Scale rot

[Ray]

Hi my royal was coming into shedding, so I upped the humidity.I done this by misting the viv with water. He looks as if he is a little pinkish on some parts of his belly.Ive read that it can be a really bad thing in one book.I read in another book to use iodine solution and apply antibacterial cream.How bad is scale rot as a problem to the snake.He hasnt shed yet so have to wait to see how extreme the scale rot is. I cant believe it ,I only upped his humidity approx a week.Hope when he sheds hes not too bad.Anyone got any thoughts on this please.How long does it take to clear up when treating it.

[frankykeno]

Ray is it possible for you to post clear pics of this "pink belly"? It's impossible and irresponsible to diagnose online but it may help us help you better define what might be going on. It could be something serious or it could just be the normal pinkish belly of a shedding snake or it could be the beginnings of a belly burn from an uncontrolled heat source.

Have you had a look at the excellent shed sticky yet? It may be of great help to you.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=28794

[Alice]

Ray, many times a pink belly is an indication of shed. Most of my ball pythons' bellies turn pink when they are in shed.

I agree with Joanna, post some pics and maybe we can help you more.

Good luck.

[lord jackel]

I agree with the other posters and will add you usually don't get scale rot by simply "upping the humidity for a week" which means if it is there is another cause.

What are your temps hot and cold side? And how are you controlling it?
what substrate are you using?
What is your humidity normally and then what did you "up it" to?
Any other details about your cage setup?

[Ray]

Hi and thanks for your replies.I have the heat mats on a Habistat.Im cooling my royals since the start of October.Dropping the night time temps a couple of degrees.I have 4 royals in the exact same set ups.Ive only noticed this pinky colour on the 2 royals getting ready to shed.With the 4 royals the only thing different I done, was to spray some water on the snakes that are shedding.Im am useing newspaper at the moment so I can see if there are any signs of sperm plugs.I have my vivs in a room on there own so they wont be disturbed.They are near a window so they can be more in tune with the natural light cycle.I have them on newspaper so I dont have to put lights on and off during the night checking to see if the snakes are locked.I will try and get some pics.

[Ray]

Hi thanks for the help.My royal finaly shed.Ive been watching him everyday,cought him shedding earlier.You were all right about the pink belly and shedding.I have my first royal approx 5 years and this is a first to see the pink belly.When the skin came of I picked him up to see how his belly was.There was a couple of tiny drops of blood.So theres a couple of new things I learned.Thanks again and all the best. No scale rot.