Possible scale rot?

I have a possible case of scale rot, which I don't understand. This problem boy was in to the vet's office last September, no issues, but in order to keep it that way we changed his substrate fron care fresh to paper towels. Over tank heat, big waterbowl but we never see him soaking. But his belly is brown tinged and feels papery with a few scales sticking up. That's scale rot, right? Should I take him immediately to the vet? Wish I knew how to attach an image here.

up I've made an appointment with my vet as I don't want to fool around if it is belly rot - had bps for about 15 years, never had belly rot before. He has overheat light - could the glass heat up enough to burn him if he gets under the papertowels? It's usually 85 under his hot hide. But I've seen a burn on a rescue and it looked different and the snake was obviously in pain. This guy isn't. I'm kinda stumped, and want to be sure it doesn't happen again.

Hello there, here's a thread on how to post pictures :)
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...th-pictures%29

Also could you give us some details on your setup? Are you using a glass tank or tub? What are you using to heat the enclosure and what devices your using to monitor temps and humidity? This will help us help you to diagnose the issue and get everything fixed up so you won't have to worry about this happening again :)

Thanks for the response!:)
The vet says we caught it early, and to do the betadine soaks. We went over my husbandry methods, and decided to go back to absorbent bedding with this guy. He's had issues before (not scale rot) and my vet thinks he has sensitive skin.
i was told to soak him in the solution for 5 minutes(shallow and tepid) , and that he'd probably not like it. After the five minutes we took the top off the bin and he made no move to come out, and actually swam about. We had to make him come out. My question now is whether it's okay to let him stay in longer - would it help or hurt?

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Originally Posted by AlexisFitzy

Hello there, here's a thread on how to post pictures :)
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...th-pictures%29

Also could you give us some details on your setup? Are you using a glass tank or tub? What are you using to heat the enclosure and what devices your using to monitor temps and humidity? This will help us help you to diagnose the issue and get everything fixed up so you won't have to worry about this happening again :)

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Your welcome :) and I'm glad the vet visit went well. An issue with leaving him in the water longer is letting the water get too cool and him getting cold. Also a longer soak may stress him out more since the scale rot must be uncomfortable for him. So I think a 5min soak will be good enough. Just make sure he stays nice and clean and the scale rot should shed off :D keep us updated on the little guy [emoji4]