well I never thaught I would be asking a ball pythin question.

[ReptiZone]

I have sean a bunch of ball pythons in my life but never one like the one I have.

Now I know a snakes belly will go redish right B4 a shed but she has ben red for like a month now B4 and after her shed and there is no sing of it going away.

This is also the same ball I am thinking may be gravid would this play a roll to why it is red. I will post a pick in the morning. just wana see what ppl on tonight think it may be.

[sapphire_moon]

maybe..she could be gravid....could she be burned? I'm sorry if I'm not much help. I'm sure someone with more experience would be able to help you more....

[ReptiZone]

no I dont heat from UTH I dont beleave in them I use lights or I heat the whole room they are in like all summer my balls were in a rppm that was at 87F-91F so I never needed a light or UTH all summer. now I noticed the red last month she shed and it is still there.

[Jeff_Favelle]

no I dont heat from UTH I dont beleave in them I use lights or I heat the whole room they are in like all summer my balls were in a rppm that was at 87F-91F so I never needed a light or UTH all summer. now I noticed the red last month she shed and it is still there.


You COULD start by keeping your snake properly. That'd help a heap.

[BoidKeeper]

I've had all kinds of balls over the last couple of years. I've got all the books and a great video and I still ask questions. When I stop asking questions I think it will be because I either have become over confident or I don't work with that species anymore.
Trevor

[striko_69]

yeah i agree with jeff on that one matey, they shoulod be allowed to control their temperature, thats how they are in the wild, and snakes have got that adaptation for a few years to put it lightly.....

[lilyskip]

if the room temperature is 87-91, then the cool side of your tank is too hot. There should be a difference in temperatures to allow for thermoregulation. And if you're heating with lights, it still seems possible that the bottom of the tank or the substrate (but I don't know what kind you're using) could still get hot enough to burn the snake, no?

[ReptiZone]

No, the balls are on newspaper. and the lights would not be that hot that it would burn her. The lights are not on when the room temperature is 87degrees. What do you mean by that comment there jeff? i DO keep my snakes properly. They are in no way neglected.

Chondro Python

[ReptiZone]

also...the lights are overhead..so they are not located under the cage..therefor its impossible for burns coming from the bottom.

Chondro

[lilyskip]

i figure if the lights are overhead, they are still aimed downwards at the paper, and it could really get heated up still. try putting a term. on the surface just to make sure.

[Jeff_Favelle]

What do you mean by that comment there jeff? i DO keep my snakes properly. They are in no way neglected.

Just because you don't neglect your snakes, doesn't mean they are kept properly. I could poke my snakes in the eye all day long and not be neglecting them. Doesn't mean they are kept "right".

If you want to keep your snakes with heat lamps and high high ambients against the opinion of ALL the TOP people in the industry, go right ahead. I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

[ReptiZone]

then what do you suggest i do?

[BoidKeeper]

He's going to tell you not to use an aquarium if you are. He's also going to tell you to switch to UTH and to lower your ambiants.
Do I know you Favelle or what?
The Sutherlands have a DTH of 85 in summer and 80 in winter. NTL of 80 in summer and 75 in winter. They use UTH with a helix system set to 90-95.
Trevor

[Jeff_Favelle]

Yep and yep.

[killaclown]

Dang i never thout i would hear this from chondro!!!!

[ReptiZone]

im not using an aquarium..they are presently in rubbermaids. Here in Montreal, the average temperature in the days..during the summer...is 85-90 degrees. So i thought that if i heated them more with lights or UTH..it would be harming them since the temperature is already up there.

Chondro

[ReptiZone]

Ok..enough about temperatures..anyone know what the red is?? Its definately not burns from UTH cause i didnt use it. So any suggestions? She was on newspaper..and in a rubbermaid.

Chondro

[MontyPython]

Maybe it rubbed itself raw? Are there scales where it's red or skin , try taking it to a vet.

[BoidKeeper]

It could be ink from the paper. One of my BRBs had an orange belly the other day and it had me pretty freaked for a while until some smart *** laughed is balls off at me and told me what it was.
Trevor

[ReptiZone]

well I was told that the ink could do that too my snake I will posting pic's in a vew min I just need to set up the camara.

[mango]

Do you have a reading of the temperature of the substrate?? For example I use a digital thermometer with a probe on a 10ft cord. It stays on the surface of my substrate to give me a reading at all times. I got mine for under $20. The lights could very possibly heat the substrate enough to burn.

[ReptiZone]

Well I dont have lights on ball rubermaids yet cause I got them in the sumer time and it is still 91F in my herp room and there is nothing I can do I am on the 3rd floor in my apartment. I am instoling an A/C next year too keep things regulated better.

well here are some pic's you can't see it verry good the camara dosent catch the red.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1410Untitled-Scanned-03-thumb.jpg

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1410Untitled-Scanned-02-med.jpg

And for thows of you that must absolutly see what they are housed it here it is.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1410Untitled-Scanned-08-med.jpg

the only thing that is difrent is that it used to be news paper.

sorry for all the blurry pic's but I took them with me web cam so we work with what we got right.

