Bad shed and possible scale rot?

[eyeofowl]

I had noticed after my ball's previous shed that he had some missing/discolored scales on his head. After searching online for help and possible reasons I had come to the conclusion that he must of had a bad shed.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...l/100_6891.jpg

And then I noticed that around his tail he had these dark discolored scales. Possibly scale rot? I've thoroughly checked over him everyday to see if he had a mite problem and I still can't find anything.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...l/100_6904.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...l/100_6906.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...l/100_6899.jpg


Can somebody please help me out, I would take him to the vet a.s.a.p. but there isn't one in my area. I figure that I could take him to the place where I get my feeders "Ron's Reptiles" and see if they can help. I would assume that they probably have antibiotics considering they have a thousand plus snakes in their collection. I know what your all going to ask and the question is do I keep his cage clean?, Is the humidity relatively high?, etc. Yes his cage is cleaned regularly and kept dry. His humidity stays around 50-55%.
So what is this? and what should I do? Please help my snake.

[sweety314]

the first is retained shed.


The others look like to me that he's gotten into some tape and pulled the scales off, or maybe got oiled down and lost his scales.

They don't look like scale rot to me, but I've only seen the ulcerated pics online and the bubbling, fluid filled scales from when my snake Snoopy got a P. infection. Both of those events looked different from what you've posted.

Good luck!

R.

[eyeofowl]

Maybe the pictures don't show the coloration correctly. They are actually darker and duller then the rest of the scales in that area. Also, the scales don't seem to be missing, they actually seem bigger and inflamed. I can't seem to find any pictures online for scale rot, so I have no reference. But if he did lose some scales will they ever come back? and if it is scale rot will they heal with the proper care?

[sweety314]

Let me do some hunting. I had a request for VISUALS (that's how I learn) and someone posted a thread w/(albeit) extreme damage pics.


Have U searched the threads for belly rot/ scale rot? If they're cared for, they'll heal and there shouldn't be any problems after the next shed.

[sweety314]

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...731#post311731

Here's the other thread. Now, this was a VERY bad case, but maybe? it will help.

I'm sure Adam and some of the others w/more extensive collections will pipe up in the morning.

[eyeofowl]

Yeah, I have searched throught the threads here and on other forums. I appreciate the help and if you could find some links for me, that would be great.

[sweety314]

See my prev. message above.