Sore looking belly, please help. (pics)

[SethsDad]

Ok so my BP has been acting funny lately, he hasnt deficated in about 2 weeks, he has left urates but no rats have left the building. hes starting a shed so i wasnt too worried. he also stopped eating which is unusual for him, he did this last month as well. He ussually has a very good feeding responce but hes stopped eating for 2 weeks now. But what has me worried is that i pulled him out today and his belly is pinkish red. it has never been like this before. his substrate is paper towels changed about every few days, he is kept clean, temps are good we have an under tank repti pad for heating. hasnt been too moist, if been keeping him sprayed down about once or twice a day for his shed like i normally do but now im not sure what i should do. Could this be belly rot? or a burn? or am i just overreacting. here are some pics... they were taken with a very cheap camera so they arnt very clear im sorry.

[gmmuscle91]

Do you have a thermostat to keep steady temps? It looks like a burn to me. Turn off the UTH until you get a thermostat. What are you using to measure the temps?

[SethsDad]

im using a digital themometer i got at wall mart in the outdoors area. it has a wire that goes in with a sensor and you can place one end at the hot side and one at cool side.
his hot side temp is 95 right now and cool side is 82. i turned off his UTH for now.
I have 2 layers of paper towls down over the UTH .. its possible he could have moved them, im not sure... the towels were in place when i got him out.

and no i dont have a thermostat

[SethsDad]

so should i just go get thermostat and regulate and thigs should be ok? should i put any kind of cream on his belly? should i go to the vet ASAP? im sorry if im a pain with questions im just a concerned daddy.

[gmmuscle91]

Your no pain. I dont think it is too bad yet that you need to get to the vet, but if it gets any worse take him right away. Im not saying you cant take him to the vet, if you want to go right ahead. It wont hurt anything. You can put some neosporn on, maybe someone more experienced can help with that. Yes you do need a thermostat. You actually want your hot side temps to be about 93 is perfect. Im not quite sure how 95 could burn him like that if it even is a burn. Or maybe your thermometer is off by a couple of degrees. You never know. But first thing is first get a thermostat. If you dont have a large budget I would recommend a Ranco or Johnson Control for Matt at www.mgreptiles.com. You coulkd get a zoomed one but those are as cheap as they cost. It isnt digital, and you have to set it with a dial thingy. Any more questions just ask.

[jessie_k_pythons]

Mine get "pink belly" about a week befor they shed and have it a little after. My vet told me it was normal but I would still have a vet look at yours.

[gmmuscle91]

SethsDad, is he going into shed or did he already shed? If he is going into shed then it is probably not a burn. I thought you meant he already shed, did you?

Either way you should still get a thermostat. And if you order it from matt you might as well pay another $5 for a foot of flexwatt.

[Shadrach]

You said hes starting a shed. Thats part of the shed process. Several snakes turn almost a sun burn red before shedding.

[sweety314]

The other part of it is the humidity.... By your description, you're using the AccuRite thermometer/hydrometer combo. Is your humidity 65% or higher? If it reads "HI" then it's too high (for normal day-to-day). It could be the start of belly rot because the home & bedding stayed too wet for too long.

I actually had to take the aspen out of Hera's tub, add MORE bigger holes and put her on paper towels. She was always spilling her water and soaking the aspen, so the humidity was "hi" for days at a time. Once I changed her style bowl, did p towels and added holes, her humidity is now a consistant 48%. But her belly was looking like it was headed towards a problem, for a while there. She's since shed but I'm keeping an eye on her & the humidity.

Good luck, and let us know what you've decided to do.

RuLyn

[Ginevive]

Do you have a "dimmer" style rheostat connected to your UTH? If not, just go out and get one. I have used ZooMed UTHs for awhile before and they never gave me a problem, when hooked up to the r-stat.
However, like they said above; it could just be a pre-shed pink belly. Mine all get that.
You may want to switch to a sub like aspen, that forms a thicker "cushion" between the snake and the tank floor. If the snake is on the bare floor after he has moved the towels from over the UTH, that could make a burn occur; esp. if humidity is high and the area over the UTh is wet. But please make sure to use a rheostat!