Red splotches on the belly of my female ball python:

necoris · 02-19-04, 12:55 PM

I have noticed that one of my female ball pythons has some wierd slightly reddish splotches under the entire length of her belly. They are hard to see in the picture, but they are there. I know she doesn't have scale rot (which looks totally different) but I was just wondering what it could be.

Here is the picture:

Thanks for any advice,
Dustin

sapphire_moon · 02-19-04, 01:24 PM

Probably getting ready to shed. BP's bellys usually get pink when they are going to go into shed.

Stockwell · 02-19-04, 01:27 PM

It's the start of a bacterial infection. The scutes will go krinkly next and the outer layer will start to peel off... I've seen it several times
Increase air circulation in the cage and switch substrates to one that affords more air flow,(like bark chips) and treat the belly with Betadine every couple of days for the next few weeks until it clears up.

necoris · 02-19-04, 01:42 PM

Thanks Stockwell. Now, why would this sort of thing happen? She has been kept on bark for about 2 months. If I put her in a rubbermaid with paper towels, will that help? She currently is housed in a rubbermaid with bark, but was in a 50 gallon glass aquarium. I couldn't get the humidity right so I switched to rubbermaids. Where can I find Betadine? Is it a over-the-counter anti-bacterial solvent or does it require a prescription?

Thanks...

necoris · 02-19-04, 01:42 PM

Oh yea, about the shed. She shed yesterday...

daver676 · 02-19-04, 02:02 PM

Yeesh. It looks itchy, from a human standpoint anyway. It couldn't be the start of a burn, could it?

emroul · 02-19-04, 02:07 PM

It almost looks irritated by something..But what do I know.

I hope someone can help you further.

Jennifer

necoris · 02-19-04, 02:30 PM

Nope, it's not a burn. I have a temperature gun and monitor the temperatures frequently. They rarely reach 93 at most.

Stockwell · 02-19-04, 02:38 PM

Get your Betadine from the Walmart pharmacy, you'll need to ask for it...It comes as a surgical scrub in a tall bottle and also as a topical zit medicine....
Both will work, the active ingredient is providone Iodine.
It stains ,so don't get it on your clothes. It's an antiseptic

I'm not sure exactly why it happens, but presumably it's from too much microbials on the substrate, combined with heat, moisture and the fact they just sit in the same place for days. I've had that happen on wet newspaper and other fairly flat substrates.
I actually had a snake die from it, so you need to get a handle on it quickly.
Keep the snake in sterile quarters until it clears up. It will take a while. The snake will probably shed more than normal so don't be surprised to see it in opague again in a couple weeks

necoris · 02-19-04, 02:42 PM

Alright, thanks for the information. I'm going to Wal-Mart today, so I'll see how much it costs. Thanks Stockwell.

snakehunter · 02-19-04, 04:31 PM

would aspen shavings work to increase the flow of air on the snakes belly?

I also have a differnet scale prob. some of my bps scales on her side and top turn a dull color, like if it where supposed to be black it would be a light gray. do you know what this is, and how to prevent it from happening again and again like it does with me. i use bactroban about every day on it, and it takes about from one shed to another to completely erradicate it, only to find it come back about a month later.
thanx alot
-Jacob

Linds · 02-19-04, 08:12 PM

About the Betadine... it can be purchased for a fraction the price at your local farm supply store.

necoris · 02-19-04, 08:24 PM

Thanks!