Check out this belly pattern. This wasn't always there....

Not only has Brianna nearly doubled in size in the past few months, but she has developed this belly coloration that seemingly came out of nowhere. The belly scales are getting dark bars on them, more so on the front end of her body than on the back end. I don't know what caused it but I think it looks pretty sweet. :)
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...0620-02033.jpg

I'd check your temps. Looks like it could be a mild/moderate burn, but burns look different every time I see them on here.

In fact, I'm inclined to say it's most certainly burn pattern. Can you tell us about your husbandry setup, please? Is your belly heat moderated?

That definitely looks like the beginning of a burn.

What is your setup?
Do you have pictures?
What are you using to monitor temperatures? Is it a stick on circular thermometer or one with a probe?
Do you have a heat pad?
Is the heat pad plugged into a thermostat or directly plugged into the wall?

Well the heat pad is side mounted so I can't figure out how she'd have a belly burn.

The last belly burn I dealt with was about 6 years ago and it involved damaged scales as opposed to discoloration.

Snakes get themselves into strange positions, it wouldn't be the first time a BP has decided to sleep against the wall. I wouldn't rule it out, especially since it's only on the upper half of her body. Patterns very rarely just up and change.

Well I was thinking that strange as well. I'll keep an eye on it and see if I can catch her sleeping against the wall. It would be out of character for her, but stranger things have happened in this collection.

It probably wouldn't hurt to take all precautions of treating it as a burn, regardless of monitoring her behavior. I'm not sure what her substrate is, but if she's not on paper towels, probably a good bet, at least for now.

Snakes do the darnedest things sometimes when we're not looking, and sometimes when we are. Haha.

My snakes are on cypress mulch.

Beginnings of scale rot? (Never seen it in person or dealt with it so just throwing it out there).

Her sibling seems to have it as well. Maybe it's just something I never payed much attention to before?

Thats weird. But doesnt much look like any burns I have seen posted. :confused:

Yeah her sibling Ace has almost the exact same thing, just not quite as dark. Dad doesn't have it though, and mom will lay eggs any day so I'm not gonna bother her. But I'm pretty sure she doesn't have it.

Looks similar to at least one of my ball's bellies, and it's definitely not a burn with them, just coloration. Temps are monitored and regulated with thermostats, and it's definitely pattern, not anything that can be felt. I never even wondered about it...

So I went and took a picture. It's not exactly the same...

http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...620_214920.jpg

See what I mean? It's a little similar. And like I said, this is definitely not a burn with him. This is my 08 male Cinnamon. He's had this pattern on his belly for as long as I've owned him.

OP, how does this match up?

Looks like coloration to me, not a burn.

It just looks like coloration of the scales the normal boy I used to have had that brownish hue to his belly scales.

1.0 Ball Pythons(Twizzler)
1.0 Cat (Loki)

Well I hope that's all it is. Like I said there's very little danger of her being burned in her enclosure. And I do like the coloration as long as it's just that. I wonder if it was always there, just not as dark? Her colors have indeed intensified in the past few weeks throughout her entire body. The darkened belly scales may just be part of that. I also feel a lot better about it having found it on her brother as well.

Is your bedding printed newspaper? sometimes if the newspaper gets wet, I'll see markings like this on my BP bellies. It's just the ink.

My snakes are on cypress mulch.