looks like one of the belly scales got somehow ripped off, at least one is missing for now.

it doesnt really look infected, but still it can get infected, i mean, its an open wound.

Going to paper towels and keeping it very clean is very good, it lowers the risk of the wound turning worse due to bacteria / infection. And applying stuff to help the wound heal and to disinfect/clean the wound also is a good idea, but i would use it only locally right on the wound and wouldnt overdo it.

i wouldnt let it dry out too much, if the wound doesnt show signs of infection and you ramp down humidity now it could lead to a worse scar later on. I would just stick with the normal humidity.

my left index finger looked worse a few months back after i accidently cut it badly and quite deeply, a scar will stay but it healed nicely. its just a wound, not at a critical location, expect it to heal and expect it to get better with every shed, with maybe a little scar remaining. Basically just watch the healing process and watch out for the wound getting infected and thats it.

Just keep us updated on the progress, thats always nice Everyone loves to see in pictures how something like this heals over time.

figuring out how it happened would still be nice. Chances are that you might find the scale attached to something sticky. A tiny piece of tape, some glue leftover from a sticker that later got removed. Or it was some sharp edge or some crevace where the scale went in and attached. Maybe it went under a thermostat or some other device that is attached using double-sided tape or glue or something. Anything remotelysticky will be extremely sticky on a snake, i encourage you all to play around with an old shed skin and some tape, its crazy how it sticks and how you cannot remove the old shed from the sticky tape without breaking it.

btw, that raises the question.... last shed was when? In shed, a sticky problem may only rip off a part of dead material that otherwise would be part of the next shed. After shed a sticky problem can remove scales.

Anyway, watch the recovery and good luck