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.