I need some clear answers about thermal burns/belly rot

Hi, I'm a brand new member to this forum, and I registered because ball python, Lenny, is having a problem.

I have looked under thermal burns and belly rot, but I have had extreme difficulty in finding out what my ball python has going on because of all the different answers....maybe some of you BP experts could help me out?
Here's the situation....

SYMPTOMS:
Two days ago I noticed that his belly is flaky. Just his belly.
There are not any red spots, rusty marks, or anything like that.
Just flaky and sort of pearlescent and maybe a little wrinkled looking.
My boyfriend and I think that it MIGHT be a little pink...but it's so faint it might just be our imaginations.

I thought it might be a burn or dehydration, so I bathed him in warm water and toweled him off. Just a little bit of the flaking scale came off, not whole scales of course, just a little bit of the layer. I've been keeping the humidity at 50% and his temps (night-day) are 70-77 ambient and 85-93 in his hide box. His other log hiding area is just a little warmer than the ambient when I check it. I use two thermometers (one probe in the hide box, one mounted inside the tank) and a humidity sensor. I use aspen shavings for his bedding. His last shed was about a month ago.

I'm going to entirely Re-Do his tank setup this weekend, and so any tips on that are appreciated, but I MOSTLY just want to know if the flaking is a thermal burn or scale rot or something else.

Do you have a thermostat?

Its impossible for us to diagnose over the web especially without any pictures. The best thing you could do for a 100% answer is go to a herp vet to have him seen.

vet a best answer and the saying a pic worth a thousand words it true..
ditch the half logs they not worth the money it take to burn them. i check the heat source and fee it it hot measure it against the glass. A bp will can moove the aspen around and make direct contact with the glass. this why you measure the temp at it ..

Yes I have two temperature sensors. One is a probe inside the hide box, the other is one mounted inside the tank.

I'll post pics when I get home, but if anybody else knows what causes a flaking belly, please let me know so I can help my poor little guy!

Also, I've gotten plenty of messages saying "go see a vet" but I can't get into a vet for at least a few days...I'm on a message board because I need advice on how to help him now, and an idea of what this might be, not just to go see a vet.

I'll post pics as soon as I get home this evening, but I'm trying to get this taken care of ASAP instead of just waiting for a vet and waiting until I can find my camera...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by schmup

Also, I've gotten plenty of messages saying "go see a vet" but I can't get into a vet for at least a few days...I'm on a message board because I need advice on how to help him now, and an idea of what this might be, not just to go see a vet.

I'll post pics as soon as I get home this evening, but I'm trying to get this taken care of ASAP instead of just waiting for a vet and waiting until I can find my camera...

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Are you using a thermostat? This is different from a thermometer, a thermostat controls the output of your heating devices. This question was asked to eliminate the possibility of a thermal burn. If you're not using one its possible that your snake may have been burned.

Are you sure this isn't a shed? Have you had a shed with this snake and know what is normal?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by schmup

Yes I have two temperature sensors. One is a probe inside the hide box, the other is one mounted inside the tank.

I'll post pics when I get home, but if anybody else knows what causes a flaking belly, please let me know so I can help my poor little guy!

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Those are thermometers not a thermostat, they allow you to read the temperature they do not control it.

If you do not have a thermostat and your UTH is un-controlled then yes you likely have a burned BP on your hands.

You need to see a Vet ASAP regardless of what is going on simply because it is likely that your animal will need anti-biotics to prevent an infection to set in.

In the mean time go get a lamp dimmer at lowes and place an order for a RELIABLE thermostat, you cannot leave your UTH un-controlled.

Change your substrate to clean paper towel and avoid stressing your animal (NO handling for now) and make an appointment TODAY.

Thanks for the clarification about thermometer/thermostat... I didn't know there was a difference :( I'm convinced it's a minor burn now.

As for shedding, this doesn't look like his usual sheds, and he shed just 3 or so weeks ago.

