Pink belly after shed?? health issue or morph ?

[Ronniex2]

Good morning all,

I have a 2yr old phantom spider BEL, she is around 12-1400 grams. She has a regular eating pattern that was just disrupted by her shed about a month ago. She has sense eaten and is from her behavior acting normal. She does have a heavy head wobble but she is my baby and I love her.

I reduced the humidity after her shed almost a month ago (80%<+, to 40%-60%), I use a fogger – I have her in a glass terrarium so I compensate with the coco husk and the fogger. I also use a 150 watt ceramic bulb – due to my tanks height – which keeps the bottom at 84-88 for her cool/ shaded side, and 90-92 on her hot spot with the UTH.

My issue is leading up to, during, and after her shed, she has gotten a very “pink” almost “Reddish” on her belly. Her pre shed pink belly is always very obvious due to her being a pretty much all white snake. As I look at her scales it does not seem to be from the coconut husk, though it was my initial assumption. I have had her on nothing but the husk sense I got her and never have I had this type of color issue with her. I fed her yesterday and she ate like normal back into her enclosure.

I guess what my question is, before I to take her to the vet, even though she shows no signs of irritation – bathing in her water bowl or anything out of the usual, could this be a mutation or a health issue? Maybe just blood flow situation due to the shed – which was one solid piece she has not had a “bad” shed in the 1.5 yrs of ownership. I did try to wipe her belly with a white rag with soap n water and even tried a little rubbing alcohol, after about a week after her shed and no residue or coloring was left on the rags and no reduced pink/redness.

I WILL SEND NEW PICTURES OF HER ASAP

There is a spot on her neck that makes me think "ringer" - but of what? which makes me think it may be a mutation, but I am a novice when it comes to this. I always wanted a white snake and she is my dream animal. I contacted her breeder – Dynasty- Chun- and he said her parent paring was BEL (No idea what BEL) to spider phantom. I do have a spider HET Clown, (for my clown project) and his “high white” is more of a “high yellowish/orange” and instead of him getting whiter he is getting yellowish/orangeish on his sides. So I am not sure if anyone with a Spider BEL of any other combination has experienced any color change as dramatic as this girl is. Or is this just a temporary thing I shouldn’t really concern myself with / or take her to the Vet ASAP - not many retile vets in NJ.

But again she is my baby and I want her to be healthy, happy, and safe, so if this is a health thing I will take care of it, if it is a morph thing I do hope one of you could help me identify WTF is going with my Spell (her name). I would appreciate any assistance on this if you all could enlighten me and or set my worries at ease please.

thank you

[Ronniex2]

Please visit my gallery to see the pics of her; I do not know how to attach them to the thread. I will add more pics tomorrow when I get home I will take pics of the "ringer" and her belly. I just want it to be a morph or phenomenon, but defiantly do not want this to be a health issue.

[Craiga 01453]

Is your UTH regulated by a thermostat?

[MD_Pythons]

84-88 for the cool side is too hot, aim for 75-80. Is it regulated with a thermostat or dimmer?

[MD_Pythons]

Here's a pic of it's belly, looks like a burn to me but I'm hoping someone else can chime in.

[Kira]

Definitely looks like a burn so I'm guessing you don't have your UTH connected to a thermostat. Unplug your UTH until you get a thermostat to regulate it!

Thermostats are one of the most important pieces of equipment and is not optional. If you're on a budget you can start with a jumpstart:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000N...art+thermostat

Later you can upgrade to a herpstat- which will be more reliable.

[tttaylorrr]

Here's a pic of it's belly, looks like a burn to me but I'm hoping someone else can chime in.

definitely the beginning of a burn.

[MissterDog]

Honestly sounds and looks like a burn. In combination of your cool temps being waaaay too hot (it should be closer to 78-80). I'll echo the concern and question if you have your heat sources regulated by a thermostat? This is a must!

How and what are you using to you measuring your ambient temps vs surface temps? Are you measuring your hot spot temps UNDER your substrate?

I did try to wipe her belly with a white rag with soap n water and even tried a little rubbing alcohol, after about a week after her shed and no residue or coloring was left on the rags and no reduced pink/redness.

Also please don't use soap on your ball python! Some types of soap are more harmful than others with who knows what chemicals are involved, but even mixed with water it can cause irritation and break down oils in their skin that could lead to other future problems in the long run, including shedding difficulties.

[Ax01]

ok this is very concerning. i just read this thread and saw red flags and went back to look at your other threads. i'm very happy that u got your dream snake but your excitement in owning her and breeding her put blinders on u from providing proper care for her. i agree w/ others and think she is burned. i do not think it is an exciting mutation.

1.a. the immediate thing is to unplug your heatsource for all your animals and do not use it again until u can regulate it w/ something like a thermostat as others have mentioned.
1.a. review/follow Pitt's crayon diagram of subtrate, thermometer, tank, thermostat, UTH diagram: https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../5/crayola.jpg
2. get her to a vet and get Silvadene cream or similar medicine(s) the vet will prescribe
3. u will need to keep her as clean as possible as she goes through treatment, so keep her on paper substrate like paper towels or newspaper
4. back off plans to breed. burn scars may even prevent her from breeding/laying eggs
5. do not breed your Phantom Spider BEL to your boy Spider het Clown boy unless u want some DOA eggs. (Spider x Spider may create lethal Super Spiders)
5.a. find another mate; my big feedback on Dynasty Reptiles is he doesn't keep track of all of the genetic lines of his animals so the other half of your Phantom BEL is unknown (could it be Lesser? Russo? etc.) but u can still make cool combos if she can still breed way, way later. just stay away from other Spiders and Champagnes.
6. read, research, learn and provide better care, husbandry and homes for your snakes (including separate enclosures)

that's pretty much your path forward for healthy, happy and safe snake.

[greco]

IMO, that could be a burn, but alternatively it might be the beginning of scale rot caused by overly damp substrate. I've seen "pink belly" similar to that a few times when my pythons have tipped over their water bowls and rested too long on their wet substrate. I'd put her on clean, dry substrate -- paper towels or newspaper would work well, and neither would cause further irritation to the belly. I treated my "pink belly" cases by soaking the snake in diluted betadine for 15 minutes, repeating the treatment every other day until the pink fades away. Of course, if the belly appears to be getting worse rather than improving, make sure you get her to a vet ASAP!