is this scale rot?

No, you will definitely need to clean the tank completely. Spot cleaning is okay in between cleanings but like ScottNBecky said at the very least 4-6 weeks it should be cleaned and disinfected. Being a hot and humid environment it is a great place for bacteria to live and thrive unfortunately. For my one tank and my tubs I just fill a spray bottle with water/bleach solution, rinse them all out in my shower, spray them down with the bleach/water, do a little scrubbing (mae sure you get the corners and edges well) and then rinse them a few times.

I use aspen bedding, makes spot cleaning so much easier since it's light, and you can clearly see when it's wet, and I don't have to dig through dark bedding to find poo.

If the snake is really that close to a shed, it could be just the old, brittle skin being damaged by the roughness of the bark underneath it. After the shed, I imagine the belly will look clean and pristine again. Same if it IS the early stages of scale rot. Very likely it will shed off and the snake will be just fine.

As for spot cleaning the mulch....the difficulty with that is you can't always know when/where to clean and you can't always get it all. Poop is easy, but pee can seep down beneath the mulch and be more difficult to both notice, and to completely clean up. Over time, it can build up into an unhealthy mess. You still need to do complete substrate changes and cage cleanings from time to time. How often depends on how often your snake pees. If I had a substrate like that, I'd probably do a complete substrate change every 4-6 spot-cleanings.

Looks like some more experienced keepers who have dealt with rot have chimed in. I will still say that while paper towels or newspaper is definitely not as attractive, it is VERY easy and cheap to maintain. If there's any kind of waste, you'll see it immediately. Just take out the snake, take out the soiled paper towels, if it's pee, I wipe down with hot damp rag, then replace the paper towel and snake. Every few months I'll take everything out and completely wash the tubs, but I've never had a problem with that method.

thanks for the help, i cant believe how active this forum is.

definitely gettin rid of the mulch, i shoulda just kept it the way it was in the first place, everything was fine, was no need to change. i'll wait till after the shed and go from there, and clean the cage really well today.

I often see this a week or two before a shed. It's generally worse if the tank is moist, and I've started to suspect there's a little mold in there.... so I could certainly see how it could TURN into scale rot. But I pretty much only see it when an animal hasn't eaten all winter and hasn't shed in 3 months, and the scales are just old and gross and dirty and are about to come off anyway.

At this level, and right before a shed, I wouldn't worry. My animals always shed out fresh and shiny within a week of me noticing the "dirty" and "broken" scales.

But I would recommend cleaning the tank out, rinsing with 10% bleach solution, and changing the substrate after the shed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by loonunit

I often see this a week or two before a shed. It's generally worse if the tank is moist, and I've started to suspect there's a little mold in there.... so I could certainly see how it could TURN into scale rot. But I pretty much only see it when an animal hasn't eaten all winter and hasn't shed in 3 months, and the scales are just old and gross and dirty and are about to come off anyway.

At this level, and right before a shed, I wouldn't worry. My animals always shed out fresh and shiny within a week of me noticing the "dirty" and "broken" scales.

But I would recommend cleaning the tank out, rinsing with 10% bleach solution, and changing the substrate after the shed.

---

thats the plan, and going back to something simple and easy to clean.