Background: My ball python has always dug down to the glass to get to his heating pad (on the opposite side of the glass) but his old pad finally stopped working and I bought a new one. He dug to the glass like he always had and I didn't think anything of it, hadn't been handling due to shed, and the humidity was up to help him shed. After he shed I noticed the belly scales looked like they had retained some skin but didn't want to dig in myself as it would likely come off as he slithered around his cage. Apparently the new heat pad was much stronger and he burned (I think) his belly and the humidity hadn't helped either.

I have been treating it with a betadine soak, cleaned his cage and replaced the bedding with paper towels, and have been keeping humidity on the low end. I took him out today and rejoiced because the brownish color that made me think "infection" in the first place was gone, but now his scales have swelled. As I held him these blister-like scales popped all over me. The normal white color makes me think we are making progress (this is just day 3) but the blisters concern me. Are they a sign that his body is healing? I would liken this to when a person gets a sunburn and in the later stages blisters form to protect the skin, but if this is a sign of him getting worse I need to make an earlier vet appointment. This is the first time I've ever had a possible rot situation, in fact it's my first health issue ever, and I was hoping it was mild enough to maintain until I can get him in to see a vet.