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I have had a Borneo for a year with no problems until this week. I noticed that some of his underside scales a turned a redish colour and seem to be swelling with liquid? He is in a 36"x18"x18" with an overhead heat eliment and 2 undertank heaters. Substrate is news paper with a seperate humity box with sphagnum moss.

Any help apprecieated.

Hey,
It sounds to me like it could be one of two things: scale rot, or blister disease, or dermal burn from lying on a hot pad, while soaking or lying in the sphagnum moss. Are you keeping the moist hides over the hot spot? If so, I would move it to a cooler side of the enclosure, as hot areas and over wet conditions lend to this condition developing in young animals. Reduce the number of hot spots and recheck the temperatures over the surfaces, where the snakes hot spots are located, and reduce the amount of moisture in the moist hide. If the snake is urinating in the moist hide (usually after a meal), there is a very good chance that he or she is lying in it, and this too, can contribute to blistering in some juvies less resistant to blistering.

Remove the moist hide for now, and place him/her, on a clean layer of newspaper or paper towel, and apply a topical antibiotic to the area (Neosporin), and keep the cage dry till it heals. It will go into a shed and the blistered areas will eventually heal, but you have to make some adjustments to your snakes cage condition and address some husbandry issues. All will be well. Good Luck!

-Angel
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"Until we lose our self, there is no way of finding our self."
-Henry Miller.

Hey,
I forgot to mention that, it also sounds to me like you're over heating the cage by having all of those heating elements in the cage: 2 heat pads and an over head heating element. A temperature controller (thermostat) is recommended if you don't already use one for the cage. Look into the Helix Basic, or Helix DBS1000. You don't need that many heating devices to heat a cage if there is sufficient insulation to begin with. You might want to also reconsider looking at some other cage type; maybe even building one your self. I could help with that!

-Angel
-----
"Until we lose our self, there is no way of finding our self."
-Henry Miller.

Your right, I had the hunidity hide box right over a heat pad.
I also have the other pad under his water dish, is this OK? I have 2 temp strip at either end which show 80 & 90 mainly do to the summer usually they are 70 & 80.

Thanks Again

Hey,
I wouldn't keep the water dish on top of the heat pad either. (I understand some keepers do this to increase humidity in the cage). Would you like drinking warm water? Not to mention that, warm water is also a harbinger for algae and other bacteria to flourish in the drinking water. I keep the drinking water in my cages on the cooler side of the cage, and change them out every 2 days if possible. I've noticed that heat and too much moisture don't mix, as there are cases where they develop blistering as a result of too much of both.

-Angel
-----
"Until we lose our self, there is no way of finding our self."
-Henry Miller.

I had a Sumatran blood that got the same thing. I originally thought it was a burn of some sort from the under tank heat pad. After a week or so it got really nasty, scabby and hard. I'd soak her, and it would come off and be fresh and pink underneath, only to re-scab after a few days. This went on for 2 months, and several vet visits. She was on Baytril (orally) and kept her on clean paper towels,Wiped the affected area with hydrogen peroxide, and then applied neosporin twice daily, kept the humidity low, and raised the temps some.I think now that it was scale rot. Regardless, it was a really crummy scenario. Could you post pics so I can see if it looks the same? Hopefully yours will heal quickly. I would see a good reptile vet ASAP to nip it in the bud......
Good luck.
ax.

Thanks for the info. I will try to post pics but your description is exact. I have been putting potysporin for the last week and it does not seem to be getting worse I've also turned off the under tank heating that was directly under the humidity box. I will move this to an open spot. He has a vet appointment next week.
By the way how did she turn out?