Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi-

I was trying to find pictures of what might be wrong with my snake and I came across your site.

4 YO Female, Ball Python. She refused feed 4 weeks ago. I assumed she was going in to her shed cycle. (She had eaten well prior to this.)

Two weeks later, she refused feed again- shed cycle was obvious. I cleaned around her, trying not to disturb her.

Last night, I pulled her out to do monthly cleaning (bleach/water mixture) of her cage and she looked horrible! Please keep in mind that she stays in her hide almost constantly. Occasionally she will go for a little soak in her bowl, but I rarely see her in full view. (Not unusual for her.)

She has retained shed on the majority of her back. Her head and neck are the only parts of her that look normal; the rest of her has turned to an odd bronze color. As much as she hated it, I turned her over and almost got sick! She has red/brown markings all over her stomach. What should be a creamy white is now crusty and bloody looking. She also has areas that appear to have "healed" revealing bright pink belly scales.

I then inspected her cage mate. 12 YO Male, Ball Python. Note that he has eaten normally. His temperament sucked! Hissing and assuming strike position. He's not the sweetest snake I've ever owned, but he's never really been aggressive. Small amount of retained shed on his tail, but otherwise healthy shed. He has bloody looking (red/brown) belly scales starting at the tip of his tail and extending less than an inch.

What is this???

I switched their substrate about two months ago. I am now using newspaper instead of carpet, for convenience and cost.

Please help! Any ideas on what this could be or what I can do? Their humidity definitely needs work, but I go thru that battle every fall and have never seen anything like this!!!

I put her in the bath w/ warm water for about 15 min last night and she was very calm. (My other snakes are all wild while in the tub. Odd?) The water appeared to soften "this" and chunks of "stuff" came off in the water. Upon inspection, the "stuff" is very soft, really no different than wet shed, except that it is thicker- chunk like. She tenses when you touch her belly. (Obviously painful.)

I intend to call the vet today- but I doubt he'll be able to see her anytime soon. (Rural area, choices VERY limited.) Any help...PLEASE!!!

Is there any way to post pictures to get a better idea? Also where is the heat source located? Is there any way it could be burns? Best of luck and let us know what happens at the vets.

Hey,

What does the belly look like after removing the shed skin? Could it possibly just be a bad shed? I have a pic of belly rot, not the nicest pic, but if it looks like this, you may have big trouble. Were the belly scales swelled with fluid or just pink? They get pink when they are ready to shed.

Steve Harrison
J-ville

I am @ work- so I don't have a pic. I'll try to take one tonight and post. It doesn't look like your pic. She is more brown and chunky on the belly. Also, her belly looks folded, not flat like normal. She has had bad sheds before, but she's never looked like this. I've never seen anything like this. I have a UTH with temp @ 85. I also use a heat lamp on the opposite side (@ night). She spends all of her time on the UTH. I saw a couple of pics of burns, but they all looked solid. She is very chunky. Areas bloody and falling off. Even the area that is very pink is not your normal shed pink. It is bright and raw looking. The vet is going to try to work her in tomorrow. Do you have any pics of burns? Thanks for all of your help.

There are burn pictures here:

www.pinkladyconstrictors.com/therm.html

What kind of thermometer are you using?
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~* Jen *~

Pink Lady Constrictors

What do you use to heat the tank and what brand (if any) thermostat are you using? Could it have malfunctioned and burned your snakes? I'd get an accurate temp reading on their hot spot asap to find out (IE temp gun or at least digital thermometer with probe if you don't have one already).
I'd try explaining to the vet that it is an emergency. They may be able to squeeze you in.
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- Catie

0.3 Normal Ball Pythons
1.1 Pastel Ball Pythons
1.0 Het albino Ball
0.1 Albino Ball
2.4 Crested Geckos
0.1.1 African Fat Tail Geckos
0.1 Bearded Dragon

If the heat mat is mounted directly to the glass and no thermostat and newspaper as a substrate I am guessing very bad burns and the brown could be infection. If she is having bad sheds than something in the husbandry is not set up correctly.

I agree with melindaste.....It has to be a burn...get a correct temp reading asap and if it is to hot, " over 95", get a thermostat asap. In the mean time before you get a thermostat turn the under tank heater OFF! The vet should give you some cream to put on the burns....I hope everything gets better.

