Thick crusty belly on BP

So worried I may have caused my snake a problem, he has a thick crusty brown colour belly, is having a shed, had him a year, never sheds in one piece but comes off fine usually, there is no bleeding or blistering, or did it and I missed it, If so this happend quick, was fine a few days before, I mist while shedding but did it make viv to wet, ,,,
Any advice please especially if I'm doing something wrong,,,,, thanks

Please let us know about the animal's caging situation and a picture would be very helpful.

To expand on the previous post, inform us of how you are heating the cage (UTH, CHE, RHP, heat lamp, etc), what the temperatures of the hot and cool spots are, and humidity levels.

He's kept in an Exo terrace viv, I use reptile mats, he's a climber so has log frame I made, tried to get him out for a pic but he's not in the mood, had him out earlyier to check over, will try tomorrow, don't want to stress him out, ,,,,,,,

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Originally Posted by Breezer

He's kept in an Exo terrace viv, I use reptile mats, he's a climber so has log frame I made, tried to get him out for a pic but he's not in the mood, had him out earlyier to check over, will try tomorrow, don't want to stress him out, ,,,,,,,

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Do you have a thermostat controlling these reptile mats?

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Originally Posted by Jon14

To expand on the previous post, inform us of how you are heating the cage (UTH, CHE, RHP, heat lamp, etc), what the temperatures of the hot and cool spots are, and humidity levels.

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I use a microclimate ministat probe kept in centre of viv, temp is 93f, ,, humidity is 60

Heat pad is under viv, the mat is double layered, I find it cleaner than substrate I was using and he seams happy with it

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Originally Posted by Breezer

He's kept in an Exo terrace viv, I use reptile mats, he's a climber so has log frame I made, tried to get him out for a pic but he's not in the mood, had him out earlyier to check over, will try tomorrow, don't want to stress him out, ,,,,,,,

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I am quite sure he is probably already stressed out. A picture at this point is not going to make it much worse.

If your temp is consistently 93 in the center of the enclosure the temp may be too high all over. There may be a reason he is climbing such as he is seeking a cool zone. Temp gun the entire floor of the enclosure under the substrate.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

I am quite sure he is probably already stressed out. A picture at this point is not going to make it much worse.

If your temp is consistently 93 in the center of the enclosure the temp may be too high all over. There may be a reason he is climbing such as he is seeking a cool zone. Temp gun the entire floor of the enclosure under the substrate.

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That's not the overall temp, cool side is reading 75,,,, the heat pad only covers a quarter of viv, ,,,,, don't have a heat gun but I will take your advice and get one

Could be a burn ! Id get a vet to check that out right away.


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You should make sure your microclimate probe is in the middle of the heat mat under whatever your using as substrate and drop your thermostat down to 90.
Also you should be keeping your humidity between 50-60 at all times and 70 during shed. You shouldn't be misting only during shed but as often as you have to in order to keep your humidity in th e range I mentioned above. This is probably why your snake never sheds in one piece.

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Originally Posted by Breezer

That's not the overall temp, cool side is reading 75,,,, the heat pad only covers a quarter of viv, ,,,,, don't have a heat gun but I will take your advice and get one

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Just an update and a thank you for your advice, it was a burn, I took him out of viv last night, put him in a tub, left the viv as it was, checked the temp with gun, was just over 100 inside hide, I was told to put the thermostat in middle of tank initially but know I've put a guage in hide lowered heat, moved thermostat closer, keeping him in tub while he's having antiseptic cream applied, ,,,,, caught it before it could of been so much worse, ,,,,,,,
A lesson learned at his exspence, ,,, will be using the heat gun every day in future,,,,,,,,, thank you again.

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

You should make sure your microclimate probe is in the middle of the heat mat under whatever your using as substrate and drop your thermostat down to 90.
Also you should be keeping your humidity between 50-60 at all times and 70 during shed. You shouldn't be misting only during shed but as often as you have to in order to keep your humidity in th e range I mentioned above. This is probably why your snake never sheds in one piece.

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Thanks for the advice, have moved the probe,

Glad to hear you worked everything out. Read a little bit on here, it will keep you out of trouble.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

Glad to hear you worked everything out. Read a little bit on here, it will keep you out of trouble.

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So will, glad I found this site, feeling pretty bad right now knowing it should of been avoided, ,,,,,,

Since you moved your probe under substrate in center of heat mat like I told you and set thermostat to 90 the top of substrate will be lower than 90 and I should of added that you want the top of substrate to be around 88-90. You can raise your thermostat up no higher than 93 if you need to in order to stay in the 88-90 area. Since your thermostat probe is in the cage 90 is a good start setting but I should of told you that you can raise it a little if needed. Sorry about that. Idk exactly what your using as substrate but if you can't get your hotspot in that range you can remove some substrate from the hot side. If your using a reptile carpet then you should have no trouble getting the top between those temps while keeping the bottom 93 or lower. If you are getting a hot spot of 88 with a thermostat setting of 90 I would leave it. The lower you can keep the bottom of the cage while staying in the hotspot range the better.

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

Since you moved your probe under substrate in center of heat mat like I told you and set thermostat to 90 the top of substrate will be lower than 90 and I should of added that you want the top of substrate to be around 88-90. You can raise your thermostat up no higher than 93 if you need to in order to stay in the 88-90 area. Since your thermostat probe is in the cage 90 is a good start setting but I should of told you that you can raise it a little if needed. Sorry about that. Idk exactly what your using as substrate but if you can't get your hotspot in that range you can remove some substrate from the hot side. If your using a reptile carpet then you should have no trouble getting the top between those temps while keeping the bottom 93 or lower. If you are getting a hot spot of 88 with a thermostat setting of 90 I would leave it. The lower you can keep the bottom of the cage while staying in the hotspot range the better.

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well i was ahead of you, did just what you mentioned above, its taken some tweaking but got there now, am using reptile carpet, thank you for your advice.

Just thought I'd send an update, Prince has recovered from the burn, has had two whole sheds, passing everything and eating well, it's taken some TLC but has no scaring, is as friendly as ever, in fact I can't go a night without him wanting to come sit on the sofa, thanks again,,,,,, I posted some pic's if you like to view :)

Good to hear.

You need to remove the probe from inside the enclosure, the probe should be OUTSIDE between the enclosure and the heat mat.

By keeping it inside it can be dislodged and the UTH can overheat creating a new burn, it can also be cool down by water (water dish tipped) or urine (BP can urinate large amount) which would lead to a rise in temperature yet again.