[BoidKeeper]

Can't tell by the pics. I'd take out the news paper and use a bath towel for a few days. If she is not blistered or swollen or anything like that then I'd say it's the ink. But who knows? One way to find out may be to take it out of the equation. Put her on something else for a few days and see what happens. Let her take a bath in the tub first then put her on a towel and see what happens.

[killaclown]

Your snake looks normal 2 me but who knows. Just dont go all crazy over it , just take it to a vet and let them hanle it

[Kathy]

Maybe she's allergic to the plastic of her enclosure. My dog is allergic to plastic and whenever he heats out of a plastic food dish his face (where he licks after hes done eating) gets all red and swolen from the plastic particles left on his tongue. Maybe its the same sort of thing?

For thermoregulating them, why not try undertank cooling on one end of the tank, like an ice pack or something. Then she'd have a cooler spot to go if she wanted to.

[Linds]

Originally posted by BoidKeeper
I've had all kinds of balls over the last couple of years. I've got all the books and a great video and I still ask questions. When I stop asking questions I think it will be because I either have become over confident or I don't work with that species anymore.

Agreed. Not in all a lifetime will anyone ever know all there is to know about snakes.

[MontyPython]

See Chondro, my question on hets was relevant because I had never come across it. Do you know everything there is to know about snakes? No, or you wouldn't be here! Do you know what a Chondro python is? It doesn't seem to be listed in your snake/lizard collection. :D

[ReptiZone]

Yes I know what a chondro python is it was the old latin name for green tree python B4 they noticed a GTP breeding and producindg babys with a morelia ssp consequently changing the name to from Chondro Python Viridis to Morelia Viridis.

And it is one of my most fave snakes but I just can't seem to rack up the cash to geting one do you even know what they are worth you dont just wake up one day and buy them they demand alot of experience for handeling and husbendry skils 16 years of experiens should have taught you that.

I can see not understanding het's but plain out not knowing how to read the sex of a group of snakes and you flaunting all that experience you have just left me beside my self. To think I thaught you hade 16 years of valuble experience and then I found out you were picking up grass snakes man what a turn around.

[MontyPython]

Never knew about the sexing either, I do have valuable experienece. Never read any books on it either. I have a wealth of info on most any kind of animal, especially snakes. You ever hear the saying, "You learn something new every day" Well, I just did, after asking the het and sexing question, I was never interested in the sex of the snake or whatever. But I am trying to learn so I am asking questions, cause there's no such thing as a stupid question, just stupid people, I don't think you are one of those either, you seem to know what you are talking about for the most part. So let's shake hands and move on shall we? hehe
Yes, I would also love to own a GTP or ETB, but their costs have since kept me away from them, not only that, but they seem to require different care from Ball Pythons. So, like I said, I do have lots of years of experience with reptiles, those 2 topics just never interested me so I didn't bother to find out about them! Phew, i think I am finished until next time... :D

[ReptiZone]

yah yah were cool :)

[Scales Zoo]

No one has mentioned scale rot.

From the pictures, it doesn't look like scale rot.

Scale rot can happen when the snakes are kept on moist substrate. The first signs are a pink belly, eventually parts of the belly scales actually "rot away".

While newspaper and paper towels have their advantages, humidity and spilled water dishes can create a problem.

Ryan

[Jeff_Favelle]

All my BP's (there's a LOT of them) all get pinkish bellies before the shed.

[ReptiZone]

well I think I got my situation all figured out I was looking through my records and I realysed that I was replacing the water in a ball enclosure like almost 2 times a day every day of the week then I also noticed that I wroght that the rednes started after 2 weeks of that kind of routine. then I did some serches in my books and on the net and I found out that the first normal sing of scale rot is rednes on the belly scales then I red that a good factor contributing to this is a to humide or wet enclosure.

well when you place a clean water dish B4 you leav for work and come home to a wet cage then clean it and place a clean water dish just to do it all over in the morning there is no telling just how long the water has ben spilt and the snake laying in it.

So my solution place clean water every 2 and only for 4-8 hours when it is all gone I will get biger dishes so they will not be tiped over.

Man what a simple answer to a rather complex problem.

[lilyskip]

I'm glad you got it figured out! as far as water bowls, I use a weighted dog dish that my snake can't tip over, and I change it once a day. do you have a humidity gauge? that would really help with this thing in the future, if you don't have one already.

[ReptiZone]

It is all gone and I am so happy the red ness is all gone and now it is a crisp clear white I think it was the fact that the water dish was being tiped over so often and the ink on the paper was leaking on the snake cause the shed was actualy redish so I am sooo happy and I now chucked all the paper in all my cages in got a 50% repti bark 50% eco earth as a substrate it keeps thing nice and humid and the repti bark keeps it on the dry side I will see how this plays out for me. And I was such a enforcer of using news paper now it wil just be for my quarentine cages.