Yikes!
It certainly sounds like a bad burn.. belly rot would be more pink and there would be more fluid involved (not typical on newspaper or carpet substrate unless very wet), but from what you describe I'd think the skin were burnt & quite possibly infected. I'd check your heat sources pronto & explain to your vet that it may be an emergency. (Most places are keen to fit you in when that is the case.) Creams, oral or injectable antibiotics, & fluid therapy may well be the Rx. Keep us posted & grab a snapshot if you can, those always help with diagnoses.

-Tami*

Where are you located?? Maybe some of us can help you find a vet that has an emergency room and deals with exotics/reptiles.
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Cheers!
• Chelsea Lynn Gardiner
(and Frank M. Wood)

Sounds like a bad burn to me, maybe combined with scale rot. Definitely a vet trip is in order. I will also suggest separating the male from the female till both are healthy. Last thing you want to add to the female is stress from breeding. Besides, a heavy male may be pressing her down against the hot areas, and that may be why she is burning.

If it will take you a few days to get them in to see a doctor, i suggest soaking each snake separately in a betadine solution (you can buy this at a pharmacy). Soak the snake first in luke warm water (about 80-85F) so they will drink first...then take the snake out, add the betadine till it looks like weak tea, soak the snake in it for about 10 minutes. This will help disinfect the injuries.

Place them into a clean cage with paper towel, instead of newspaper. The inks in newspaper may act like an irritant to a burned/scale rot underside, paper towel (just plain white, non printed) won't have dyes in it may feel better. I dont' know this for a fact...but I don't think ink in the newspaper will give any benefit.

Pick up a new digital thermometer, or change the batteries of the ones you have now (or the temp gun, if you have one already and had it for awhile), to make sure it is accurate, measure temps again. Get two digital thermometers to make sure everything is accurate.
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PHLdyPayne

Most newspapers use vegetable oil-based ink to be better recycled, if I remember correctly (journalism courses), but perhaps not all companies have made that switch. Not sure. While it probably wouldn't hurt the injuries, I would think it would rub off and make the belly look dirty/darker, and harder to see where the areas of damage are worst or where it might be getting better.

In regard to the digital thermometer (to the OP), make sure you're using one with a probe, or at least get a temp gun. If the thermometer is just the unit itself and you have it stuck on the cage wall, it will be measuring the air temperature, which is usually VERY different than the ground surface temperature.

When I bought my first ball pythons and was told about the dangers of unregulated heating elements and analog thermometers, I switched to racks. With the old setups, I decided to mess around with the equipment to see how hot things actually could get (and potentially what my first snake may have experienced in the beginning 1-2 weeks before I bought better equipment). I had coconut bark inside the tank and 2 hides, one on each side. When the heat pad was plugged directly into the wall outlet with no thermostat to control it, the ground temp on the substrate under the hide was 110-112. I used a digital human thermometer to measure it in various spots within the hide. With a lamp added to the heat pad, it went way over 130 degrees (maxed out the thermometer). That is extremely high and scared the crap out of me to think that it may have been that high before I bought my probe thermometers and thermostats...and how lucky I was that Spoon didn't get burned or killed. That is why I try so hard to get it across to other new keepers that they HAVE to use these things to properly manage heat -- after seeing what it can do via my own experiment, burn pics from other keepers, and having a rescued rainbow boa here that has brain damage from being overheated, I don't want anyone to end up with injured/dead animals. I hope all turns out well with your snakes and that you can get them to the vet ASAP.
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~* Jen *~

Pink Lady Constrictors

A huge thank you to everyone who responded. I am starting to feel a little better- knowing that most think this may be a burn. Since soaking her, she does appear more pink. Alot of the crusty brown has come off or at least softened.

She is about the same size as my male, but he is heavier. I have them both with me today @ work so I can take them to the vet. I was afraid to not have him seen, also, just in case this is something contagious.

I did take some pics, but I have no idea how to post them. If anyone can tell me, I'd be glad to do this. Thanks again to everyone who responded.

I think I may have kind of figured out the pic thing. I posted them under pics, ball python. They are titled help! sick snake pic1; pic2; pic3.