Brownish tint to her belly

[VegaBP]

Normally her belly is a solid off-white color, as I'm sure all of yours are too. But today I got her out so I could clean her tub and she has a much darker tone to her entire body. Her back and side we're much darker than I've seen them before and her belly is not the same light color I'm used to seeing.

Has anyone else encountered this?

Hot side 89 cool side 79 Humidity 49-52%

I've turned the hot side down because since I put her in the tub she wouldn't leave the cool side so worrying that it was too hot I turned it down about five degrees and she has used both hides more freely since. She has shed within the last three weeks and just ate for the first time on Wednesday. Also I changed her substrate from eco-earth to aspen shavings when I changed to a tub two weeks ago.

Any suggestions are appreciated

[eMonk]

What was the temperature of the hot side before you turned it down? Do you spot clean daily? If they lay in urine too long they can get scale rot.

[VegaBP]

The temp was set at 94 before I turned it down. I spot clean around her hides every day or two. She's been pushing the aspen out of them and laying on the surface of the tub and I can see that they stay pretty clean. I do a full clean and substrate change every 7-10 days.

I've looked at a bunch of pictures of scale rot, it doesn't look like that she's just a darker tint than she was. It hard to explain...I guess. I figure if someone else has experienced it they'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

[Kaorte]

I would keep the hotside around 92* still. If she wants to be on the cool side, then she wants to be on the cool side. They thermoregulate as needed.

I don't know how to explain the scale discoloration. For now I would switch to paper towels and keep an eye on it until the next shed. :/

[VegaBP]

So She shed on may 2nd and I looked at the shed and there were no missing spots. I also held her for a few minutes the day after her shed and she seemed to have shed beautifully. However I was really examining her belly just now and it almost looks like there is a small flap of skin on a lot (if not all) of her bottom scales, almost like how our skin gets when we peel after a sun burn. It just has that appearance. Could that be the reason? Is it some of the shed she didn't quite get off and now its causing an irritation? If that is the case what would you recommend?

Or is it possible that she's going into shed even tho she just shed on the 2nd?

[SoundUnsleep]

Hi Vega: Just a few more thoughts.
How old or what's the weight of your ball python? If it's a baby, it should go through a shed cycle every month and what you are describing as an overall dark tint sounds like just that to me.
If it isn't a baby:
1. Check out the bag of Aspen and see if you have an ingredient list (should say 100% aspen, if it doesn't I would toss the bag assuming that it's a mix that belongs into the hamster department).
2. Where are you taking the temps? Bottom of tub over UTH, bottom over the bedding, mid height ...?
3. Here's a couple pics of a burn that led to a dermatitis (dermatitis can have many different causes). This snake was exposed to too much belly heat and developed a mild case of dermatitis (scale rot). Pics aren't enhanced in any way, so it should give you a good idea of what you don't want to see on your ball python.

Prior to shed cycle:


During shed cycle:


I'm pretty sure your BP is just simply getting ready to shed and in another 24 to 48 hours from now you'll notice the cloudy eyes.

[VegaBP]

Hi Vega: Just a few more thoughts.
How old or what's the weight of your ball python? If it's a baby, it should go through a shed cycle every month and what you are describing as an overall dark tint sounds like just that to me.
If it isn't a baby:
1. Check out the bag of Aspen and see if you have an ingredient list (should say 100% aspen, if it doesn't I would toss the bag assuming that it's a mix that belongs into the hamster department).
2. Where are you taking the temps? Bottom of tub over UTH, bottom over the bedding, mid height ...?
3. Here's a couple pics of a burn that led to a dermatitis (dermatitis can have many different causes). This snake was exposed to too much belly heat and developed a mild case of dermatitis (scale rot). Pics aren't enhanced in any way, so it should give you a good idea of what you don't want to see on your ball python.


I'm pretty sure your BP is just simply getting ready to shed and in another 24 to 48 hours from now you'll notice the cloudy eyes.

Those are great pictures. It doesn't look like scale rot it looks like it did just before she shed the last time and her eyes do seem cloudy.

The aspen is ZooMed snake bedding, it doesn't have an ingredient list but its recommended for snakes.

I take temps with my temp gun on the surface of the tub above the uth as well as with the probe from my thermo.