Help please

I was doing a few things around the house with Ziggy and I noticed this pinkish red color on the bottom his chin area https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6dcd22f40d.jpg
he just finished shedding a few days ago got any suggestions what it might be


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Nothing to worry about, I'd guess- he probably pushed his chin on something long enough to 'color up' a little. It's not bleeding, so he didn't break the skin- just a minor bruise.

Lol at first glance I thought he cut himself or I cut myself and accidentally transferred some of my blood to him never seen a bruise before on a snake


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Originally Posted by ziggy the pig

Lol at first glance I thought he cut himself or I cut myself and accidentally transferred some of my blood to him never seen a bruise before on a snake


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You'd never see it on his brown scales- but on white, the capillaries (tiny blood vessels) that supply blood to his skin show up when snakes get into a scrape of some kind. Remember that snakes are covered with skin that wraps around & under each scale, & around the next, & so on.

Out of curiosity what type of substrate is he crawling around on? Consider putting him on clean white paper towels so you can monitor this. Or, at least until the discoloration disappears.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...780b685088.jpg
It says it pet friendly I am working on getting something different incase this one is the culprit


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Originally Posted by ziggy the pig

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...780b685088.jpg
It says it pet friendly I am working on getting something different incase this one is the culprit


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When they say "pet safe" (on garden soil) they mean it doesn't contain toxic pesticides & such, but that's NO guarantee that it's a healthy substrate for pets to LIVE on- in fact, it's going to promote all sorts of growth, microscopically-speaking. Things like fungus & mold & most any kind of bacteria- especially with some humidity & warmth. I'd grow tomatoes in that, but not pet snakes. ;)

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Originally Posted by ziggy the pig

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...780b685088.jpg
It says it pet friendly I am working on getting something different incase this one is the culprit


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Come on man, a simple google search will lay out how bad sand is for most snakes and why! You took the time to post a thread about this but not to research the animals needs before you take it home?

This is comparable to bringing a dog home and expecting it be happy with a litter box and cat food.

"1) Sand can become lodged in the snakes vent.
2) Sand harbors bacteria like crazy, even when you think you have accurately cleaned your enclosure, filth is often hiding in the layers.
3) Sand can become ingested whether it is your intention or not, it's has the risk of causing impaction.
4) Sand and its dust can become lodged in the nostrils and depending on the species also their heat pits, this can irritate your animals respiratory system and cause an infection in the long term.
5) When balancing cleanliness and humidity, sand simply does not work. Wet sand is unhygienic but dry sand will cause poor sheds."

It was the only thing we had at the moment when I got the new terrarium I have coconut fiber in it now


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Originally Posted by Ergot

Come on man, a simple google search will lay out how bad sand is for most snakes and why! You took the time to post a thread about this but not to research the animals needs before you take it home?

This is comparable to bringing a dog home and expecting it be happy with a litter box and cat food.

"1) Sand can become lodged in the snakes vent.
2) Sand harbors bacteria like crazy, even when you think you have accurately cleaned your enclosure, filth is often hiding in the layers.
3) Sand can become ingested whether it is your intention or not, it's has the risk of causing impaction.
4) Sand and its dust can become lodged in the nostrils and depending on the species also their heat pits, this can irritate your animals respiratory system and cause an infection in the long term.
5) When balancing cleanliness and humidity, sand simply does not work. Wet sand is unhygienic but dry sand will cause poor sheds."

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@ Ergot: The product shown is a soil mix for raised bed gardening- not sand. ;) And fyi, on this forum we strive to be helpful, rather than hostile in our posts. Okay?

My apologies for letting you know what I had at the time and what I changed in his terrarium :(


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Originally Posted by ziggy the pig

My apologies for letting you know what I had at the time and what I changed in his terrarium :(


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You owe no one an apology- I doubt there are ANY members here that never made a mistake, & if you hadn't let us know, you'd still be doing something that might be harmful to your snake.
This forum is here to help you & everyone else- it's not here for snark. ;)

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Originally Posted by ziggy the pig

My apologies for letting you know what I had at the time and what I changed in his terrarium :(


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That’s the correct thing to do is let us know. The only way we can help is by your explanation of what’s going on. Also description of your products and set ups. Learning is a life long process. This is a forum with a team concept and the theme of each one teach one.

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Originally Posted by ziggy the pig

My apologies for letting you know what I had at the time and what I changed in his terrarium :(

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In some situations, this isn't far off from what some keepers have used, just not the right one for your particular snake. Had this been a bioactive setup for a smaller species, this wouldn't be a bad start to mix in with other elements like some bark chips and leaf litter.
Bioactives just don't typically work as easy for a ball python because they're heavy bodied and like to smush the plants. They also do have some sizeable waste to break down and would still need regular spot cleanings regardless... so most keepers just keep it clean and use a product that is a bit less likely to promote microbial growth

I'd follow along with Albert's suggestion to use paper towels temporarily to make sure there isn't more irritation and this heals up okay. That area is already one where the skin folds are a bit more visible because of the stretching required for feeding, so any irritation can look much worse than it really is, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious!