is this scale rot?

i took my ball python out on saturday to show a friend and realize that she has brown around the edges of a lot of scales on her belly and they look eaten away in spots.

she is literally minutes away from a shed, i can't believe she hasn't yet actually. could this be causing the brown? ive never really examined her right before a shed because i like to leave her be when shes shedding as ive read you should.

shes about 1.5 years old and has been 100% perfect. perfect cycles, comes out climbs around as soon as its dark, sleeps during day. almost always has had a flawless shed, eats dead mice (now rats), within minutes every time.

the last two times i tried to feed her however she didn't eat. then i noticed this discoloration. i assume the two go hand in hand.

i had an appointment at the vet today, but had to cancel since it decided to get super cold and snow and i don't have my car atm and couldn't walk 20 minutes with her in the snow.

so i figured i'd get some info on here beforehand...

here is a photo i just took.

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/...ildew/lucy.jpg

The photo did not work :(

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Originally Posted by LGray23

The photo did not work :(

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hmm ill get it working asap stick around xD

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/...ildew/lucy.jpg

It looks like it could be the beginnings of it IMO, I'd definitely make sure the tank is spotless on a regular basis to avoid this. I'd see how it looks after he sheds. If it's the same or worse then try treating it.

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Originally Posted by LGray23

It looks like it could be the beginnings of it IMO, I'd definitely make sure the tank is spotless on a regular basis to avoid this. I'd see how it looks after he sheds. If it's the same or worse then try treating it.

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i upgraded her cage recently, its huge now. but the guy at the store as well as my girlfriend convinced me to get the brown mulch type stuff because my girlfriend thinks it looks better, and the guy at the store said its easier to clean.

i used to have the green mat stuff, i would just take one out and wash it and replace it with another whenever needed.

i was told with the mulch you only need to spot clean. is that accurate? so far the information i've got from any pet store as been incredibly wrong. this guy seemed to know what he was talking about, but now i'm not sure. she had no problems until i got this new stuff.

You should be to make a better determination after he sheds. Take a photo of the area after shed and post it if you can. But until then just as Lgray said keep the enclosure and specifically the substrate dry.

You can spot clean it for a while but you should do a complete change at least every month to six weeks.

I've never had a snake with it before, but from the pictures, it looks to me like it could be rot. I'd say to get him/her on paper towels or newspaper as substrate and maybe bump the enclosure temps up a couple degrees. Then get to the vet asap for antibiotics or ointment to put on it.

Just my opinion but if it's that close to shed I would reevaluate it after shed before heading to a vet. If it is scale rot it's a very early stage and waiting on a shed may clear it up and prevet an unnecessary expensive vet trip. Just my .02

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.

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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.

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