tan, crusty face?

for the last week or so, my ball python has had a dry, tan, almost crusty looking face. it almost looks like dry dirt, but doesn't come off. i've been thinking he's going to shed, but hasn't yet. i've had him a little over a month. i've never heard him make any sounds or do anything that would make me think it was a RI. he eats fine. he has a warm side of around 92, cool side around 82-85. humidity ranges 50-mid 50s.

anybody seen something like this before?

http://johnnywobble.com/forumpics/sid2.jpg
http://johnnywobble.com/forumpics/sid3.jpg
http://johnnywobble.com/forumpics/sid4.jpg
http://johnnywobble.com/forumpics/sid5.jpg

Can you get pics of your enclosure? It looks as though hes been sick, and may possibly still be.

Id get him checked out by a vet if i were you. Crusty is not good. He also looks like hes been rubbing.

It almost looks like poop. Have you tried letting him crawl through a damp towel? Either way I would get the humidity up closer to 60% or 65% and keep it there always.

this is the only pic i have of his tank. it's a 20 long. uths on both sides, plugged into dimmers to keep from getting too hot, then those are plugged into a 500R thermostat. there's reptile carpet under a thin layer of aspen. he has identical hides on each side and a big water dish. the outsides of the tank are insulated with black foamcore. the screen top is mostly covered with plexiglass to keep humidity in, but not all the way covered.

i adopted him from some dude on craigslist. there was gravel in the tank for substrate and heat lamps for heat. i cleaned his tank with dawn dish soap and hot water, then set up all the new heat and new substrate - the uths, dimmers, themostat, aspen, insulation.

http://johnnywobble.com/forumpics/sid1.jpg

his nostrils and heat pits look clear. the pits look pink inside and his nostrils just look dry and crusty around them, but there doesn't appear to be anything inside or coming out.

what makes you say looks like he's been rubbing? rubbing his face against something?

i tried to see if it rubbed off with my finger, but didn't try too hard. i'll try a wet paper towel tonight and see if it comes off.

Maybe try soaking him for 10 mins. To me it looks like his skin is dry and just needs some water.

How long ago did you adopt him?
Also, plugging a dimmer into a thermostat isn't needed, a Thermostat will control the temp all by it's self, the dimmer is used when you don't have a thermostat.

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Originally Posted by Elise.m

Also, plugging a dimmer into a thermostat isn't needed, a Thermostat will control the temp all by it's self, the dimmer is used when you don't have a thermostat.

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I don't know about the snake, but I know many people use a dimmer as well as their thermostat, to insure that if the thermostat fails, the heat pad or tape doesn't get too extremely hot. It's a good safety precaution and doesn't hurt anything to have it there.

Last year at a show in November I noticed that this one Ball python had the same thing happen right on top of its head. It was a bit smaller than the size of a dime, but I wasn't even sure what it was. I was thinking Scale Rot, but I haven't actually seen too many photos or videos of Scale Rot. It's just a possibility, but as stated before I would take it to a vet as soon as you can.

It could possibly be paint dust from that rock hide. Especially if you washed it and it didn't dry... maybe...


Rob

going to try wet paper towel right now...

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Originally Posted by johnny wobble

going to try wet paper towel right now...

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Good Luck, I hope it works...


Rob

it seems to have mostly come off with a wet towel. he was a good boy and let me wipe his head pretty good. can't tell if it's gone, or just wet so it looks darker.

good observation about the rock, now that you mention it, it does look to be about the same color. hmmm.

it was the rock hide that was causing the tan crusty face. if you rubbed your finger on it hard, some paint dust would come off.

so he shed and looks fine now... i fed him a mouse and changed the hides. after he ate, we was adjusting his jaws like normal, but he started rubbing his face against the side of the tank like something was bugging him and when he stretched his mouth open, it looked like there was something dark on the roof of his mouth. didn't look gross or anything, but looked like something about the size of a pea, maybe a little bigger and more oval, and looked like a dark greenish gray color maybe. just caught a glimpse of it. does that sound like anything anybody has seen before??? couldn't have been anything with his food like substrate because i feed him in a separate box with newspaper.

how do i open his mouth to try to get a pic?

bumped, sorry, to try and change the title.