It's always a good idea to quarantine a new arrival, and many people make mite treatment part of their standard quarantine procedure just to be sure.
A small amount of stuck shed and a few roughed up scales don't make me particularly concerned. Snakes sometimes even fold their own scales just by how they choose to lay, especially when squishing into a tight hide or other tight place. I don't think trying to remove mites by hand would be the cause, but something like her having something rough in her enclosure could easily do it. If you are still concerned, try to get a close up of those scales and post it. As far as the little bit of stuck shed, she might possibly get it off herself once she's in proper humidity levels, especially if you offer her a humid hide. Or you can soak it off.
I think she looks totally spider to me, no bee in there. She doesn't have the brown-out line that would be caused by the pastel gene, and her head is not light enough. It is sometimes a little hard to see the brown-out line on a bee, because the white may come right up to it, but it seems to me that most have at least a row or two of yellow scales before the browner ones. Your girl just doesn't have that.
As far as just plain spiders go, though, she is lovely.
Not sure I understand the negativity towards aspiring breeders. Aren't you an aspiring breeder? Now, if you mean those that used to be aspiring breeders but have realized there is more work and less quick buck involved than they thought, so they are getting out, then yeah, I understand that totally.
Reply With Quote