Scale rot or burn?

[Dude123]

Hey guys, looking for some help. I noticed this on my little albino ball this morning and am unsure of what it is. It looks like scale rot or a possible minor burn. I'm planning on treating with neosporin style ointment( non pain reliever) once I pick some up tonight. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I checked her over about a week ago and there were no signs of anything like this. I've been misting a little heavier then normal lately because her humidity is usually pretty low right now. Also spilled some water in there maybe 4-5 or 5 days ago, but not a huge amount. Also noticed that her hot side hide had no substrate inside so that could be a potential source of burn. She also likes to climb of the fake plant in the back corner and occasionally fall off it. My first thought was an injury resulting from this until I googled scale rot.

Basic info:

she is small, around 85g at last weigh, feeding on hopper mice right now.
18x18x18 exo terra, exo terra forest bark substrate (fir). Top is half covered with plastic wrap and foil to retain humidity, which is being killed by the small night heat lamps I've been needing to keep ambient temps up.
Hot side temps are usually 90-93ish cool side ambient is around 73-78. Humidity is on the low side, usually not above 25-30 unless I've misted recently.
Heat is controlled by a herpstat with the probe taped to the bottom of the heatmat outside the tank.

Pics:

[bumblebee1028]

I'm not sure what it is, as I'm not experienced with either scale rot or burns, but if it is scale rot or a burn, it looks fairly minor to me. Hopefully someone with more experience can help more.

How deep is the substrate? I believe it should be only around 1/2" deep or so. What is the temperature directly on the glass above the heat mat (with no substrate)? If the temperature is above 94F directly on the glass, then you need to adjust the thermostat so the temp above the heat mat stays 94F or below. They are fine with a basking temp as low as 88F, so even with 1/2" or so of substrate, you should be fine with lowering the temp of the heat mat a few degrees.

You also need to bump up the cool side temps - they shouldn't go below 75F, but 78F and above is better. As for humidity, have you tried a larger water bowl or placing the water bowl on the warm side? I've also heard that people have good luck with adding sphagnum moss to the tank, or adding a humid hide.

I hope that helps!

[Dude123]

I'm not sure what it is, as I'm not experienced with either scale rot or burns, but if it is scale rot or a burn, it looks fairly minor to me. Hopefully someone with more experience can help more.

How deep is the substrate? I believe it should be only around 1/2" deep or so. What is the temperature directly on the glass above the heat mat (with no substrate)? If the temperature is above 94F directly on the glass, then you need to adjust the thermostat so the temp above the heat mat stays 94F or below. They are fine with a basking temp as low as 88F, so even with 1/2" or so of substrate, you should be fine with lowering the temp of the heat mat a few degrees.

You also need to bump up the cool side temps - they shouldn't go below 75F, but 78F and above is better. As for humidity, have you tried a larger water bowl or placing the water bowl on the warm side? I've also heard that people have good luck with adding sphagnum moss to the tank, or adding a humid hide.

I hope that helps!

Thanks.I agree that it looks fairly minor, so I'm glad I caught it now before it got worse. I've had a corn for about 6 years now but her setup is all locked in so I haven't had any issue like this before. Aside from going on a major fast last winter he has been pretty much perfect. This girl has been a little trickier lol.

Substrate was deeper then that, though I did a clean and changed it out to about 1/2 " today after I posted, as well as dropping the temps of the heat mat and making sure there was substrate in her hot hide. Heat temps have been finicky. I've been trying to keep them around 91 against the glass under the substate in her hot hide. Same goes with the cool side temps. Lately they have been sitting at 75-77 consistently, which I have been happy about. I picked up a larger water bowl last week, so that she can soak as needed since her last shed was rather poor. I'm also planning on adding a humid hide for future sheds.

We live in a basement apartment and unfortunately don't have any control over the heat. She was pretty close to the floor, which has been radiating cold with this ridiculous weather we have been having lately. I was able to move her away from the floor today with some new furniture which I hope will help stabilize the temps and reduce the risk of having issues with the thermostat fighting to keep temps up, and it seems to have helped already. Once she gets a bit larger her next home will be PVC which should help big time with the humidity levels.

[aldebono]

I would do a betadine bath diluted with water so it looks like tea, just once, and then put her in a sterile bin with paper towel and treat once or twice with non pain relief neosporin. Silver Sulfadaizine is another ointment that you can get from the vet that is much better, it treats gram negative as well as gram positive bacteria and is great for burns. Again, a little goes a long way.

The reason you don't want to do an iodine bath every day is it kills good cells as well as bad ones. So just once to sterilize the area and then ointment sparingly. You don't want to keep any wound damp or wet from ointment for too long, a drying out period is healthy as well as letting oxygen in to the wound.

[Wizard]

You can also use petroleum based triple antibiotic ointment on the area as well 3-4x a day. Make sure you rub it in well and check every few days to see how it's healing up. I would consult a veterinarian if it gets worse or doesn't look as if it's healing.

[aldebono]

I have heard from this forum, specifically Skiploder, that petroleum based products can turn the scales to mush.

[satomi325]

Yes. Any type of oil based products are not good for scales. They soften the scales and make them flake off.

The snake has very very minor scale rot. Just keep the enclosure clean and it will go away in a shed or two. Nothing to worry about, yet. You can wipe down your snake with Betadine to keep clean.

[Wizard]

I have heard from this forum, specifically Skiploder, that petroleum based products can turn the scales to mush.

Thanks for the heads up!

[Dude123]

Thanks for the help everyone. I will keep an eye on her and try to find some betadine and let you know how it goes. Then maybe some new pics of her, she has gorgeous orange highlights and spots.

[NH93]

Just thought I'd point out that it's a good idea to see what could have caused the scale rot, and change whatever it is. For example, if the substrate is too damp try misting it less (if you spray it), or dry it out slighty. If you ball spends lots of time in a shed box, take it out from time to time or let the moss dry out slightly as well.
Could be as simply as not spot cleaning - very easy to do; you just start spot cleaning