Hello!
Paranoid first time snake owner here! My partner and I recently adopted a young ball. We've had him for 3 weeks and he's been eating like a champ and has been quite relaxed with being handled. About a week ago we noticed a dark spot on the side of his neck but I didn't think much of it. Tonight while handling him, we noticed that the spot actually appeared to be a missing scale and that some more scales along his neck seemed to be "lifted" for lack of a better term. The "lifted" scales lie flat when he has his neck straight and only show up when he curls. We examined him for mites, but couldn't find any evidence of them.
His belly scales all look perfect. I can't think of what he might have scratched against in his tank (we did drill holes in the sides and while they're relatively smooth, they could be smoother. I will be further smoothing them down).
All the lifted/missing scales are near his head/neck.
http://i.imgur.com/KfNpj7A.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/rCM0O73.jpg
We have been struggling to get the humidity down in his tank (it has been between 70-80). Would this maybe factor into it? He hasn't had a shed with us yet either - could this just be the lead up to a shed?
Again, first time snake owner and I'm a bit anxious about doing everything right for him, haha!