Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone ever seen a boa shed and then have patches where 20-50 scales were apparently torn away? These are animals that have been raised and cared for in the same way with the same environment for years. It doesn't look moist or weepy, but rather dry. I have never heard of anything like it and was wondering if anyone else had any insight into the situation. I would sure appreciate any info.

My best guess, without pictures, would be either a burn (from heat or chemicals) or some type of skin fungus. A trip to a good vet would be the best thing to help diagnose what the cause is.

Kathy

skin fungus but why only with a shed? I think Jeff Ronne had a female that had some kind of skin problem and took years to cure? I can't remember for sure.

We have had two boas with different skin problems.

The first had an all over dryness to his scales, inspite of correct humidity and soaking. His turned out to be a vitamin deficiency, which was corrected by injecting his rats with a vitamin supplement.

The second snake had several patches, about the size of a dime, that the scales were rough, appeared to be almost white, and were dry. He was like that for several months. We tried a couple different things on different patches and the treatment that cured it was clortrimazol cream, which is for athletes foot. After he shed you couldn't tell anything had been wrong. It is still a mystery how he got a fungus, if that is what it was.

I would still recommend you consult a vet, but if you are sure it isn't a burn, then it very well could be a fungus.

Kathy