Brittle scales?

I have a 3.5 foot male bp. Hot spot low 90's cold side high 70's to 80.

I have noticed that my ball python has developed brittle scales on his underside over the past little while. Not terrible, but when I slide my hand against the grain the scales seem to get caught very easily.

My first impression was humidity trouble. I have been a little up and down with the humidity for the past little while. I think my cheap humidity reader is broken. The substrate is shredded coconut. I do not let it get dry but I certainly do not keep it moist.

My next guess was scale rot, but I am really not sure how that could happen as I clean his enclosure regularly and as I said, I don't allow it to be damp at all.

He is not going into shed either.

I have never heard of this trouble in the past. Has anyone had this in the past? Any ideas?

Thanks

Hard to say....

Any pictures?

I might be able to take some but honestly he looks absolutely normal. Nothing has changed as far as I can tell except for the noticeably more brittle scales.

His appetite has not changed and his behaviour has not seemed to change.
I have no clue.

Well when you say brittle, are they breaking off?

Are they flimsy?

Flimsy. No they do not break off. They just catch a lot now. They catch on my hand when I hold him they catch on his other scales when he rubs up against himself.
If I suspect scale rot, will it do the snake any harm if I take some precautionary measures and use some polysporin on him for a week or so? See if it changes things?

Try putting him on newspaper.

You might also try and soak him for a bit to see if it helps.

How often and what are you feeding?

Hi,

And you're absolutely certain he isn't going into shed? Because that feeling is the first sign my lesser is shedding usually.


dr del

I feed f/t mice. 2 jumbos every week. He is a great eater.

If he IS going into shed I have not seen any of the usual signs. In that case, a soak would be good for him. I'll give it a go and probably switch him onto newspaper on the weekend.

We'll have to see how it goes I guess. Thanks for the responses.

I am pretty sure this is just how their belly scales are, especially when they get older. The belly scales just kind of lift up a little bit.

I am almost certain what you are describing is a perfectly normal thing for belly scales to do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I am pretty sure this is just how their belly scales are, especially when they get older. The belly scales just kind of lift up a little bit.

I am almost certain what you are describing is a perfectly normal thing for belly scales to do.

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Well then i would ask if this is normal for a younger Ball as well.
mine is showing the same symptoms and he is a bit over a year old.

when i first started to read this, the first thing that comes to mind is that you (Mr.S) as well as i, are in canada.
maybe it has to do with the extra dry heat we have to use in the winter for our apt. or house?

My Ball also had a few cracked scales in the middle of his belly, i suspected he was harming himself on some plastic leaves i got.
he has a tendency to climb, and wrap himself tightly around things, i think he may have cut himself on the branch of the leaves, so i have since taken them out, applied polysporin and he is showing signs of healing.

another thing is he has not eaten in almost 2 months now (ever since i brought a female home) and he seems smaller, so i dont see him shedding anytime soon (boy i hope he does)

anyone have any take on this?

Do you have the two snakes housed together? That would explain the climbing on leaves and not eating. Sounds like the little one is stressed out.

I don't think you understood what I meant. Their belly scales and side scales are flexible and can lift up and catch on fabric and substrate and stuff.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Do you have the two snakes housed together? That would explain the climbing on leaves and not eating. Sounds like the little one is stressed out.

I don't think you understood what I meant. Their belly scales and side scales are flexible and can lift up and catch on fabric and substrate and stuff.

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Well, when you say housed together, do you mean same tank?
no, they are in separate tanks, in the same room, but separate enclosures.

The little one is a 6 month old baby girl, they 1.5 yr old is the male.

The female is eating once every 6 days, i finally got her on a regular eating cycle (wouldnt eat for 3 weeks when i first got her) but the male has no interest in food since bringing the female home.

the females scales are fine, however she did cut her belly in the first month, and it healed just fine.

what i understood from your first post i quoted was, when balls get older, their scales tend to just catch on to things, as i get.
but my question had to do with the fact that my male is still very young, and his scales seem flimsy as well.

could it be because he has not eaten, and may have shrank in size?
would his scales be overgrown for his body size now? and could that be the cause of what we are seeing?

thanks for your time, hope your enjoying the weekend :gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Joey'D

Well, when you say housed together, do you mean same tank?
no, they are in separate tanks, in the same room, but separate enclosures.

The little one is a 6 month old baby girl, they 1.5 yr old is the male.

The female is eating once every 6 days, i finally got her on a regular eating cycle (wouldnt eat for 3 weeks when i first got her) but the male has no interest in food since bringing the female home.

the females scales are fine, however she did cut her belly in the first month, and it healed just fine.

what i understood from your first post i quoted was, when balls get older, their scales tend to just catch on to things, as i get.
but my question had to do with the fact that my male is still very young, and his scales seem flimsy as well.

could it be because he has not eaten, and may have shrank in size?
would his scales be overgrown for his body size now? and could that be the cause of what we are seeing?

thanks for your time, hope your enjoying the weekend :gj:

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1.5 years old is not young. My 1.5 year olds have scales that catch very easily.

He very well might have lost some weight. I would go out and buy a kitchen scale so you can track his weight and see how much he actually is loosing. Although 2 months is not a very long time.


When you say he had cracked scales on his belly, are you sure you weren't just looking at his belly button?

Snakes have belly Buttons?:confused:

ok, so he isnt that young, the scale catching is normal for mine at least, but im confused on the belly button part

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Joey'D

Snakes have belly Buttons?:confused:

ok, so he isnt that young, the scale catching is normal for mine at least, but im confused on the belly button part

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On their bellys, about 2/3rds of the way down there should be slit right down the middle about an inch long. That is where their umbilical cord connects to them when they are in the egg. It is what provides nutrients to the developing snake.

Hi,

Yeppers - it's where they were attached to the yolk inside the egg.

There are some good pics of it in the first post in this thread.

And you can see it just to the right of the neck in this picture I took of one of my hatchlings - she hatched with a bit of umbilicus still attatched and it freaked me out so I took pictures.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/35/gooballs2.jpg


dr del

wow, love learning new things!
the pic Del shows, looks like the cut my baby girl had, i thought she cut herself, but that is exactly where and how the cut looks.
as for the male, he has no signs of anything like that from what i can see?

ill try and snap a few pics, but i have no idea where the charger for my camera is.


thanks all:salute: