*Help request: Belly Rot?

Hi everyone - first post and I apologize for the fire-drill introduction.

I purchased our beautiful BP from a pet shop in early November. He is about 4.5 ft long, and was in excellent health when we got him. He was in the process of shedding (cloudy eyes) when we brought him home. After a week and he still wasn't shedding, I put a larger container full of water in for him, which he promptly dove into and completed a clean shed by that afternoon.

About a week later (Nov 10) I fed him a medium live rat. He struck, constricted and ate him VERY quickly.

For the last month I have read a few things to help with his keeping and added moss that someone at the pet store suggested. I would soak it in water, wring it out, then place it back in his cage. He seemed to love it and would lie in it quite often.

I started noticing cloudy eyes again a couple weeks ago and a pinkish hue on his belly. I added the water tub I had before with water and he seemed to complete a shed again, but his belly stayed very pink, with some red splotches in areas. Now it is very dry, brownish-red and pink and his eyes have clouded up again just 2 weeks from his last shed. Below are some pictures.

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/x...e/IMG_0034.jpg

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/x...e/IMG_0033.jpg

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/x...e/IMG_0035.jpg

I've also made 2 attempts to feed him and he is totally uninterested.

I need some expert advice. Should I take him to a vet?

A vet visit right now would be good. I would guess he has been exposed to the extremely high humidity from the moss too long. In the meantime switch him to a newspaper bedding and treat him with Neosporine w/o pain killer.

He looks like he may have some scale rot and he's going to shed again. Keep him on a dry substrate (ie newspaper or papertowels) and keep everything very clean. I would recommend Silver Sulfadiazine (SSD cream) over Neosporin. Neosporin can cause individual scale shedding and SSD does not... A vet visit isn't a bad idea as the vet can give you SSD (otherwise you'll have to order it).

I know you probably don't wanna here this but... He needs to see a vet.
After his next shed take him to a vet. Please for the sake of the snake :(
I hope he gets better!

He was a gift to my eight yr old son (thus the name Scribbles) - but I have fast fallen in love with him and look forward to him outlasting me. He has such a marvelous disposition.

I will do whatever it takes to keep him happy and healthy.