Rough scales coming off like a human scab

[Bogertophis]

...
In Bogertophis and I's case, we have both personally worked with severely malnourished animals who developed similar conditions. Mine was a ball python hatchling at a big box shop that went off food for 2 months while I was on disability. Apparently it had arrived from the breeder as a small thin little guy and the vet that saw it sadly wasn't as knowledgeable as I hoped. So I couldn't do much when I got back and saw the little one...

And fyi, the one I worked on was a 5' & otherwise beautiful Argentine boa that had apparently been chronically deprived of adequate nutrition. Plus, I've seen a few similar cases reported & well-documented elsewhere in recent years. In the interest of keeping an open mind though, that boa was dumped on me in that condition- so I cannot verify that she actually wasn't fed enough- I suppose the problem might also have been caused by some sort of malabsorption of nutrients or other internal issues, rather than insufficient food provided- but that was a reasonable assumption when you saw the home she came from. I was busy trying to heal the many holes she had in her skin while she was under my care.