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  1. #1
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    Question Kenyan Sand Boa - dark spots on shed over nostrils

    Hi all, as the title says, my four year old female KSB just shed and the area where the nostrils should be appeared as hard, dark spots. Everything else about the shed was perfect, intact and complete. She is fed frozen/thawed mice every 7-10 days but refused her last three feedings, with the most recent one being at the start of the shedding cycle. I don't typically offer food while they're shedding, but since it was right at the beginning, I'd already warmed up the mouse, and she hadn't eaten I gave it a try. Things just got moved around a bit and her substrate was just changed, so I wasn't too worried about the missed feedings (she tends to do this after things change). But if her nostrils are blocked or something...?

    She is kept in an AP cages rack size 570 tub (22-1/2" x 14-3/4" x 5-3/8" h) with ventilation holes along all sides and Aspen shavings filled about an inch below (holes are all above bedding level). She has constant access to a water dish, and a humid hide with some moist sphagnum moss is provided during their shedding cycle. She doesn't always seem to use it, but she did this time around. The warm side is kept around 93°F, controlled by a thermostat on the outside of the bin on top of the heat tape set to a slightly higher temperature with the inside temp monitored by a separate thermometer. The cool side temp is typically around 75° with some slight variation based on room temperature, BUT we just had a heat wave and I don't have great AC and my room temp reached 90 at the peak of the day for two days and a bit lower for one day. Temperatures should be back to normal today.

    I don't have permission to post attachments, so I am going to post images of her shed elsewhere and provide a link to them very shortly.

    Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. Let me know if there is any additional information that would be helpful.

    Thank you!

    Edit: here are the photos
    Top - https://ibb.co/wsJB6kd
    Bottom - https://ibb.co/zHVNM0z
    Last edited by El.; 06-28-2022 at 12:50 PM. Reason: Added photo links

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    Homebody (06-28-2022)

  3. #2
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    Could possibly be discoloration from nosing around in the moist moss? We often see snakes with discoloration from substrates, typically substrates that are reddish-brown (& not likely from aspen), that they push their noses into.

    It really looks more like a bit of dried blood to me (just going by color) but cannot be certain from just these pics & online.

    So here's my theory: In case you didn't know, when snakes shed, they also shed the skin from their outer nostrils (& heat sensing pits, for snakes that have them), & I think she has gotten a little bit of mouse blood into her outer nostrils from meals she has eaten, & when she shed her skin, that stained shed from her outer nostrils is what you're seeing.
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 06-28-2022 at 03:42 PM.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

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    Homebody (06-28-2022)

  5. #3
    BPnet Veteran plateOfFlan's Avatar
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    Re: Kenyan Sand Boa - dark spots on shed over nostrils

    I only have ball pythons but my male loves to dig and burrow a lot and his sheds nearly always have little plugs of substrate in the nostrils that look just like that.

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    Homebody (06-28-2022)

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