is this scale rot?

i took my ball python out on saturday to show a friend and realize that she has brown around the edges of a lot of scales on her belly and they look eaten away in spots.

she is literally minutes away from a shed, i can't believe she hasn't yet actually. could this be causing the brown? ive never really examined her right before a shed because i like to leave her be when shes shedding as ive read you should.

shes about 1.5 years old and has been 100% perfect. perfect cycles, comes out climbs around as soon as its dark, sleeps during day. almost always has had a flawless shed, eats dead mice (now rats), within minutes every time.

the last two times i tried to feed her however she didn't eat. then i noticed this discoloration. i assume the two go hand in hand.

i had an appointment at the vet today, but had to cancel since it decided to get super cold and snow and i don't have my car atm and couldn't walk 20 minutes with her in the snow.

so i figured i'd get some info on here beforehand...

here is a photo i just took.

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/...ildew/lucy.jpg

The photo did not work :(

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Originally Posted by LGray23

The photo did not work :(

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hmm ill get it working asap stick around xD

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/...ildew/lucy.jpg

It looks like it could be the beginnings of it IMO, I'd definitely make sure the tank is spotless on a regular basis to avoid this. I'd see how it looks after he sheds. If it's the same or worse then try treating it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LGray23

It looks like it could be the beginnings of it IMO, I'd definitely make sure the tank is spotless on a regular basis to avoid this. I'd see how it looks after he sheds. If it's the same or worse then try treating it.

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i upgraded her cage recently, its huge now. but the guy at the store as well as my girlfriend convinced me to get the brown mulch type stuff because my girlfriend thinks it looks better, and the guy at the store said its easier to clean.

i used to have the green mat stuff, i would just take one out and wash it and replace it with another whenever needed.

i was told with the mulch you only need to spot clean. is that accurate? so far the information i've got from any pet store as been incredibly wrong. this guy seemed to know what he was talking about, but now i'm not sure. she had no problems until i got this new stuff.

You should be to make a better determination after he sheds. Take a photo of the area after shed and post it if you can. But until then just as Lgray said keep the enclosure and specifically the substrate dry.

You can spot clean it for a while but you should do a complete change at least every month to six weeks.

I've never had a snake with it before, but from the pictures, it looks to me like it could be rot. I'd say to get him/her on paper towels or newspaper as substrate and maybe bump the enclosure temps up a couple degrees. Then get to the vet asap for antibiotics or ointment to put on it.

Just my opinion but if it's that close to shed I would reevaluate it after shed before heading to a vet. If it is scale rot it's a very early stage and waiting on a shed may clear it up and prevet an unnecessary expensive vet trip. Just my .02