Sos scales looking weird! Please

[Santy1129]

Hello,

I checked today my GTP and he seems to have an issue with the scales in several spots along his spine. Could someone please help me. I am very worried.

[Tsubaki]

Any blistering or strange odor?

[sattva]

Looks like he might have scraped his back trying to squeeze through something... When was the last time he shed?

[Santy1129]

I went on vacation for a week and I took him to a pet store that offers boarding. I do not know what could have happened there. I thought it was maybe thermal burn. He has spots like that one all over along his back. It does not have strange odor. when I slightly touched it, it feels like a crust. He had many issues in the past month. First I tried to fee him and he would not eat. Then he had a shed stuck as he always has problems shedding. Humidity is fine high 90s when sprayed and it declines to 50 in a period of 24 hours. Maybe he just have a problems with shedding. I gave him a bath and he shed completely but still would not eat. All this overlap with a transition of a new cage. He was not perching in the new cage. I put the old cage inside the big cage and he perched in the perch that he likes the most from the old cage. I went to the vet and he sent him antibiotics just in case but the looked healthy otherwise. I went on vacation for a week as I said, gave him the medicine, a bath, and he finally ate after almost 4 weeks. 2 Days after feeding I found those weird scales. I sent the pic to the vet and he said the same, rubbing wound. He told me to keep the medicine and apply Bacitracin. I googled thermal burns and scale rot and I found horrible things waaaay far from what he has right now.

[Scubadiver59]

I dread that thought when I take my dogs for boarding--will they be cared for properly. Now I have to worry about snakes...

Next time you go away for a while, do like I do, find a friend to camp at your house while you're gone. If you've fed your snake just prior to your leaving they won't have to eat, and the most anyone will have to do is fill a water dish, or two, and spritz some water keep the humidity up.

There's no stress of travel for the snake, they'll be hungry when you return, they know the surroundings they're in, and you know your equipment (lighting, UTH, etc) works correctly.

Sorry about your situation but it doesn't look super bad according to your description below, and the pictures you said looked awful, so hopefully with the next shed the current issue will disappear. Though the wait until then will be excruciating.

Originally Posted by Santy1129

I went on vacation for a week and I took him to a pet store that offers boarding. I do not know what could have happened there. I thought it was maybe thermal burn. He has spots like that one all over along his back. It does not have strange odor. when I slightly touched it, it feels like a crust. He had many issues in the past month. First I tried to fee him and he would not eat. Then he had a shed stuck as he always has problems shedding. Humidity is fine high 90s when sprayed and it declines to 50 in a period of 24 hours. Maybe he just have a problems with shedding. I gave him a bath and he shed completely but still would not eat. All this overlap with a transition of a new cage. He was not perching in the new cage. I put the old cage inside the big cage and he perched in the perch that he likes the most from the old cage. I went to the vet and he sent him antibiotics just in case but the looked healthy otherwise. I went on vacation for a week as I said, gave him the medicine, a bath, and he finally ate after almost 4 weeks. 2 Days after feeding I found those weird scales. I sent the pic to the vet and he said the same, rubbing wound. He told me to keep the medicine and apply Bacitracin. I googled thermal burns and scale rot and I found horrible things waaaay far from what he has right now.

[Santy1129]

I hope the next shed will do the trick. When I took him for boarding I took everything with him, his cage, the thermostat... He was in his favorite environment

[akane]

Could he have tried to hide somewhere in the cage? They can get themselves in surprising places. Altogether it's probably a lot of stress for a month. If I knew I was leaving I would do nothing new(cage change, feeding details, etc...) for weeks before and after. I'd also probably block as much view from the cage as possible without impacting conditions if they had to be in such a new environment. Just keeping their cage the same isn't going to make being in an entirely new place with new people and animals, even if they aren't directly around them, from being a lot of stressful change. A quiet place to hide might actually be better for some instead.