SCALE ROT Help & Advice

[spiderfreddie]

Hi all,
So I have recently gone bio-active with my vivarium its really starting to thrive in there and Wob's seems to love it.
I have to water the plants everyday and as there not in pots its hard to not over water them every so often. The minimum amount of of substrate I have is probably 4 inch going up to 8 inch in other parts of the vivarium. On top of my soil mix i have coco husk then covered in dry leaf little. When watering I always water the base of them, every so often I remove the husk and leaf little to water underneath.
My question is how would you spot the early signs of scale rot?
I'm not worried about Wob's yet and I think I'm keeping her pretty well in there and don't think Ill have the issue of scale rot but being a bio-active vivarium there is going to be a higher risk than just dry lignocel or aspen.
Is there anything else I can do to help prevent it? and if caught in the early stages is there ways to stop it getting worse?

Any help is appreciated

Thanks

[Gerardo]

What's the humidity like? If you are watering the plants it might be keeping your enclosure wet. Scale rot looks like little brown spots like you would see on a piece of lettuce. Usually easier to see on the belly. Do you have any pictures?

[WastelandExotics]

What are the average humidity levels at the moment?

I would just look for any abnormalities at all on the belly - if you can, take a pic of the belly how it is now and just do regular checks and compare. If there's anything unusual (discoloration, redness around particular scales, lumps or bumps) then you'll know.

On a side note: pllleeeaaaseee post pics of you setup! I am dying to see it; it sounds awesome!

[spiderfreddie]

What's the humidity like? If you are watering the plants it might be keeping your enclosure wet. Scale rot looks like little brown spots like you would see on a piece of lettuce. Usually easier to see on the belly. Do you have any pictures?

The humidity usually sits at 55% I'm not worried at the moment and she doesn't look any different, asking just for future reference. I'll keep an eye on her belly thanks

[spiderfreddie]

What are the average humidity levels at the moment?

I would just look for any abnormalities at all on the belly - if you can, take a pic of the belly how it is now and just do regular checks and compare. If there's anything unusual (discoloration, redness around particular scales, lumps or bumps) then you'll know.

On a side note: pllleeeaaaseee post pics of you setup! I am dying to see it; it sounds awesome!

My average humidity is 55%
Just taken a picture the lighting isn't the best as i only have lights for the plants ATM and no white light in there

[SDA]

Please tell me you put in a working drainage layer? If not you run so many risks like overly damp substrate, root rot in the plants and anaerobic soil. One of the main problems doing a bioactive vivarium is inadequate substrate considerations. Depending on the micro fauna you chose as a cleanup crew, substrate moisture is also a concern. Some micro fauna actually exist best in semi dry conditions and some only in high humid conditions. Because you chose a bioactive setup with a ball python, you now have several distinct humidity characteristics you have to watch for and need to determine which one wins out. Obviously it must be the ball python so you have to balance the micro organism's minimal humidity conditions compared to an ambient humidity for the ball python that keeps the substrate dry enough to retard fungal, yeast and bacterial growth.

Early signs of scale rot are red spots around scales and possible raised blisters. More advanced signs look like yellow-brown, green, or red around raised scales or mimicking a burn (a lot of the time substrate staining confuses people for scale rot). If yeast or fungal you may also be able to smell an odor coming off the snake's skin.

The best enclosure indicator would of course be a probe designed for soil so you could determine the actual dampness of the soil but making sure the top inch to 2 inches of soil drys out between watering would be the next best thing to do in order to prevent a breeding ground for infection the cleanup crew can't eat (they generally only consume fungus and mold, not yeast and bacteria).

If you do catch early signs of scale rot the best thing to do is to remove the snake and quarantine it in a tub on paper towels until the irritation clears up. If you do not catch it in time and it is full blown you must see a vet to clear it up and rule out if it is fungal, yeast, or bacteria.

For now to be proactive I would keep the soil as dry as you can that keeps the micro fauna alive and the plants going. Be ultra conservative until you strike a balance. If you did not put in a drainage layer and you have not had the ecosystem establish itself I would highly recommend rebuilding with a drainage layer. It will save you headache in the long run.