White snake post shed pinkness/skin irritation

Being a white snake, my 3 year old pinto pied male always turns a tinge of pink before he sheds. This pink hue usually dissipates a few hours after shedding. He went through a bad shed two days ago and has remained very pink. There are also darker pink/red spots throughout his body that look irritated. I'm guessing these spots might be where he rubbed trying to remove the stuck shed. Has anyone else experienced this?

Once I noticed a partial/bad shed, I immediately gave him a soak in warm water/shed ease and completely removed the stuck shed. So, the shed has been gone for about two days now. This is not a burn. He is being housed in a 32 quart rack system with 4 inch heat tape recessed into the rack under the tub. Temperature is regulated with a herpstat 4 proportional thermostat and the hottest spot he has access to is 91 degrees (verified this with a temp gun). Ambient temps in my snake room are currently 80-83, and humidity inside his tub is ~60%. I use reptichip as a substrate and mist it maybe 1-2 times weekly. He is definitely not laying in overly damp conditions that might cause scale rot. I'm not so concerned about the overall pinkness, but the darker, irritated spots concern me. I am going to monitor him closely over the next couple of days and if things don't appear to be improving, I will get a vet opinion. I just wanted to see if anyone here has experienced something similar?

Photo at link below

https://www.flickr.com/photos/151437...posted-public/

Link isn't working for me?

I just tried posting a new link

It is not unusual to see some redness after a shed on a white snake, but this is extreme and beyond anything I have seen before. I would try to keep it "dry" for a couple of days. Paper substrate and just a water bowl. No dampness at all.
This may reduce the redness. You can always jack the humidity up later.

So, I quarantined this guy yesterday afternoon and put him on paper towels. He definitely looked worse this morning. In my research I also came across this older post (https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...deceased-snake) of a BEL in what looks like a more advanced stage of what I'm dealing with and that snake did no make it. I have become concerned it could be some type of septicemia. I decided to take him to the vet this morning and am waiting for them to call me once they have inspected him. I will update this thread with the diagnosis/treatment. This is the first health problem I have encountered in my collection, and after searching/reading through many health-related posts here, it seem that those who initiate the post never follow up with the outcome. This is unfortunate as it does not help the community of people who may encounter similar problems down the road.

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Originally Posted by Dparri11

So, I quarantined this guy yesterday afternoon and put him on paper towels. He definitely looked worse this morning. In my research I also came across this older post (https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...deceased-snake) of a BEL in what looks like a more advanced stage of what I'm dealing with and that snake did no make it. I have become concerned it could be some type of septicemia. I decided to take him to the vet this morning and am waiting for them to call me once they have inspected him. I will update this thread with the diagnosis/treatment. This is the first health problem I have encountered in my collection, and after searching/reading through many health-related posts here, it seem that those who initiate the post never follow up with the outcome. This is unfortunate as it does not help the community of people who may encounter similar problems down the road.

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Yes, please let us know what the vet has to say. The more documented information we have the better off we will all be.

The vet believes this was some type of sepsis. They started him on antibiotics (fortaz injections) when I took him in. Unfortunately, none of it was in time and he passed away today. It's crazy how sudden this condition came on and how quickly it progressed.

Oh no! I am so so so sorry!

I'm sorry to hear about the loss. Are you considering a necropsy?

I'm so sorry to hear about your pied [emoji22]


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