Reptile & Amphibian Forums

it appears that my snake is missing a scale. that is, assuming a missing scale looks like a pinkish grayish whitish spot that is about the size of a scale that just recently popped up on my snake.

i noticed too, he did not shed completely, in other words, pieces of his old skin were in different parts of the tank and not connected. after seeing this i took a look at his water dish and decided it was too small so now i have a much bigger one in the tank.

before i noticed the skin, he looked like he was laying out and not moving much and looked like he was shedding. i thought he was sick or dying for some reason.

i assumed he was unable to soak correctly resulting in a bad shed and now a missing scale.

yes? no? maybe so? will the scale ever come back? anything i need to do?

thanks in advance.

oh and i assume he is fine because he just ate yesterday and he is active again.

I really wouldn't worry too much about it- I would definatly raise the humidity in the tank/cage- When i see ours are going into a shed cycle- they get misted 1-2 times/day- as well as having a bowl they can get 100% of them in at all times. we rarely have one not shed good.
as far as the scale- we've gotten a few snakes in that have been ripped open by rodents. one a few weeks ago in fact- came from the vet- the owners took it to the vet after it had been ripped open (two- 5 inch long gashes- from a rabbit- which was much too large for the snake anyway- the snake was a small RTB- should eat large rats- at the MOST!) When the owners got the bill- they decided it wasn't worth it- the vet calls me (happens all the time) i take care of it and it comes here- he's missing A LOT of scales and is doing fine- planning to feed him next week.
we've had a few others come in with missing or damaged scales- may not look as good but it doesn't really affect the quality of life...
hope that helped.
Beth
-----
The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue