Reptile & Amphibian Forums

While checking in on my brumating snakes today I noticed an issue with one. For some reason one box seemed to have a much higher humidity than the others. The box consists of cypress mulch, a small hide and an open top water bowl. The cypress mulch in this particular box was a little damp, and the snake had a few "blisters" on it. Is this a result of high humidity, and will changing the bedding and removing the water for a while help solve the problem? Thanks.

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Joe

Hey Joe

I think you nailed it. My guess is its too humid in there and the snake may be forced to sit on wet mulch causing the skin blisters. I would take out the mulch and put it on newspaper and wipe off the sides of tub but still leave a small bowl of water in there for it to drink.

After a few sheds, the blisters should go away but it will likely look that way until sometime late spring or summer until they fully heal.

Nice looking milk by the way!

Dave
DNS Reptiles - Milk Snakes

Thanks Dave.
This is my favorite eastern. She very rarely refuses a meal and has a great temperment. Hopefully she will breed for the first time this spring.
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Joe

I believe the major issue here is the cypress mulch, swich to aspen its much better, however milks although being associated with moist environments are very susceptible to moisture blisters and fungal infections, if there environment or substrate in this matter gets to moist it should be adjusted to a 90% dryness, afterall most North american milks live in very dry conditions, although they come out when its moist does not mean they like it that way all the time.
WIsh ya luck

Thanks Brandon. I switched over from aspen to cypress this past year and had great luck with the cypress in the summer. Maybe I'll have to switch back...
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Joe

Joe,

I agree with Dave and Brandon. Keep the snake a little more on the dry side and it'll be fine. Those blisters are incredibly common on them in the spring, at least in parts of their range. From what I've seen, it generally only takes a single shed to get the animal looking like magic again, though some really bad cases seem to take another shed.

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-Cole

Cole, I have found a lot in spring with similar blisters, just never protruding away from the body as far as the ones on this individual. I'm assuming it is just much later in the process when I see them in the spring. Thanks for your input.
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Joe

I'm having the opp prob: it's too dry in the house here (ky) in the winter and babies are having some bad--dry--shed problems. When I'm here I keep a moist hide (damp to wet paper towels inside). And I can confine a really dry snake to a deli cup with a damp or wetter paper towel, and solve the prob.

But when I'm away for a week or more things dry out. Any suggestions on how to sustain moisture for up to a month?