Scratch or "belly button"?

So, I just noticed what appears to be a scratch on my pythons belly (a picture will be included at the bottom) but was doing some research and saw it MAY be the where the umbilical cord was attached, but these seems to long and the color of it seems like it is more than that. I have read it is ok to put neosporin withOUT pain relief on the snake and it should heal after a couple of sheds. My main point of posting on here is to find out if its a scratch or not and also, if it is a scratch, what caused it???

He is still a baby, hes only about 15" long, this is my 1st snake EVER. He is in a nice sized terrarium which came with substrate of red bark, I was thinking MAYBE this caused it? But I will let you all decide and throw opinions. Also, I am sorry if this is the wrong place to post this, could not find a better place!

http://imgur.com/H3PjD

I have got a baby ball and he also has one of these looks identical to this one but just a bit smaller, and he is perfectly healthy :)

nothing to worry about I don't think :)

You should post in the General BP's (next time) if its about a Ball Python you may get more responses :)


What's your temps/humidity?
do you have a thermostat?

That is a belly button.

NEVER use neosporin or any other oil based cream on a snake. Oil based creams will turn the scales to mush and make a terrible mess. if you need to disinfect a cut you should use betadine (available at most drug stores over the counter) you dilute it 1 part betadine to 10 parts warm water (water temp in the mid 80's) remember that what feels warm to you will feel hot to a cold blooded snake.

check out these 2 threads:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...04#post1845904

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SRMD94

I have got a baby ball and he also has one of these looks identical to this one but just a bit smaller, and he is perfectly healthy :)

nothing to worry about I don't think :)

You should post in the General BP's (next time) if its about a Ball Python you may get more responses :)


What's your temps/humidity?
do you have a thermostat?

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good to know I am NOT the only one!!!! I do have a hydrometer and 2 thermometers, one thermometer on each side keeping his hideout around 75-80 and the basking area around 85-90. The humidity I keep around 55-60% and I use an UTH under his basking area to keep it more warm here. I have heard that Aspen is the best substrate to use, so I am thinking of switching to it although I really like the color of the bark in there now!!!

Quote:

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The Serpent Merchant

That is a belly button.

NEVER use neosporin or any other oil based cream on a snake. Oil based creams will turn the scales to mush and make a terrible mess. if you need to disinfect a cut you should use betadine (available at most drug stores over the counter) you dilute it 1 part betadine to 10 parts warm water (water temp in the mid 80's) remember that what feels warm to you will feel hot to a cold blooded snake.

check out these 2 threads:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...04#post1845904

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Thanks for the reply, I will never use neosporin after what you said, and am thankful that is his belly button. It looks a tiny bit red in the middle of it, which is what brought it to my attention. But I am less worried now, and if it does seem to get worse, I will be taking him to the vet asap!!!!




Thank you both for your replies, hope to see you around!

I don't think a vet trip is necessary. it looks normal to me.

What are you using to heat the cage? his belly looks a little pink which leads me to think that he is going into shed or is slightly burned by a heating pad.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hypnotixdmp

good to know I am NOT the only one!!!! I do have a hydrometer and 2 thermometers, one thermometer on each side keeping his hideout around 75-80 and the basking area around 85-90. The humidity I keep around 55-60% and I use an UTH under his basking area to keep it more warm here. I have heard that Aspen is the best substrate to use, so I am thinking of switching to it although I really like the color of the bark in there now!!!

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You should have the main hide on the hot side which should be around 88-92 Hot Spot
and the cool end around 80-85 if i am correct?
and your humidity is great, when he is in shed you should bump that up to 70-75% by misting.

Do you have a Thermostat? If not i would advise you to get one ASAP

Here is a pic of my setup:
http://i45.tinypic.com/2lwkg7l.jpg


As you can see the hide on the hot end (88-92)

and a Piece of wood on the cool end which he likes to hide under which is around 80-85 (never let it drop below 70)

As you can see i have a thermostat at the back the small black thing which controls the heat, This set up is a bit old now though, i have new heat mats, thermostats etc... :)

Could you upload a picture of your set-up?

Yea, it surely looks like the infamous snake "belly button" to me also.

Here is my set up, the temp above the red boxes is the temp in each area, and the brownish box is just where the UTH pad is!

I can switch the hideout and water around and what not, and I don't really use the lights you see on top unless I HAVE to! The UTH keeps it pretty warm in there on that side, so its all gravy, and the day light in there is not very bright at all, so it just seems like its "daylight" in there when it it turned on (UVA Bulb).

http://i.imgur.com/NQKle.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hypnotixdmp

Here is my set up, the temp above the red boxes is the temp in each area, and the brownish box is just where the UTH pad is!

http://i.imgur.com/NQKle.jpg

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You should try putting the hide on the basking spot, and also the hide looks like it has more than one entrance?
you should try to use a hide with one entrance/exit this will make your snake feel more secure, and maybe have one hide on the basking side and the hide out(cool side)

And do you have a thermostat?
and do you have digital thermometer and a digital hygrometer?

