Help!!!

Hello! I am a relatively new owner of my first ball python, his name is Darwin and he is a fire/bee, almost 11 months old and I've had him since the Toronto Breeders Expo in September.

I need help because ive noticed that a third of his belly has been getting really red, at first i thought it was his substrate (reptibark) because all of his belly was slightly red during shed (darker than the normal pink) but after his last shed on october 29th only 1 /3 of him is red...but its getting darker. I then thought it might be his heating pad so i turned it down, but now im noticing that some of his scales are also crispy...I'm really scared and would like help identifying it and some advice on what to do next (can I use peroxide, ointment etc because I've seen conflicting yes' and no's all over this and other sites)

I have plenty of pictures but no idea how or where to upload them, advice is appreciated!

I suppose its worth noting that before owning him I worked with exotics including ball pythons but I have never seen this before

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-Post-Pictures

Here are pictures!
His belly just looks a little red from the sides but you can't see anything: http://imgur.com/yFGw2LJ

Until you flip him over: http://imgur.com/X6B0k7u

http://imgur.com/CH9vT6t

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Thank you! I ended up using imgur!

What were your hot spot temps and how/where are you measuring them?

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I then thought it might be his heating pad so i turned it down,

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Do you own a thermostat?

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can I use peroxide

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NO, peroxide does not promote the re-growth of new tissue and should not be applied on a snake that suffers a burn.

If you are dealing with a burn depending on the extent, you will need to switch your substrate to clean paper towel, clean the burned area with betadine, and apply silver sulfadiazine and it might require anti-biotic treatment.

That's another thing, so throughout September the hot spot temps ranged from about 92C to 98C and then I went home for reading week (im a university student in Canada and we get a week off for thanksgiving), i took him home and all was well, then i brought him back and went about my routine as normal but when i checked the temp they were like 102 - 108C and i had everything as I always have with the heat pad regulator but for some reason its screwy, so i turned it down and checked a few hours later and it still said about 102-106 in some places and 85 - 90 in others (this is all only the hot side, the middle and edges of the heating pad) so for some reason its super inconsistent, so i moved my heat lamp to accommodate and turned the heating pad down again because 106 is nuts!!

I use a heat gun to check temperatures because that what everybody at the CRBE, including the breeder i got him from, suggested i use.

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yeah as i mentioned i do use a thermostat, and okay thanks! I have a lab to get to but i will reply to any other messages asap

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I always have with the heat pad regulator but for some reason its screwy

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IF it is screwy this means you need a RELIABLE thermostat and need to get rid of this one, a reliable thermostat regulates your temps with little to no fluctuation. and prevent over heating.....the current one obviously does not.

Are you measuring in Celsius or Fahrenheit? 90C would be way too high.

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Originally Posted by SiXandSeven8ths

Are you measuring in Celsius or Fahrenheit? 90C would be way too high.

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He mentioned some temps in the 100's so I'm sure he means F that said 106F or whatever it was is still far too high ...


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The problem is that I don't know if its the thermostat or the pad that may be screwy if anything, it just happened recently so I'm still trying to figure that out, the temperature is in Fahrenheit, sorry i said "C" that's the Canadian in me. I know that 106 is way too high which is why I am trying re-adjust it.

Is there any chance this is scale rot? I'm only asking because the red colour seems so strange, but the humidity has been around 50 - 55 during non-shed
and around 60 - 70 during shed...which doesn't seem like the conditions that would start scale rot.

Or can I confirm that the marks are burns? If I can figure out for sure what the issue is than I can hopefully fix it asap. If needed I can get some better quality pictures.


Also, Deborah where can i find "betadine, silver sulfadiazine and potential anti-biotic treatments"?

Sorry for the late response as I had class.