Hello, all. I'm concerned about some brownish, flaky, sorta loose belly scales on my ball python, Esoteris.
I've had my lesser bee bp for almost two years now, and i haven't seen him develop anything like this before.
No, his is not my first snake; I've had over 5 different ball pythons in the past, and have dealt with scale rot in the past-- It doesn't really look like it to me, but then again, I've only seen bad cases, not the beginning stages. (rescued bps)
I will post pictures (should my computer let me... :l) please tell me what you all think it may be.

Let me give you all a briefing on the husbandry, as i'm sure you will want that as a sort of basis for any opinions.

He used to have Repticarpet, but i recently switched him to newspaper-- easier for everyone. Has a heat mat hooked up to a thermostat; it says the hot spot is around 89.2. I cant find my temp gun or i'd give an ambient air temp as well.
Esoteris has a really heavy ceramic type bowl, and has never been able to push it over so damp substrate isn't an issue. Decent sided log type hide over the hot spot, and a ceramic heater near the top of the water bowl to emit some humidity. His cage is a vision 211 i believe, though i think soon i'll switch to a simple tub. Unless i put a shirt over the front glass, he gets really active... But it could also be that he was just bred? (still lookin' for that snake pootang?) I dunno. He does try to commit suicide every night by jumping off the lipped ledge with a huge BANG (scares the crap outta me i tell ya h'what) but I've heard by multiple people that isn't a raise for concern... i guess its a personal thing.

Anyhooooo, he's always been a healthy as a whistle.
However, I did leave the state for a week, and when i came back, his newspaper substrate was heavily soiled with urine and fecal matter.
So it very well could be the beginning signs of scale rot, hence my post here.

But it doesn't have the swelling, redness, or inflammation of scale rot I'm used to seeing. They're dry, brownish, wrinkly, loose...? Can't really depict it with words very will, so i'll try to post some pics.
And if it is scale rot, any advice on nipping the bud before it gets worse?
I'm all for going to the vet, but i recently lost my job, have to ration out my money for the time-being. Any home remedies out there?
I heard neosporin would work, but i don't know how true that is, and would like to get multiple opinions on the matter-- thanks in advance guys.


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