Scale rot & stargazing

[MuicyJelon]

I don’t know what scale rot looks like so I’m putting some pictures up. Just tell us what you think it is and what it isn’t.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MuicyJelon]

Don’t know what scale looks like, so I’m posting these pictures, just tell us what you think it is and isn’t.


Also I’ve read some stuff about stargazing and signs of it, the obvious one being just stretched upwards and staring at the viv/tube ceiling.
Now, I saw mine stretched up the side/wall of the viv doing that same thing. I don’t have any pictures of him doing it I only noticed it before and he’s back in his hide now. Could I have just startled him?
Here’s the worst ‘drawing’ I’ve ever done in my life, but I’m just showing what it looked like.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bogertophis]

Not seeing any issue with the scales. And just because a snake looks up or tries to slide up the side of their enclosure doesn't mean he's "star-gazing".
Be concerned when they do that for extended periods of time, & seem to have poor coordination & cannot right themselves if they are rolled on their
back. It's normal for snakes to sniff fresh air coming into their cage...you didn't mention where the vents are on his cage?

[MuicyJelon]

Not seeing any issue with the scales. And just because a snake looks up or tries to slide up the side of their enclosure doesn't mean he's "star-gazing".
Be concerned when they do that for extended periods of time, & seem to have poor coordination & cannot right themselves if they are rolled on their
back. It's normal for snakes to sniff fresh air coming into their cage...you didn't mention where the vents are on his cage?

All vents on the back of the viv. There’s three. Here’s another poo drawing of where they are.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bogertophis]

OK, I still wouldn't worry that he's "stargazing"...snakes do look & sniff around their environment. Now I'm not SEEING your snake doing this, so a video
of what he's doing would sure help, but from all I have to go on, I wouldn't be too concerned. It's like when we study medicine & start to imagine & convince
ourselves that we're seeing the symptoms we just read about...I think it's pretty normal to be a little paranoid about these kinds of things, partly because they're
so awful and we care a lot. Now if you see him looking up for a while & then corkscrewing his head like he cannot control himself and like he's dizzy, that's a
reason for concern...but not if he's just looking up.

[MuicyJelon]

OK, I still wouldn't worry that he's "stargazing"...snakes do look & sniff around their environment. Now I'm not SEEING your snake doing this, so a video
of what he's doing would sure help, but from all I have to go on, I wouldn't be too concerned. It's like when we study medicine & start to imagine & convince
ourselves that we're seeing the symptoms we just read about...I think it's pretty normal to be a little paranoid about these kinds of things, partly because they're
so awful and we care a lot. Now if you see him looking up for a while & then corkscrewing his head like he cannot control himself and like he's dizzy, that's a
reason for concern...but not if he's just looking up.

I haven’t seen him corkscrewing or flailing about.
I’ve only noticed him do it once (looking up that is), so I don’t know if I’ll be able to catch him doing it again. But my mind always goes straight to the worst case scenario. For me to say I was a bit paranoid about stuff like this would be an understatement. (I would presume other people feel the same way).
I think we all know what the end result is if our BP’s managed to end up with something like this.
But ye if I catch him doing it I’ll try to get a video of him.
One more thing about the last bit in your post ‘looking up for a while’ how long would you that is?
Or is it just when looking up and flailing about the place then you should be concerned?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bogertophis]

You're determined to worry, aren't you? Just curious, did you catch that recent thread with a cute video posted? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-PI-YqDkwk
You'll notice that at one point her snake is "periscoping" though it's hard to say for how long since it's edited. Anyway, I can't give you an exact time to be worried
about either...but since you just admitted some difficulty in catching him doing this, I think you're quite safe (and by extension, he's safe).

[mandymg86]

I'm no expert, but I think your snake is fine. If it makes you feel better, I'm EXTREMELY paranoid and came home one day to my boyfriend's snake with his belly pressed up against the front of the enclosure, head up near the top. His belly looks pink, his nose looks wet, so I'm in full blown "he's burnt and has a RI!" mode. Upon further study, and watching him slide down the side of the tank (complete with a nice, wet, squelching noise), he had just gone for a little swim before adventuring. Momma is a bit of a nut, and Orion is a regular ol' not-sick-or-burnt ball python.