BRB Losing Scales?

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-19-16, 07:39 PM

I'm posting this outside of Morzan and Homura's thread for maximum attention.

Ok I'm kinda freaking out about Morzan now....I took him out of his tub a few minutes ago to weigh him, and remove a poop and urate he dropped and saw this....

He appears well-hydrated, he has no bent scales, no sticky skin, his poop and urates look normal, and the urates are nice and big...his bedding was just dampened and there's condensation. I'm not currently using hygrometers with my rainbows because they not accurate above 80-85% but I could certainly get one just for him if that's most likely this issue...

Here's his poop and urates, they appear relatively fresh.

Just in case I dampened his bedding further and heavily sprayed down his tub with my pump sprayer.

I've heard of snakes losing their scales and their skin ripping when they're not getting enough nutrition and I'm truly hoping that's not what's going on here...

Any help from keepers experienced with babies with regurge issues? Should I step him up to 4 gram fuzzies, go ahead and feed him every 5 days? Is there something else that could be causing this? Is this something I should get him to the vet for or wait and see if it's a hydration issue?

REM955 · 09-19-16, 07:56 PM

Looks similar to this case.
Boas-Rainbow - Patches of abnormal scales pre and post-shed please advise
Another link on the site.
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/epicr...scale-rot.html
Best of luck.

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-19-16, 08:16 PM

It's definitely not like that first link, he shed a couple weeks ago, and the scales are flaky-looking in person. Which may just be the rainbow sheen because they don't look flaky in the pictures. In the photos it looks like all color has drained away.

I don't think it's scale rot either, it's on his side and there's no redness or blisters, and although I keep his bedding damp it's not wet and is allowed to dry out in cycles. If anybody else thinks that it could be fungal I could certainly get a test done.

I just don't want to take him to the vet unnecessarily because of his weakness, I don't want to risk his life by overstressing him unless it's absolutely necessary.

**Minkness** · 09-19-16, 08:24 PM

Could just be that the scales were weak and came off with his shed? I dunno....seems odd.

Is this guy from the same breeder where you got the one that mysteriously died?

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-19-16, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minkness

Could just be that the scales were weak and came off with his shed? I dunno....seems odd.

Is this guy from the same breeder where you got the one that mysteriously died?

Except he shed almost 3 weeks ago, and they weren't like this a couple days ago when I checked on him. His shed was a whole piece without any holes.

Yes, all my rainbows have been from the same source. My hypo and normal are perfectly healthy but I'm starting to wonder if maybe there's a problem with the Picasso line...the one that died was Morzan's sister. Then again, I've seen healthy Picasso stripes, but only my two Picasso stripes have given me problems outside the norm out of all of my snakes, not just BRBs.

**Minkness** · 09-19-16, 08:42 PM

Could just be that breeder's picasso line? I dunno...I think he should go to a vet and have a swab done. Could be anything. Fungal, bacterial, or just part of who is? (A natual scale weakness).

So sorry you are having issues with these beautiful guys. =(

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-19-16, 08:59 PM

Before I make any decisions to take him to the vet, I'll wait on some experienced breeders. Cliff/Snakesitter is the only one I know of here, so I'll wait for his verdict on this thread, and see if anybody else thinks that could be the case.

I am very hesitant to take him to the vet without some concrete opinions because of his condition. I do not want to risk a vet visit pushing him over the edge. If he was a normal BRB in generally good condition that would be one thing, but he isn't. Of course, my natural response is to consult a vet, but vet visits are stressful, and he is most likely weak from having to eat significantly small meals for the 14 months of his life thus far.

RAD House · 09-19-16, 09:27 PM

Do you have a reptile vet you trust? Maybe see if they will do a phone consult if you email over some pictures? The only time I have heard of scales sloughing like this someone had applied mineral oil to the snake. Any chance she came in contact with something?

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-19-16, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MesoCorney

Do you have a reptile vet you trust? Maybe see if they will do a phone consult if you email over some pictures? The only time I have heard of scales sloughing like this someone had applied mineral oil to the snake. Any chance she came in contact with something?

I only have one vet in town, and he isn't a reptile specialist. He can do basic stuff, but nothing major. I think this would be out of his league. There is another one nearby but there's mixed reviews on Yellow Pages and their FB page.

From the photos, they don't appear to be sloughing off. I could take him out to get a good look at him again in person, but they appear to have just lost their color, not been sloughed off.

No, there's no way he came into contact with something. I don't use any chemicals in my house outside of soap, detergents, and bleach. I do sometimes use bleach to clean really gross stuff, but I've never used bleach on anything in Morzan's tub. I prefer to use soap when possible.

I have also not really been handling him all that much lately, I usually just open his tub and look in, so nothing from off my hands.

**Minkness** · 09-19-16, 10:27 PM

It's hard for me to see the photos. Probably because I'm only wver on my phone. But if they are just discolored. Maybe that's just his juvie pattern/colors?

Als9, forgive for not being up to date on him, but why is he feeding on smaller prey than he should be?

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-19-16, 10:36 PM

I went back through my records to figure out how many bedding changes he's had since getting off moss and it's been 3 bedding changes in the past 5 months. Surely that's not so bad that it caused an infection? :/

I got him out and got a closer look at them and they do appear a little hardened and some are thickened. A few are brownish looking. I may call the non-specialist and see if we can get a swab, I'm just so worried about overstressing him.

Also, Minkness, he has some sort of condition that appears congenital that causes him to regurge normal-sized meals. He is at the length and roughly the weight that if he had full girth he could easily take hopper mice. I am guessing 4 or 5 gram fuzzies to be his max. This has caused him to be quite stunted in growth. He's 14 months old but even lighter than Sanji was at 6 months. He keeps down small fuzzies just fine, just can't take anything larger.

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-19-16, 10:38 PM

If I lose him, too, this is likely the last Picasso stripe or abberant morph BRB I will purchase. Again, my hypo and normal are in perfect health, so I'm not steered off rainbows completely.

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-19-16, 11:19 PM

I've been trying to find 24 hour emergency vets but they're all out on the other end of the state....even if time wasn't a factor and the stress from the drive wasn't a huge possibility there's a major gas shortage here so I'm not sure if we'd be able to make it out there. :/ Hopefully it's not too major and a day or too won't be too much, as the vet office open the latest around here closes at midnight. That was an hour ago. I know the non-specialist could at least get the swab done, and anything beyond that he could get me in touch with other vets.

JellyBean · 09-19-16, 11:41 PM

Im so sorry you are going through this

He has been a handful, hasn't he?

Poor little guy.

I know what it's like to do anything for our babies, and I hope for the best. ❤️ Good luck Morzan

marvelfreak · 09-20-16, 09:45 AM

Question how does he look now during the day?