Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok i have had this ball python for 8 years now and have never had any health problems. well he was bit by a rat about 3 weeks ago and i took him to the vet, got the wounds cleaned, and she gave him antibiotics. the vet also gave me about 2 weeks worth of antibiotic shots to give him at home. well i have been giving him the shots and the wounds appear to be healing. i have noticed that alot of his individual scales are falling off in different parts of his body, especially his belly scales. i have never seen anything like this. is it a reaction to the antibiotics or is something else going on? has anyone seen anything like this before? he is not getting ready to shed so it's nothing like that. the other thing is when i get him out to handle him when i put him back in the cage, i have parts of his scales stuck to my arms and hands. that's how bad they are coming off and coming lose. do i need to take him back to the vet or what should i do. there are lose scales in his water bowl when i check it, they are all over his cage. thanks for the help and advice guys.

I assume since you have had him for 8 years that he is not shedding. It doesn't seem likely that the medication is causing the problem and I certainly doubt it was the rat bite. (wild snakes get bit by rats all the time, and heal up just fine)

I suggest that you call your vet. Since it is a possible reaction to the bps treatment, I'm certain he will help you without charging you again.

Other than that the only thing I would say is tell us about your caging conditions... what substrate do you keep it on? what is the temperature, how much time does it soak in the water? any parasites? etc.

Justin
J. Kobylka Reptiles

Yes By all means get him back to the Vet. It sounds like it might be a Allergic reaction to the med.’s and I assume that it’s the scale covering and not the complete scale . David of DS Reptile Rescue

yes it's not the complete scale, just the scale covering. well when he got bit and i had to take him to the vet to the the wounds cleaned the vet told me to take the bedding (desert sand blend) out and put down newspapers until the wounds heal, so i did that. the vet also told me to increase the heat in the cage while he is healing. so i normally just use a heat lamp, but to increase the heat i went and got an undertank heater and put it where his hidebox is. so the temp in the tank is between 85 to 90 degrees. my ball has never really been a "soaker" he never soaks in his water bowl and when i put him in the water bowl he always immediately crawls out. so i use a spay mister and spray him down usually every other day. like i said i have never seen anything like this with the pieces of the scale coverings just coming off and i have been dealing with snakes now for almost 10 years. i will call my vet. thanks for the help and advice.

What are you using to measure temps? Do you have a thermostat? If you don't have a thermostat and aren't using a digital thermomometer with a probe placed right on top of the substrate under the warm side hide, chances are you're cooking your snake with both a heat lamp AND a heat pad. That could be contributing to his scale loss, he's dehydrating.
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~* Jen *~

Pink Lady Constrictors

the words under tank heater make me cringe, hopefully your not heating the cage by means of a undertank heater in a ddition to the lamp. put a temp gun or accurate thermometer directly on the hot stop. i've seen many o' burn victims from those things from when i did recue n' rehab. sounds like an extreme directon to take with your snake in the first place over a rat bite unless it was bleeding profusely. anti biotics will definatley dehydrate your snake so if you choose to cont. the antibio's soak him throughout the duration of the medication or at least offer fresh water everyday, my thoughts.
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MikeJ-solar serpents

How long have you been keeping your ball python on sand?

Sand would not be my first Choice for a substrate ,come to think of it it would be one of the last things I would use . David

....especially since manufactured sand can lead to skin conditions when used as a substrate for most snakes.

Yes I'll go along with that David of DS Reptile Rescue

forgot to say who , Jen.is the post I was replying to . David

I'm not sure if this will help you, but my snake had a similar problem of losing scales after I rubbed her down with mineral oil. The vet told me that it would be like a moisturizer, but for whatever reason she sloughed off the top layer of all her scales and it took a couple sheds before she was back to normal. I've since read many similar accounts by other snake owners.

I'm sure that there are many good suggestions related to husbandry in the other posted replies but, in my humble opinion, I doubt those factors (sand, heat source) are related to this recent problem. You would have seen problems years ago if that were the case. Unless you have changed something recently and the bite/antibiotics are coincidental...?

He added a heat lamp in addition to the UTH that he wasn't using "years ago". Baking hot sand = dehydration and scale irritation.
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~* Jen *~

Pink Lady Constrictors

Never use mineral oil , use olive oil . David

forgot to add never use a light over your cage if you have treated a reptile with oil ,it will burn them .David