Skin health issues

[Dinoanc]

Hi! I'm posting here because I'm not able to find many answers about my BP and the vet seems pretty baffled as to what is going on with him.
He has not shed in a decent amount of time. I'll be honest, I shouldve recorded it, but I never wrote down the exact date. It's been a couple months though.

His skin is very... flaky? Scratchy? And has been like this for a a few weeks. It's not stuck shed - it's literally the fact his scales don't lie flat and everything is very dry. You run your fingers over him and those scales will catch on you. Only discoloration is one tiny marking on his neck, where I believe he got scratched on a sharp edge of his hide. (Its been sanded down now) I'm comparing him to my female, who has very smooth skin and is very soft to the touch.
Also, he seems to be shedding individual scales... although I had been applying a triple antibiotic to his scratch. I read that those type of ointments can do that to them.

Anyway, here is the questionnaire about him :

1. How long have you had your ball python?
Hatched August of 2018

2. How old (or how big) is your snake?

770g

3. Does it eat on a regular schedule?

He hasnt been eating that well, but before I would feed him every 10 days or so. Only in the past 2 weeks or so had he started to get back on track.

4. How long since its last meal?
5 days.

5. What type/size prey is being offered?
He used to be eating frozen small rats. Although, right now he is only interested in frozen mice.


6. How often do you offer food?

Every 10 days.

7. What type and size of enclosure does it live in?

40gal.

8. What are you using as substrate? If it has depth, how deep is it?

Cypress mulch and some moss sprinkled in.

9. What type of heating do you use?

Heating pad.

10. Do you use a thermostat to control temperatures?

Yes.

11. What do you use to measure/monitor temperatures?

It's a jumpstart brand thermostat with a little heat probe on it.

12. What are the surface and ambient temperatures in the enclosure?

78 cold atm, 92 on the mat.

13. What is the average humidity level?
I try to keep it about 60% when not in shed.


14. How many and what type of hides does the snake have?

He has 2. A closed in rock thing as a cold side (the type that has a ceramic bottom and a lid) and a fake log as the cool side with only 1 opening.

15. Is water readily available at all times?

Yes.

16. Does the snake live alone or does it share the enclosure with anything else?
Alone.


17. How often and for how long is the snake typically handled?:cens0r:

Every other dayish unless he has recently eaten. Hes very handleable, sometimes about 30min to an hour at a time.

18. Does the snake have any medical history (old injuries or illnesses)?
Just the scratch like I described.


19. Do you have any other reptiles? Have you brought in any new reptiles recently?
I have 3 other snakes, a female BP who is very new, though she is housed in another room. And also have a kingsnake and a cornsnake for several months now.


20. Is there anything specific or unique about your situation that we should be aware of?:cens0r:

Eh, I think I described as much as I could.

[Bogertophis]

Close up pics would certainly help. I would suggest a vet visit, or at the very least, get his stool sample to a herp-experienced vet to check for parasites. If he has internal parasites sharing his intake of water & nutrition, that could explain his difficulty to properly shed. Growth requires nutrition & proper hydration...parasites steal both. There may be other medical issues causing this but that's beyond what we can tell on the internet, & it's MOST likely caused by internal or external parasites. I assume ? you've checked closely for mites (use magnification!) & that this snake has NO mites? They could also cause this scenario.

[Dinoanc]

No he doesn't have mites as far as I and the vet can tell. Unfortunately he hasnt pooed since he stopped eating regularly. Which has been over a month. So I'm unable to send a fecal :/

He has been the vet twice tho and they say he looks beautiful. Just has some terribly dry skin. I can try attaching some pictures later but it's kinda hard to photograph his odd scales.

[Bogertophis]

Then he might have some sort of digestive abnormality causing this (assuming also no internal parasites...you still need to rule that out). If no internal parasites, your vet can best explore other ideas: while it's rare, some snakes have poor digestion. Years ago I had a rattlesnake that could not digest well, fats especially; it was obvious by his poor body weight (triangular shape) and oily foul-smelling stools. I first tried adding digestive enzyme powder to his f/t prey, but it wasn't enough to correct the problem, so I took a chance & let another "hot" (venomous) rattlesnake make kills for him, then I'd steal the prey before the other snake could eat them (boy did I get "dirty looks"! ) and that finally was very effective- he gained weight & his stools looked normal. (FYI, venom is a huge part of the digestive process for rattlesnakes, and the one who had trouble digesting was one that had surgery to remove his venom glands rendering him "safe"- it was NOT done by or for me, he was dumped on me as a rescue, along with some others- long story.) Anyway, I'm only telling you this because for variable reasons, snakes can have deficiencies just like any other creature. Some humans have a "weak stomach" & lack certain digestive enzymes too, & need help. Sometimes a tumor can preclude the production of needed enzymes, etc. I actually hope it's something EASY to fix like worms in the GI tract...

[dr del]

Hi,

I think we need to see a picture to be able to help.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-Post-Pictures

From your description it sounds like a stuck shed but we need to see it to make that call.

ETA: your vet should know how to take a swab from the cloaca if no poop sample is available.



del