Scale issue

[das_nooblet]

Hello everyone, it's been a while.

had to extract Koko from behind the foam backdrop in her tank today, and noticed this on her stomach, about 2/3 of the way down. She is definitely irritable, as while my wife held her so I could get a clear picture, Koko actually bit me for the first time.



What would be the likely cause of this, and does it look like something I can handle myself, or should I look at going to see my vet?

She hasn't taken any food (live or frozen) in the last 5 weeks or so, and for the past couple months spends most of her time curled up in one corner or (lately) one of her hides. Her last shed was all one piece, but looking at it now, I can see where these scales were.

Partly due to life issues I have admittedly fallen well behind on cleaning and record-keeping. That said, there is nothing in her tank that she should be able to harm herself on that she wouldn't have done so ages ago.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice you all can give

[Bogertophis]

Are you sure there's no potentially-sharp edges on that backdrop? I don't think that's a burn, simply because it's too small of an area to likely be that, but it

does look like some kind of injury that's healing. If that were the only issue, I'd say just let it keep healing, but you also mention that she hasn't been eating-

that suggests she may have an infection from this & need help fighting it. Of course it's possible that her food refusal is just due to the time of year, but my

corns eat well all winter, so unless her enclosure is too cold??? And about her biting you, that also suggests that she isn't "herself" & is feeling poorly, so I'd

agree, a vet visit might be in order. She likely has internal pain where the wound is and when she was handled that was accidentally touched...that's nothing

you should take "personally", it's just a reflexive attempt to defend herself. As far as the wound, it appears well-closed so I don't think applying anything

(like Neosporin etc) to it would help at this point. That's my 2 cents...I hope she's OK.

Afterthought: I just noticed your words about her not taking any "live or frozen" food...if you have fed her live this could also be a rodent bite that you some-
how didn't see...rodent bites are a "great way" to get an infection.

What are her cage temps.? What kind of heat?

[das_nooblet]

Are you sure there's no potentially-sharp edges on that backdrop?

Positive, it's nothing but foam.

And about her biting you, that also suggests that she isn't "herself" & is feeling poorly

That's what I figured, I don't take her bite personally at all

Afterthought: I just noticed your words about her not taking any "live or frozen" food...if you have fed her live this could also be a rodent bite that you some-
how didn't see...rodent bites are a "great way" to get an infection.

Last summer, she decided she didn't want to take FT anymore, and has only accepted live ever since. After she started refusing the live, I also tried some FT to see if she had changed her mind again. I always watch the her and the mice, and though I doubt it, I suppose there is a chance one might have bit her.

What are her cage temps.? What kind of heat?

Her cage is a little cooler at the moment (69/80, heat lamps), as I am in the process of switching everyone over to PVC tanks, so she's in in a different room than usual.

[Bogertophis]

Well her temps sound fine (she should be eating), & while the room & cage changes can stress a snake, there's no way I can tell if there is something else wrong
that is related to that healing injury. (& it doesn't really look like a rodent bite to me either, but I threw that out there as a possibility, you can't always tell)

You might try gently holding her (carefully NOT touching the healed area when you pick her up) and THEN gently feel that healed area to see if she reacts (like by
biting you again, sorry to make you the "canary", lol...) If she has noticeable pain there I'd sure assume it's infected & get her to a herp vet a.s.a.p. From the out-
side, it doesn't appear to be infected, but again, she hasn't been acting normal from what you describe. How old is she, by the way?

About her bite: when you feed snakes live rodents, it often does make them more likely to nip defensively; battling live rodents is not a joke for them & many
snakes stay more wary...they cannot afford to be too mellow.