Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
I'll post a picture when I get a chance but I wanted to ask a few questions about some scale problems on my corn snake. My wife bought me an anery motley corn for fathers days,which was cool of course,and back then I noticed on ONE of scales on the belly that it looked a little dried out at the tip. I figured it was from a bad shed ... not a big deal I thought. I was looking at the snake last night and noticed there are a few scales that are dried out looking.They are all on the belly area and run up the length of the snake. They are brown/yellowish in color and are mostly on the belly.I also noticed a little patch of missing scales on her back,about 3-4 of them which could have been there before,I am not sure. The snake is in a shedding cycle,the first since I got her. Now could this snake have dropped some eggs before I got her and have some health problems?I seen some other snakes develop scale problems after dropping eggs so I am curious. She is about a 33 inch adult. Has anyone ever seen this problem? If it doesn't look any better after the shed I will take her to a reptile vet around here.

I am glad my wife bought me the snake but this is one reason why I myself like to see the snake before I bring it into the house,another reason WHY I don't buy reptiles from pet stores.I care about the health of the animal of course but obviously I don't want to pay a HUGE bill either!I'll try to post some pictures later tonight when I am off work to give you a better idea of what I am talking about. The snake is kept in a 29 gallon tank with aspen for a subtrate. The warm side is usually 81-83 degrees with the cool side around 75 degrees. She ate twice since fathers day and has refused food the last two weeks(My guess is because she was ready to start shedding). I keep all my cages clean so I am SURE this was a problem before I got the snake. Unfortunately I called the pet store and they said... 'We can recommend a reptile vet,the snake was healthy when in our care'..figures..lol

n/p

I am in no way an expert i am just starting with snakes, but i have read about scale rot from excess moisture could this be the problem? Also could it be burns from a heat rock or too high temps on a heating pad, i have also read about them.

good luck with the new arrival hopefully someone with more experience will reply for you

Wayne

My cage is kept dry. No moisture at all. I provided a humidity box for the snake but the aspen subtrate is dry. Here is a pic of the problem. Is this from retained skin during a bad shed? The snake is in a shed cycle now so I guess I will know more after she shed. I take pride in keeping my animals healthy and in a clean enviorment. It burns me up a little bit to think this started before I got the snake. Didn't even have the snake a full month yet. This is one spot on the snake that is like this..there are several more.

If it's bothering you take your corn to a vet.It looks like scale rot or maybe some kind of infection.Can you smell anything abnormal from the wounds?Have you tried paper towells as a substrate?Maybe it's a reaction to something your using.I know your upset but I think a trip to the vets office might help.Scale rot would eventually turn black so that might not be it.Maybe it's nothing at all and just a genetic quirk.

Thanks for the reply! My corn shed last night and she looks perfect now. I checked the shed and all the dry skin came off with the shed and her scales appear to be normal. Like I said I think she had poor husbandry and had a bad shed last time around and retained some of it on her body.Her shed this time around was perfect. Everything came off clean. Just shows you how improperly a lot of pet stores take care of their animals. Also the previous owner could be blamed also as the pet store said they only had the snake for a week before my wife bought it. Like you also said it could be genetic and this is what happens before she sheds. Either way I will keep a close eye on her over the next few weeks to make sure everything is OK.