Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.

Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You
Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You
Click here to visit Classifieds

white skin in rainbow boa

twomonsters Jul 12, 2007 07:43 AM

Here is a pic of the
Image

Replies (12)

twomonsters Jul 12, 2007 07:44 AM

need help on posting pics as it did not work

TimOsborne Jul 12, 2007 07:49 AM

>>need help on posting pics as it did not work


-----
photos.xtremecombatsports.com

TimOsborne Jul 12, 2007 07:51 AM

It looks pretty odd to me.. how long as the rainbow been like this?

>>>>need help on posting pics as it did not work
>>
>>
>>-----
>>photos.xtremecombatsports.com
-----
photos.xtremecombatsports.com

boidmorphs Jul 12, 2007 08:36 AM

White between the scales can be seen when the humidity is way to low or an animal is gravid and the scales stretched out but I've never seen anything to that extent. What is your humidity range?

BRB_Russ Jul 12, 2007 08:56 AM

It looks like its Not turning white it is just scale seperation . . Like when you feed your snake something big. . .

Is it just really really fat?
-----
Russ
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Apollo)
1.0 Columbian Rainbow Boa (Odin)
1.0 Guyana Red-Tail Boa (Ares)
0.1 Pastel Salmon Boa (Minerva)
0.1 Rosy Boa (Athena)

Melbourne, Fl

twomonsters Jul 12, 2007 10:17 AM

No she is not fat. I never power feed my snakes. I let them take there time to grow. She was whiter more then that but had a shed.

flavor Jul 12, 2007 10:57 AM

My first thought was obesity as well. But, besides the scale separation, the animal really doesn't look overweight. It looks like the snake has access to water, so dehydration wouldn't be my guess either.

It's hard to tell from the picture but are the scales discolored or are they actually separated? Is the same condition seen on the ventral surface?

How old is the animal? At what age did you notice this starting to occur?

Was the animal bred in captivity? Do you have access to the breeder or any of the animal's siblings? I would want to know if any of them are experienceing the same symptoms.

How is the animal doing otherwise? Is it eating, shedding, defecating normally/regularly?

In looking through both Fry and Mader's books, the closest I can get is a condition called scale agenesis. Apparently, in some extreme cases, snakes will not develop any scales at all (except for around the eye and mouth). It may be that your animal has a mild form of this condition where the scales have developed but their growth has stopped. The rest of the body is continuing to grow. Genetic mutation as well as higher than normal incubation temperatures are suspected to cause this condition. This is why I'd be curious about the animal's siblings.
-----
Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

rainbowsrus Jul 12, 2007 11:20 AM

These are two pics he sent me offline,

female%20.jpg

male.jpg

Since one is labeled as male and the other female, looks like he has two with this problem.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

GabooNx Jul 12, 2007 04:41 PM

It could be genetics but being as they look like adults why would this suddenly happen, I would guess its either something in the cage, like the substrate or the water you are using the create the humidity IE well water, maybe the cleaner you are using to disinfect the cages. I would look environmental first of course it doesn’t hurt to track down the breeder you purchased them from.
-----
Jason A.
"Long time Herper, first year Breeder `07."

rainbowsrus Jul 12, 2007 05:06 PM

The female is a hypo and was not looking like this in May.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

tsusnakeguy Jul 12, 2007 05:37 PM

My guess is it is about to shed or is having a bad shed for some reason.
-----
1.1 Motley het butter corns
0.1 Snow corn
0.1 Okeetee corn
1.0 Anery mutt corn
0.1 Stripe Ghost corn
0.1 Amelanistic corn het carmel
2.1 Colombian Redtails
1.0 Hypo Colombian redtail
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Anery Kenyan sand boa
0.1 Normal Kenyan sand boa

Jeff Clark Jul 13, 2007 08:53 AM

I think something in the cage environment is doing something to those snake's scales. It could be an acid or base problem or a temperature or humidity problem or perhaps a fungus or something. I would get them on clean paper substrate and change it often and see if that helps at all.
Jeff

>>Here is a pic of the
>>

Site Tools