White spots. Sick snake?

[newwindrider]

I've got a female ball python that's about a year old. She shed about a week ago, and all was fine yesterday. Today, I went to feed her, and she was covered in white spots. But it's more like a bleaching, because it's faded colors with a white hue. I took it to the pet store, and the guy there said it looked like bites of some sort. I'm taking her to the vet on monday, but I was wondering if anyone here would have some idea as to what it is. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Kesslers Kreatures]

Do you think you could get a pic up so we could see more specifically what it looks like?

[newwindrider]

I don't have a digital camera anymore. My dog ate it.

Seriously...

[Kesslers Kreatures]

Likely Excuse....

LoL JK


I dont think mites do this... correct me if im wrong?

[JLC]

Could be dry scales...just like we get dry, flaky skin sometimes....snakes can get dry scales that look grayish and faded. Not sure if that's what you're talking about, but it's one thing that comes to mind when reading your description.


A picture of what you're talking about would help a lot.

What is your humidity like and how are you measuring it? And how do you feed your snake? Do you feed live? Do you ever leave a live rodent unattended with your snake?

[newwindrider]

Humidity is whatever the house is. I don't really have a way to measure it. I feed live, but I don't leave them unattended.

I don't think it's dry scales. They feel exactly the same as the rest of the snake. The only symptoms seem to be a bleachlike discoloration in spots. No temperature change, no behavioral abnormalities, no change in food preference or appetite.

A friend said it could be an albino recessive trait, but I do believe that more often than not, it's more of a gradual change over much larger parts of the body, if not the entire body at once, than well spaced spotting.

[JLC]

Well, the dry scales that I'm talking about won't feel any different than normal scales...they just look different. And they're harmless and will come off with the next shed....although if the humidity is overall too low in the snake's environment, you'll likely see new ones popping up.


Stop by WalMart (or Target or HomeDepot or any other similar store) and pick yourself up a digital thermometer/hygrometer. They're around $10 and will do a nice job of accurately measuring your temps as well as the humidity in your enclosure. A ball python thrives in moderate humidity around 50%-60%. Constant exposure to humidity that is too low can lead to some health issues.

So far as I know, the albino trait does not just "show up" but is either present when the snake is born, or is not. Many (if not all) ball pythons go through some color changes as they grow. Some more drastically than others. And this can include various flecking and patches of what appear to be "off color" scales. But such changes are seen immediately after a shed and don't just appear a week later. So....I'm betting on the dry scales.

It could be scars from bite marks, but I think you would have noticed the bites first, if you carefully control the live feeding process.

[SiscoReptiles]

Did the snake shed normally? Or did you assist?

Rick

[newwindrider]

Normally. She sat in the water tank for about four days, and then just kind of crawled out of her skin.