Scale rot?

This is a friend's cinny. What's going on here?

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=3&theater

You can't share facebook photos. Try uploading it to this site or one like photobucket and then posting a link. :)

Ok, I'm just posting a link, can't get the image business to work.

http://s1120.photobucket.com/albums/...ellyrot002.jpg

More photos at http://s1120.photobucket.com/albums/...heirogaleidae/

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/...ellyrot002.jpg

I don't have any personal experience with scale rot, but that's what it looks like to me.

Check out: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...l=1#post859686

Look at this link: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...looks-terrible!

In the above case, it wasnt necessarily scale rot, I dont think the OP really confirmed 100% what the cause of it was. It was either a really bad burn or scale rot.

IMO I would switch him onto newspaper or paper towel for the time being. I dont have any personal experience with this either so maybe someone who does can help you out.

It's either scale rot or a burn but from the shriveled look of the scales, I'd say scale rot.

Is it being kept on damp bedding? On an under tank heater that is not controlled by a thermostat?

The answer to those questions should answer your question.

It will clear up if it's put into the proper environment. It is not bad yet.

She was being kept on damp aspen and with an uncontrolled UTH. Mostly I'd like to know which it is -- burn, scale rot, or both. She's on dry newspaper now being treated with Betadine and Neosporin.

Then have your friend read the care sheet on here and get it set up properly. Continue treatment. Within a couple weeks it will look better. By the next shed it should be pretty much back to normal. Wether it's a mild burn, scale rot, or maybe a combo.

Really it just looks like irritated scale rot. Just the beginnings of it though. Your friend caught it in time so no worries.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cheirogaleidae

She was being kept on damp aspen and with an uncontrolled UTH. Mostly I'd like to know which it is -- burn, scale rot, or both. She's on dry newspaper now being treated with Betadine and Neosporin.

---

Uncontrolled UTH and Damp Aspen are key words here.. Never ever use a UTH without a thermostat. Ever. And don't over-mist aspen because it causes scale rot. Tell your friend to try cypress mulch if hes having problems keeping humidity, it tends to hold moisture better. We cant really just tell you exactly what it is because none of us are vets, but in our experience, like we said, it is either scale rot or a burn. Definitely tell your friend to read this care sheet and follow it closely, for his snakes sake: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet Good luck, keep us posted.

OH Aspen... I didn't even realize you said that.. Another bad thing about keeping Aspen damp like that is it molds very very quickly. Like within days. Cypress generally will not mold. It is much better at keeping humidity up. But like the other poster said, until this has completely cleared up, paper towels or news paper should be used.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cheirogaleidae

She was being kept on damp aspen and with an uncontrolled UTH. Mostly I'd like to know which it is -- burn, scale rot, or both. She's on dry newspaper now being treated with Betadine and Neosporin.

---

Diluted Betadine and Neosporin without the painkiller I hope.

Make sure you tell your friend not to put the neo on every day and to be sure to pretty much wipe it off so it is not caked on. Oil based anything is not the best treatment for snakes unless it's being used on stuck eyecaps. In fact, it probably isn't even needed beyond one or two applications as long as the paper is kept dry and clean. No misting or spraying. To keep humidity up just use a large water bowl placed over the UTH and cover the top of the enclosure if it's kept in a tank.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daybreaker

Diluted Betadine and Neosporin without the painkiller I hope.

---

Yes and yes. Thanks to everyone for the advice!

Ok, so she's now going through a very difficult shed. Can humidity be upped, or can she soak or get the wet towel trick? Pictures from yesterday afternoon are here: http://s1120.photobucket.com/albums/...t%20Continued/
Her belly is dyed from the betadine, but I think she's going to need to see a vet....

Definitely raise the humidity so she can shed. That should have been done a couple days after her eyes went cloudy so she could get that skin off easily.

How often were you guys doing these soaks and treatments? It almost looks like a little too much. Like I said earlier, it was so little damage that it would have quickly fixed itself if it had been left alone after only a couple treatments. Then a clean enclosure with an ambient humidity of about 50%. paper towels or newspaper.

I agree, scale rot or a burn. It sounds like you have received plenty of advise to get this fixed, good luck and make sure everything gets fixed. If it gets bad enough, bps can easily die from infections.

Try not to use too much betadine, if she's stained, it may be a little much. It can actually be detrimental to healing if in excess, a lot of the vet community has gone completely away from using it because of this.

Treatment is good, but the 'if a little is good, a lot will be better' is not the case here. Good luck! :] I'm glad you're caring for her, and hopefully she'll clear up after her shed.

I think she was treated three times (Betadine and Neosporin).

Well make sure the ambient humidity is very high so she can get that skin off good. Then see what the belly looks like. If there is not much improvement, have your friend take her to a vet for some silver sufadiazine cream. No more soaks and no more neo or anything else oil based. At this point the only thing that should be put on her is the silver cream. It will help immensely but is only available from the Dr.

If the vet happens to be not very knowledgable about reptiles, please tell your friend to ask your vet for some of the silver cream. It's the only thing that snake needs if the belly does not look better after this shed.

It does look like early stages, though. If your friend can control the dampness of the bedding and the UTH (I would add a table-top lamp dimmer from Home Depot and put the snake on DRY paper towels for month or two), then it should mostly fix itself with the next shed.

But keep an eye on it for the next two or three sheds, definitely.

Some of my males seem to get mild cases of scale rot late in the season around their vents. It looked a lot like the picture in that linked thread above... It's almost like they're giving it to themselves by overbreeding. Is this common?

Inflammation of the vent area and the tissue just inside it is common with some males that breed a lot but I'm not sure why there would be any major soreness. Anything that looks like scale rot on the scales around the vent I mean.

Just be sure to pull those particular breeders and give them a break for about a week. Ask your vet for some silver cream to have on hand. It clears up any irritation right away.

She went to the vet today. They removed the dead tissue and took a culture of the skin beneath, which revealed a lot of Gram-positive rod-shaped bacteria. She is to have a weak Betadine bath every day for two weeks; after the bath, she gets silver sulfadiazine. She's also on Ceftazidime given every three days.

She should be fed regularly, her newspapers should be changed daily, and humidity kept at 40-50% until her follow-up in two weeks. I'll try to get some pictures up soon for posterity.