The dialogue one are very inaccurate

No, I do not have any digital YET. I am still saving up some extra $$ to get the digital stuff. I do not have a thermostat yet either, as I said, I will be getting all of that SOON, I am actually doing that this week with my pay check, so it will be upgraded to digital soon. I would also like to know if the bark in there is a good substrate or not, I will also need to get some aspen if its not as well!!

I used bark when i first got my ball but i found it was too messy for me so i just switched to aspen.

here is my thermostat and thermometer:
http://i48.tinypic.com/102tlit.jpg





and good luck with your ball and set up!

How much was that thermostat and thermomoeter?

HabiStat Thermostat (Mat-Stat) = £34.00
Exo Terra Theremometer & Hygrometer = £22.00

The red bark is fine. Two hides are preferred - one on the hot side, one on the cold side. Log hides aren't recommend on this site due to the two openings.

Generally ball pythons are listed by grams not length.

Digital thermometers and hydrometers can be found in Walmart and other stores for around 10-15 dollars. \

I'd move the water dish off of the UTH so your snake has assess to that spot. UTH's can get pretty hot, enough to burn your snake. Get a lamp dimmer if you can't afford the other stuff.

What do yall think about this one?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/La-Crosse-...meter/12168872

Or should I get something that has a wire on it so I can mount the LCD on the outside of the tank?

Try to grab one with a hydrometer on it.

You need a thermometer with a Probe, and a Hydrometer with a probe.

OK, so I got this for the thermometer/hydrometer! I still have to pick up a thermostat, just giving an update!
http://i.imgur.com/5dBWq.jpg

EDIT: I just realized this junk only does indoor humidity and not outdoor (outdoor would be through a sensor).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hypnotixdmp

OK, so I got this for the thermometer/hydrometer! I still have to pick up a thermostat, just giving an update!
http://i.imgur.com/5dBWq.jpg

EDIT: I just realized this junk only does indoor humidity and not outdoor (outdoor would be through a sensor).

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that is a great thermometer

the indoor temperature sensor and the humidity sensors are inside the main box right behind the screen, the outdoor sensor is the probe

you don't need 2 hydrometers. I use these exact thermometers in all of my cages

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMG_0448.jpg

Ye man, that is a great sensor, a lot of experienced keepers use them, if i could i would but they are not available in my country!

Well I am glad I made a decent choice then :D

I just thought the hydrometer should be inside the tank, but I guess I can use the analog one that is in there now, it seems to keep good track of humidity in the terrarium!!

the one you have now already measures the humidity the image you showed us?

it said 45% humidity btw that needs to be around 50-60% and 70-75% when your ball is in shed.

Well see, I had the "indoor" outside of the tank....I wasn't thinking lol. I now have it set up like the image below!!!! Now that it has been in there, it has had time to read the humidity, its over 50% and rising a little more, probably about 52-55%, and the temp is now reading 85 on the basking side and about 75 on the cool side :D

I also have moved it again since this pic, I move it down closer to the bottom of the tank to get more accurate readings!

http://i.imgur.com/mpnbc.jpg

Looks good, I have never used one of them before so I have no idea how many probes you get or anything.

With mine I have the humidity probe in the middle of the tank, the thermometer on the hot spot and the temp gun for anything else :)

Sounds good:

Temps - 88-92 Hot spot/basking

Yeah, this one has the hydrometer built into the part with the LCD readout, and that ALSO reads the temp, and it reads a mid temp, you can see MAX and LOW by pressing the up and down arrows. Then it has a single probe that only reads a 2nd temp, but its good for this, as you see, it reads out the temp on both sides of the tank for me on 1 readout!!!

Ok well i hope everything goes well for you, and that your thermostat and all that works well.

Goodluck

Thanks for the help, I think I will stick around here for a good while!!!! :)

Ye man this site is great just remember next time to post a thread in either:

General BP's
or
BP Husbandry

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/forum...1-General-BP-s
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/forum...2-BP-Husbandry

If that probe seen in the corner is your temperature probe you should mount it to the glass right above the uth. That would be the hottest spot available to your animal. I Usually stick mine to the glass with sticky tac right in the center of the uth and then provide thin substrate and a hide, and an identical hide on the oposing side for a gradient. If the probe isnt measuring the hottest spot you cant be sure what temps your animal is exposed to.