Thanks for the advice, I've changed the substrate and he's using a lamp (not a UTH) and removed the branches so he can't climb up too close to the lamp and burn himself on the mesh top (why I wasn't using it 100% before)

I have an appt. with a vet, but like I said, the earliest one I could get was Monday...so thanks for the advice on how to care for him until then.

Is there anything else I should do to help him out until he gets into a vet...?
Or any additional advice (good thermostat brand etc) for when I build him a new cage next week to avoid problems like this again???

Good thermostats from lowest level of quality/price to highest.

Dimmer Switch (Rheostat) - $10 from Lowes, Home Depot
On/Off Thermostats - Ranco or Johnson see prices here...www.reptilebasics.com
Proportional Thermostats - Helix or Herpstat www.spyderrobotics.com (Herpstat), www.reptilebasics.com (Helix)

www.reptilebasics.com has a good FAQ on the difference between On/Off thermostats and Proportional ones.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/Thermostat-FAQ-sp-10.html

It seems his temps are actually a little low. Or they are fluctuating a lot. I would invest in a thermostat, or a rheostat. 77-70 is a big fluctuation, and if that's only the ambient, there could be more on the floor of the tank. Also, they really don't need a day/night temp change, and I think anything below 75 is dangerous, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. Do you have the correct size UTH for the size tank? Good luck at the vet, and you could also put some neosporin in him for now (without pain reliever). It might sooth any soreness he has.

:confused:

Lenny is doing much better. He stopped flaking after another bath and a round of Polysporin. I was able to get a hold of a herp vet and they think that topical treatment (Polysporin) is fine unless he didn't start looking better. They seem to think it was a very very very mild burn. We'll get him antibiotics if any problems arise, but she didn't expect any.

However, I'm a little confused. When he was exhibiting symptoms (flaking belly), he wasn't pink at all. Now he definitely has a pinkish tone to his whole belly. It looks a lot like the pink he gets when he sheds, but maybe a little bit more pink than last time.

So, my question is, is it normal for a snake to shed after having a scale issue? Is this the snake's natural reaction to get rid of the damaged scales? This is the only reason I can think of that he'd be shedding again so quickly.

If so, have any of you dealt with a shed after a snake has had a medical problem? Is there anything special I should do to make it easy on him?:confused:

OH, and special thanks to everyone who gave me advice on heating/caging stuff! I'll post pics when his new cage is 100% done!

Shedding can occur more frequently when a snake is healing from an injury. Sometimes a larger than normal meal can also cause a shed to occur. I have no experience dealing with an injured animal but I think the only thing you need to do is keep up with the ointment, I would also bump his up humidity now to 65-70% until he goes from the blue stage to the looking like normal again stage right before they finally shed.

Could just be old skin ready to be shed. sometimes in a dryer environment, they get flakey. If you just noticed the belly turning kind of pink, it could be a shed coming on.

Check that all your husbandry is correct (hot end, cool end, humidity, how the enclosure is heated *and the heat regulated*), and that your bedding is dry, and clean.

Pictures would really help

If anything else, see a vet for a professional opinion.

Another thing to make sure is that the floor of your pet's tank is dry. It is very easy for our pets to get infected from constantly being on a wet floor, especialy with temps going down to the levels you have yours at.
Personally, I would bump the temps up a bit to a more constant level. I don't let my night time temps drop much more than 4 or 5 degrees and that seems to work great for my pets.
Hope this helps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by schmup

Thanks for the advice, I've changed the substrate and he's using a lamp (not a UTH) and removed the branches so he can't climb up too close to the lamp and burn himself on the mesh top (why I wasn't using it 100% before)

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So is there no UTH at all? Ball pythons should have belly heat. (Someone more knowledgable please correct me if I'm wrong)

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Originally Posted by Buttons

So is there no UTH at all? Ball pythons should have belly heat. (Someone more knowledgable please correct me if I'm wrong)

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They don't need Belly for sure, they can survive with Back heat. It's a matter of preference, really.