Yesterday evening, I noticed that my sheltopusik had some dark brown swollen scales on the top of his head and all over the upper half of his underside. This happened suddenly, a few days after a bad shed (coming off in flakes over a few days instead of in one piece like usual) and stressful couple of weeks (just moved across the country). He looked completely normal the day before.
Unfortunately, the most experienced herp vet in the area couldn't see him until next week so I took him to a less experienced herp vet who has never worked with any kind of legless lizard. She had never seen anything like it. She said it does not resemble a burn or retained scales from the dysecdysis or a common type of infection, but it could be a more unusual infection or an unusual reaction to mites. She prescribed Silvadene Cream (antibacterial and antifungal) to be applied twice daily for a month. She is going to run a fecal and contact a herp vet who has experience with Ophisaurus apodus.
In the mean time, I thought I'd post some photos in case anyone here has any ideas or insights. The quality isn't ideal because the lizard squirms and rolls constantly when handled. The affected ventral scales are literally sticking out perpendicular to the healthy scales and they have a crisp, brittle texture. Some have a bubbly sort of appearance.
