2+ year old ball python turning slightly pink on belly

Hello, this is my first time posting here at BP.net and I'm posting because 2 days ago I noticed that my ball python Najita had a slightly pink tinted belly. Her scales do feel a bit more rigid now than a few weeks ago.

My immediate guess was that this could be the beginning of scale rot, so I removed her aspen bedding and replaced it with clean, dry paper towels. I also unplugged the under the tank heating pad in case the pinkness is the result of a burn. I see this as unlikely because lately she hasn't been hanging out near the heating pad. Yesteray she looked much less pink than the first day I noticed. Today she looked a bit more pink than yesterday but still not as pink as that first day.

I don't see any signs of mites, there are no dots anywhere on her, it's just a slight pink. She had a bad shed last time and so I was trying to increase the humidity in her tank. This pink puts a dent in my plan since I'm taking measures to reduce moisture just in case it is scale rot trying to start.

I'm hoping she is just pink because she is about to shed, like many forums claim. It's just that I've never noticed this before, and it also seems a bit early for her next shed. Do ball pythons ever just randomly shed early? Today I noticed her eyes were a little blue so maybe she is going to shed afterall...

Anyone have any idea whats going on? Thanks :) :snake:

Pics?

Also do you have a thermostat on that UTH??? They can get over 120F un regulated!

the snake is about to shed no worry about the pink its normal, thats just me saying my 2 cents :)

Theres a good chance that she is not hangin out on the heat pad because it is too hot.... Get a T-stat asap.

My bet is on an unregulated heating pad and the beginnings of a burn.

Checkout this thread on cage heating/thermostats

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...04#post1845904

If her belly is slightly pink and her eyes are cloudy, she is almost certainly about to shed. When was her last shed? Young BPs can shed monthly.

Also, as Reptiliachnids asked, is your UTH regulated with either a thermostat or rheostat? It is important that it is as they do get extremely hot and are capable of burning your BP. Note thermoSTAT, not thermometer.

And what are the humidity/temps in the enclosure? Your humidity should hover around 50-60% normally, and be raised to around 70% during a shed. Do you have a digital hygrometer and thermometer to determine temps and humidity? The analogue ones are worse than useless.

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Originally Posted by Ani

Hello, this is my first time posting here at BP.net and I'm posting because 2 days ago I noticed that my ball python Najita had a slightly pink tinted belly. Her scales do feel a bit more rigid now than a few weeks ago.

My immediate guess was that this could be the beginning of scale rot, so I removed her aspen bedding and replaced it with clean, dry paper towels. I also unplugged the under the tank heating pad in case the pinkness is the result of a burn. I see this as unlikely because lately she hasn't been hanging out near the heating pad. Yesteray she looked much less pink than the first day I noticed. Today she looked a bit more pink than yesterday but still not as pink as that first day.

I don't see any signs of mites, there are no dots anywhere on her, it's just a slight pink. She had a bad shed last time and so I was trying to increase the humidity in her tank. This pink puts a dent in my plan since I'm taking measures to reduce moisture just in case it is scale rot trying to start.

I'm hoping she is just pink because she is about to shed, like many forums claim. It's just that I've never noticed this before, and it also seems a bit early for her next shed. Do ball pythons ever just randomly shed early? Today I noticed her eyes were a little blue so maybe she is going to shed afterall...

Anyone have any idea whats going on? Thanks :) :snake:

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Edit: My temp on the warm side was 90-92 during the day and 88-90 at night. The cool side was 84-86 during the day and 81-83 during the night on average. her humidity was resting at around 40% awhile ago which is why she had trouble shedding. Up until worrying about scale rot I've been trying to increase the humidity by doing things like placing a clean damp cloth on the cool side everyday and have added a larger water bowl and one right under the heat lamp. But now I'm worried that in all this effort to increase humidity I may have given her scale rot! Help?:confused:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ani

Edit: My temp on the warm side was 90-92 during the day and 88-90 at night. The cool side was 84-86 during the day and 81-83 during the night on average. her humidity was resting at around 40% awhile ago which is why she had trouble shedding. Up until worrying about scale rot I've been trying to increase the humidity by doing things like placing a clean damp cloth on the cool side everyday and have added a larger water bowl and one right under the heat lamp. But now I'm worried that in all this effort to increase humidity I may have given her scale rot! Help?:confused:

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Edit: I don't have a photo of her but she looks very very simliar to this one here http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/.../6/baby9pb.JPG

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ani

Edit: I don't have a photo of her but she looks very very simliar to this one here http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/.../6/baby9pb.JPG

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Actually I don't think she is quite that pink, maybe 2-3 shades lighter of pink

What are you using to measure temperatures?

Was your under tank heating pad regulated by a thermostat?