Some spots of what looks like blood where the scales should be

[Nixon]

There are very few and they are spread out, but along my ball pythons spine are some scaleless spots that seem to have traces of dry blood on them. I'm thinking this is because I have very large cave decoration that I can't lift up without taking the top of the tank off, so when I go to get her out of there, it might have torn off some scales on her back. Will this normally go away on it's own or should I sanitize it in any way?

Also - she is in the process of shedding. Her eyes turned a bright foggy blue a few days ago and they're darker today. There's some patches of dead skin and almost all of her body is flakey, mostly her underside. Is this normal and how long will it take for her to shed? This is my first snake, so I don't know what to expect.

[Jordan H]

Not sure about the blood spots? It would take a lot to tear scales off! Sounds like a stuck shed to me, what's your husbandry like? Humidity, heat, etc?

[Lthv]

Pictures of the injury would help.

[Nixon]

@Jordan H

The temperature of the hot side is around 90 degrees F, the cool side is 80 degrees and under her log where she usually hides on the cool side is around 75. Humidity is a bit hard to keep, since it's a glass tank and I have aspen wood shavings that don't keep any of the moisture. The heat lamp is also 150 watt which makes the temperatures very high on the top of the cage, so all that misting evaporates pretty quickly. I mist the cage 3-4 times a day and keep a damp towel on top of the cage.

If you need any more information let me know.

@Lthv

I know. I don't have a good camera and the situation isn't that hard to describe.

[frostysBP]

I would change substrate to cypress or ecoearth...it hold moisture 3x better than aspen....tin foil the top of the cage instead of a towel...how are you measuring the temps ..are you using a uth?

Sent from my A521L using Tapatalk

[Nixon]

I'll look in on new bedding. I'm unsure if I have tinfoil but I can always buy some. What's the science behind that being better than a wet towel? I'm measuring my temperature with a digital device run by battery that is wired to a sensor inside of the cage to find the heat. I also have a portable one where at the push of a button at the pointed area it will tell the temperature. The humidity is the same as the temperature device. It's digital and has a cord with the humidity detector that goes inside of the cage. It measures from 0-99%.

[DVirginiana]

Until the scaleless places are scabbed over, you can swab them with betadine or chlorhexidine (brand name is usually Hibiclens) every night. Those are just general disinfectants to keep infection from setting in while the places heal.

[Nixon]

Alright I'll go to the store and pick some up because I don't think I have any. Thanks. I have her wrapped in a warm wet towel and inside of a bowl and I'm planning to keep her like that for a few hours. I read up on how humidity effects how they shed, and for some time in her process of shedding the humidity wasn't correct. Would this help her shed a bit cleaner?

[AllThatInThemGenes]

What is/was the humidity? Yes the warm wet towel will help but be mindful that the towel will become cool and over a period of two hours the risk of that happening goes up. There are some great post on here about dealing with tough sheds that detail some methods I think might work a bit better. Switching the substrate will help you SO MUCH.

[Nixon]

Alright, got some pictures of what's going on. Excuse the bad quality because I have a cheap phone and I can't find the USB to my camera. Hopefully you guys can still make it out.













(Sorry for taking so long to reply, too.)

@AllThatInThenGenes

Humidity is hard to keep with a glass tank and aspen wood shavings along with that 150 watt lamp. I mist the tank a few time a day until the sides of the glass are misted, along with the decoration and the shavings. I'll spray a little water on her too just to make sure she's getting some moisture since I know she hides in her cave a lot. My humidity meter says it's 99% humidity (obviously not) and it dies down in the 60s after a an hour and then stays in the 40s later on, sometimes 30 if I wait too long. It used to be so quick to decrease in humidity but the wet towel defiantly helped. After I finish off my bag of aspen shavings I'll look into getting bedding that keeps the moisture in. My father insisted on getting the digital meter because it's "more acurate" which I believe but good lord, 99%? There's a difference between getting wet and humidity, meter.