is this scale rott?

[snakegirl4life]

I got my ball python Maxwell a couple of weeks ago at Petco. I noticed today that he has some white scales on his back, and they are uplifted, also on the top of his tail there are a few that are uplifted and i was looking at them today and i touched them to see if they were reallyrough or anything and some clear liquid came out of on my finger :S they werent there yesterday so whatever it is it happened overnight. im really worried. this is my first snake and I am pretty sure i have his enclosure just right, i have his warm side temp at about 93, his cool side at about 80, and the humitidy goes between 40-50%. i am more than willing to take him to the vet to get taken care of if i need to but i thought i would ask here in case its nothing serious so i can save some money, but like i said, if you think it looks/sounds pretty bad im defenitly going to run him to the vet on Monday. also, if its not something that needs vet care then what should i do about it?? could i clean it somehow? also i have Eco Earth bedding in his tank.. should i change to newspaper until he gets better? here are some pics i got of his back and tail, they arent that great of pics because they little guy wouldent stop moving, but you can kind of see what im talking about.. thanks in advance.

[stylevector]

external parasites such as mites

[snakegirl4life]

external parasites such as mites

I forgot to add that I have gone over him many times very carefuly looking everywhere on him for any mites and there are none whatsoever. i used paper towel for the first week i had him and there were no signs of mites there either.

[kellysballs]

I could be stuck shed or it could be a bacterial infection of his skin. Honestly if you have the ability take him to a herp vet and have him checked out. If you wait until his next shed and it is still there then he should definetly go for a check up.

[Hyper Joe]

It could be scars, scrapes or injuries. Hard to tell from the pics. Maybe from mouse bites?

Scale rott is normally from bad environmental conditions such as high humidity, dirty/soiled living area and poor air circulation. Basically, breeding grounds for bacteria.

If anyone would like to add on to this or correct me with some facts please do so. I do not know this through experience but only through books. I guess that is a good thing for my captives.

[Kaorte]

That just looks like missing scales to me, could be from rubbing up against something and getting a scrape. I would wait and see how it looks after the next shed. Scale rot is generally found on the belly of a snake.
Here are some examples of scale rot:
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../bukrta005.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3497/...2b6c20.jpg?v=0

[snakegirl4life]

Thank you everyone, I am going to keep a close eye on it and wait until his next shed, if it gets worse or is still there after he sheds i am going to take him to the vet.

[Hyper Joe]

Thank you everyone, I am going to keep a close eye on it and wait until his next shed, if it gets worse or is still there after he sheds i am going to take him to the vet.

Yup. Thats the way to do it. If your not sure take it to an experienced reptile vet. Note I mentioned experienced and reptile.

[Flicker]

Thank you everyone, I am going to keep a close eye on it and wait until his next shed, if it gets worse or is still there after he sheds i am going to take him to the vet.

Sounds good.

Keep in mind Petco aren't exactly reptile experts and they're probally just missing scales because of carelessness. No need to stress TOO much about it. Just keep and eye out.