Scale Rot, what's causing it?

[glofulmind]

I have a female ball, less than a year old. Had her for a couple months now.

A few weeks ago, the scale rot started. I was working most of the day and still experimenting with her feeding schedule, so she was hungry. Her bowl used to be in the middle of the terrarium so to pass from one side to the other while hunting, she'd have to crawl over her water bowl. By the time I got home, her terrarium would be quite a mess of wet substrate. I cleaned it every time but obviously she was in it while I was working, so she developed the tiniest little patch of scale rot on her side. I immediately cleaned out her terrarium, used newspaper instead of substrate, and kept her humidity to 50-55%. I rearranged her terrarium so she can't submerge her body in her water bowl by accident, only if she purposely goes out of her way. I also swabbed her scale rot every other day (no need to bathe her whole body for a small area, I did it once and she got a bunch of water in her nose).

I left her alone for about 5 days (two days before feeding day and then two days after). Finally handled her again and to my surprise, her whole stomach is affected. It's not very bad, just spots here and there, quite a few scales with a brown tip, and her stomach overall looking dirty. I swapped out the newspaper in case it was unsanitary and am using her baby blankets + paper towels that I change everyday. I bleached, cleansed & baked everything I use for her. Also have started her betadine baths. Humidity still 50-55%, temps are perfect. She should be shedding this month so if it doesn't go away with that I'll take her to the vet. I'm just not understanding what I did wrong? Why it spread to all over her belly so quickly even after all my precautions. I don't want it to get worse.

PS. my work schedule is a lot better now & taught my younger brother how to take care of her while I'm at work if need be.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

What causes scale rot is a damp or unsanitary environment.

[bcr229]

Pictures? Also what kind of heat are you using and how is it regulated?