Help! Flaky underbelly scales (picts)

Hi
for about a week i have noticed that My BP's underbelly is getting flakey, and dry, also a slight pink tinge in areas, like when she is about to shed. What should i do?

Kyle

http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...ukik/post1.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...ukik/post2.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...ukik/post3.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...ukik/post4.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...ukik/post5.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...ukik/post6.jpg

What type of substrate are you using?

It looks like he was dragged backwards across some rough surface. I'll echo FatBoys question about the substrate. Also what kind of "furniture" do you have in the enclosure? Anything with a hole that the snake barely fits through? Maybe he tried to back out of a tight fitting opening.

If it were me, I'd make sure he had smooth paper substrate and nothing rough or with small openings in the enclosure. Keep everything clean and dry. Then see if it clears up with the next shed.

i am using exoterra forest bark as substrate, here are some picts of the enclosure.

http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...k/tankpost.jpg

http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p.../tankpost1.jpg

http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p.../tankpost3.jpg

do you use a UTH along with the lights? any chance of a burned stomach?

yes i use UTH only at night, the day time light i have is ample for the heat. the substrate when i touch it at night with the UTH on is warm to the touch, but not uncomfortabley so. How hot would be to hot?

Using your hand to judge substrate temp really isn't a good plan. You need something like a digital temp gun or even an Accurite so you can get a better idea of the temps your snake is dealing with right at substrate level or below if this snake has a tendency to shift it's bedding away.

Doesn't really look like a burn to me though. More like a bit of belly rot starting up. I'm not familar with that type of substrate. Is it hard to see waste products in? Does it tend to get damp and stay damp?

Personally I'd pull out that bedding, replace it with layers of plain white paper towel (I like the Viva brand...it's cloth soft and pure white) and apply a bit of Neosporin without pain killer once daily to that area. I'd also remove any sharp edged or rough surface cage furniture until that belly is right again. If it gets any worse, you'd likely want to have an experienced herp vet take a quick look and do a hands on proper diagnosis.

its easy to see the stools on this substrate and once its wet it dries out pretty fast, ok i will start with the paper base and removing the rough objects, how about giving a warm bath or anything like that?

You want that belly to stay dry. Yes maybe right before you put the snake into the revamped enclosure a bit of a soak to get rid of any surface nasties, but after that I wouldn't encourage a lot of that. Anytime I've dealt with a rescue with a bad belly developing either through belly rot or belly burns, I did this routine and so far it's always healed and once the snake shed a time or two, they had perfectly lovely bellies. Granted though, these were not advanced cases. If this gets worse, you need to seek a vet's opinion as no one online can or should diagnose. You also need to figure out what caused this so it doesn't re-occur.

thanks

I want to second Joanna's advice. You MUST know the temps of your UTH. What feels just warm to you and me is going to be very warm to the snake.

Remember, we are 98.6 degrees, If it feels warm to us, it's going to be too warm for your bp. A good hot spot is 93-94 degrees to avoid burns. BP's have been shown to not have good thermal sensitivity on their ventral side. They will sit so long they burn and cook their bellies.

Every UTH should be controlled by a thermostat or rheostat, and measured with a thermometer like an Acurite to avoid those situations.

what would be a good thermostat to get for the UTH? She just started the shed cycle today, her underbelly has gone really pink like normal and her colours are fading as well, i hope this clears her up :-)

A thermostat is often the single best and often most expensive piece of equipment you buy for a reptile. I prefer the Ranco and Helix thermostats, although there are more advanced and expensive ones available.

If your short on cash, an easy pickup is the repti-temp or a rheostat available at most pet stores. They are not very accurate and will have a variance depending on the room temperature.

I've used the repti-temp and constantly had to tweak it because it was ridiculously hot or cold, I hated the variance on it so I ditched it and bought a Ranco as soon as possible. They expect you to use a silly dial to guess what temp you have it set on. It pretty much means you need to watch it constantly.

A good thermometer is an Acurite with the probe. The probe is on the hot spot, the unit goes on the cool end to measure ambient air temps. Two birds with one stone. :gj:

My rescue came in with the same conditions.
He is flaking in some areas, as is your girl, and most of his scales are loose and dry/rough. I have the humidity high and he soaked for a few days straight when I first got him. He is doing better, and is now pink and getting ready to shed. I'm not bothering him, but I think all the issue was with my rescue was maybe the owner didn't put an adequately sized water bowl in his enclosure. I'm not suggesting you don't take care of your snake, but do you have a hydrometer in the cage? Do you know what the humidity level is?
My reply is a bit late, and hopefully all issues have cleared up for you- if they have would you tell me what happened, so I can take that into consideration with my guy?
Thanks.