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Scale rot? Help please!

C

Ceridwen

New member
I apologize for the lack of pics, I'm going to try to get some tomorrow when I've got my camera at home.

I have a california king that I took over the care of from my roommate, who had been severely neglecting her for at ~2 years. I have been taking care of her since early April and she is currently 18" long (SVL) and weighs 60g as of today.

She has never had anything visibly wrong with her and eats well. Today while handling her I noticed some scales on her head are gray in spots. I wasn't sure if they had always been that way so I checked some pictures I took in April and sure enough it's a recent development. The scales in question are near her right eye, between the eye and the mouth. She also has a small discolored spot on her bottom jaw right near her mouth.

I keep her on aspen, in a rubbermaid container that is 12" x 8". Hot side is 86-88 depending on house temp and cold side is 74-76. I keep the container clean and have never misted or given her a moist hide because she has never had a shedding issue. I've only once noticed a wet area in the cage, underneath her old water bowl (which has been changed out for a ceramic bowl she can't tip). She has shed once a month since I got her and is due for one soon.

Does this sound like scale rot or something else? Should I wait for her a shed (should happen in the next 5-7 days) or take her to the vet ASAP?
 
Hmmmm....I would take the snake to a vet and have them look the snake over. Especially to rule out any mouth rot or any oral infections because of the general area that the spots are in.
 
A vet trip wouldn't be a bad idea. It does sound to be the start of some form of infection or another.

I had a corn go through a HORRIBLE case of scale rot last year. She had aspen and when it got wet, it "festered". I switched to coconut fiber and haven't had any further issues. I use DRY coconut fiber for all my corns and kings. I find the natural tannins are a benefit in helping to reduce bacterial growth. It seems that no matter how "spill-proof" my snake water dishes are...they always get spilled. With aspen I was constantly changing it, trying to catch and remove mold and nasty wet stuff all the time. With the coconut fiber, the spilled water gets dissipated as humidity, and the bacterial growth has been non-existent.

Just something to think about if you have a snake that may be susceptible to scale infections...
 
Here is the pic as promised. It's not great since the lighting in my room sucked and using the flash backfired on me.

gucci_scales.jpg



tyflier said:
With aspen I was constantly changing it, trying to catch and remove mold and nasty wet stuff all the time.
Click to expand...

It's interesting that I've never really had a problem with the aspen. It was wet *once* when I went to change the water, only underneath the water bowl. It didn't look moldy or anything, just wet.

I'll consider a substrate change though, especially if the vet feels it is warranted.
 
Got one more pic. I'm planning to call and try to get a vet visit for sometime next week. I'm going to skip feeding her tomorrow so I will be able to take her in whenever they can get me in.

In the pic you can see the little spot on the right near her mouth.
Gucci_lowerjaw.jpg
 
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