on the cool side (will try to get one if it will help you guys tell me what's wrong). The humidity fluctuates from 40-80. I spray it down as often as I can but I do have a job and occasionally sleep... So, its hard to keep it optimal.

Does anyone have any idea as to what's going on?