weird - scales coming off one by one.

okay, so i had drake out today... i just couldn't stand not being able to spend time with him. so i held him for a while and he slithered all over me and i started noticing he was leaving scales on my hands... (remember he was rubbed down with mineral oil to kill his mites on friday)

he is still all glossy from his rub down on friday... and i wonder if he's shedding but instead of a complete shed he's releasing each scale because of the mineral oil???

here's a pic of the scales he left behind (my hands looked like they do after you gut a fish - with the scales on your hands)

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/scales.jpg

those scales in the pic are his belly scales... i also had his other scales on my hands...

anyone else ever see this?

I have never seen anything like that. Hopefully someone else can come up with an answer for you.

well i'm stumped. hope he is ok.

just a quick note: i did give him a nice soak in soapy water... he had a big poop and seemed to really enjoy his soak. i brought him out, dried him off and put him onto a clean towel in his enclosure. once the p.a.m. gets here... i'll move him into his new encl. once it's sprayed.

Careful how much soap you use. It supposed to be just a drop of liquid ivory in the water. I tend to stay away from homegrown methods like soap and mineral oil so I choose not to do it. Reptile Relief works for some and not for others. PAM is definitely the choice of most and righfully so. I personally use Permethrin from the drugstore but I no longer advocate it for others due to the fact that there was concern over the different strengths that are sold at different drugstores.

it wasn't ivory soap... oh man, should i bathe him again in clear water?

ooookay. well i'm leaving him alone for awhile since he's being bratty. hopefully my p.a.m. will arrive on monday and i'll give him another quick soak in nice clean water (no soap) before i put him into his pammed new enclosure :)

When we got Orlah she was a mess of retained shed all over. We soaked her repeatedly and also applied AD&D cream and she shed just like that...scale by scale..what a mess! I would assume that it's due to the mineral oil and will pass in time as it did with Orlah but I know I won't use that treatment again as it was just way too messy.

so just leave him and he'll shed it off with his next shed?

or should i be soaking him whenever possible.

i really want him to have a great life with us and at this point, something "traumatic" has happened to the poor guy everytime i take him out of his encl... and i don't want him to start assuming we are 'evil snake torturers' *insert menacing laughter here*

I had mites with my 2nd Bp, didn't see any when i picked him out at the pet store, but 2 days later, his tank was crawling.


I used reptile relief to kill the mites, then was told by my vet(just loves it when i bring the snakes too him) to soak him 15 minutes a day in a small container,
containing a light mixture of betadine and warm water, enough that he could only keep his head out of the water. This helps too clean out any dead tissue or mites out from under the scales

You have allready killed the mites, now it's the healing process--

I chose to use the mineral oil on his eyes and heat traps since they too were full of mites

anyway, he also began shedding individual scales all over--rest assured that after his next shed, all was normal.

I know how you feel, i felt like i was torturing him too--just make sure to spend some "friendly" time after each treatment--you will regain his trust.

GOOD LUCK!!

OOOPS---just make sure you keep him quarantined for 30 days after you know there are no more mites.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pythonweb

I used reptile relief to kill the mites

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Have you re-checked for mites? Reptile Relief, dish soap, mineral oil, etc.. is only good at killing the live mites. If you had a real infestation, then the likelyhood that you have mite eggies EVERYWHERE is very possible. Provent-A-Mite is the only safe to use and proven killer and PREVENTATIVE mite treatment. Get yourself a can and mites will be the last of your worries. :)

That was 2 1/2 years ago---after the one treatment, i had no more problems---


I forgot to mention that i thoroughly cleaned the tank each day while he was soaking---and only used clean substrate each day.

Too kill the bugs in any wood,etc---simply bake in your oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes--it's cheaper than buying new branches or wood hides.

I also notified the pet store which i still visit since they are the only pet store in my city of over 250,000 people that sells feeder mice and rats--Thay immediately quaranteened their reptile room--they had not noticed the mites and told me they had gotten new stock the day before i purchased my BP from them. I always look at their reptile room and haven't seen the little critter's since. They happen to be the most knowledgeable and reputable store we have for reptiles.

Petco, Petsmart, and other so-called exotic stores in my county--can't ever seem to answer questions or provide info concerning their reptiles--not to mention the bug infestations and sickly looking animals.

Sorry, i'm just rambling on about the stores around here, but it ticks me off!!!!

just for the sake of the archives... anyone looking to kill their mites and using mineral oil... i would NOT recommend it at all. it really turns your snake into a mess. everywhere it slithers... everytime you touch it... you are getting covered with scales.

use another method please :)

Snoopy lost her scales like that after I started using the neosporin & betadine thinking her problem was belly rot. Come to find out after the urgent vet visit, that belly rot wasn't the problem.


Vet coaching was to be sure and use the 50/50 bleach/water and then rinse REEEEAAALLY well, making sure to get ALL of the SCALES OFF!! Then after that air dried, I could clean again w/the chlorhexidine.

Dr. F said that for Snoopy, the next shed should take care of things so Drake would probably be the same way.

Good luck!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sweety314

Vet coaching was to be sure and use the 50/50 bleach/water and then rinse REEEEAAALLY well, making sure to get ALL of the SCALES OFF!! Then after that air dried, I could clean again w/the chlorhexidine.


Good luck!

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Clarify this for me....the vet said to wash the snake with a 50/50 solution of bleach???

OOOps! :oops: Nope, the tank. The snake was to be left alone until the next shed. Sorry about the confusion....

Whew! LOL Thanks for clarifying that!

It's :oops: when the mind works slower than the fingers and three or four thoughts come out all at once:fim:


......Esp late at night (okay so it's still only 2319 here and I'm at work, but the brain seems to be sluggish tonight! )

oh man, that WAS confusing!

i was thinking... i don't care what you say, i'm not soaking my baby in bleach!

that's what time it is here too!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sweety314

OOOps! :oops: Nope, the tank. The snake was to be left alone until the next shed. Sorry about the confusion....

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The problem w/leaving to the next shed was that w/all the neosporin on her, she was greasy and slimy. The vet thought that (the greasiness) was the reason behind the scale loss and why he wanted nothing else done until the next shed. He wanted to see if avoiding another care variable change would improve her condition.

i'm positive that the mineral oil is the reason for the weird scales falling off type of shed that's happening. i've heard from some other people who have used it that the same thing happened to their snakes.

hence, why i won't do that again.

good news... he's blue! so all that yucky kinda shed that's been going on will be gone gone gone :D

Excellent!!

I have seen that exact same thing.......It was when I was new to snakes and I bought a product called "snake oil" that claimed to make your snake all "polished looking".....I bought with the intention of using it as a shed aid....needless to say, that what happened was not what i planned on....She shed in scales, not one piece.....they were all over the place.