"Rough belly scales" on ball python
joseph.j.de rosa
I have a question regarding my female ball python. She has settled into her new
home very well, (I have her about a month) and started eating regularly. She
is about 3' long and is captive bred (hatched May 1990). She has a large water
bowl in her cage, as well as a box to hide in. Cage air temperature is about
80-82 F, with some warmer spots (heaters) at 84-86 F. The water in her bowl is
about 74-76 F. I handle her just about every day, and have recently noticed
that her belly scales are "rough". It sort of looks like some of these scales
are peeling (like she is shedding an individual scale). This has me concerned.
I soaked her for about an hour in 80 F water, and she seemed willing enough to
stay in the water (I removed her when she let me know thatshe wanted to dry
out). I'm wondering now if she is avoiding her water bowl, and was starting to
dehydrate. The damage is on individual scales, and there are about 10 or so
scattered on her stomach that show the damage. It doesn't look real serious,
and it doesn't look like a heat burn.
What should I do/change? Should I heat her water bowl to 80 F? Should I give
her weekly soaks? Any other suggestions? I have plans to get her a friend
(I'll keep them in seperate cages until breeding season), but I want everything
settled down before I commit to a male (I have found a wonderful male, also
hatched in May of '90 from different bloodlines that would be PERFECT, and
his availability is limited I'm sure). I really appreciate any
assistance/advice that is offered.
Joe DeRosa
jde...@attmail.att.com
ams...@rigel.tamu.edu
>
>that her belly scales are "rough". It sort of looks like some of these scales
>are peeling (like she is shedding an individual scale). This has me concerned.
>
>jde...@attmail.att.com
ssssssssssssssssssssex
Well, I kind of cut off part of a line I wanted leave, but that's no biggy.
This sounds like a similar reaction that my burmese had to pine shavings. When
I switched to newspaper the problem didn't get any worse and has actually
gotten better. Mind you, my ball was in the same cage and had none of the
reactions described.
I would suggest that for a period of time (ie 1-2 months), change the flooring
of your cage. You should avoid shavings, and astroturf is definitely not worth
the time and effort, but these may help you resolve at least part of the
situation.
---- The Cunning Linguist
Debra Frances
cause. Could also be a bacterial infection if the substrate is not the problem.
Debra Frances
shavings).
joseph.j.de rosa
>Something I usually take for granted - snakes are allergic to cedar (as in cedar
>shavings).
Sorry to all who have been speculating about the bedding that I'm using: it's
newspaper, and it is changed after the snake poops (within a few hours).
The cage is washed down monthly to keep it clean. The newspapers are folded to
keep them in place (so I don;t need lots of rocks to hold it down). The snake
CANNOT burn herself on anything: hootest part of the cage is <90 F.
Joe DeRosa
jde...@attmail.att.com
ams...@summa.tamu.edu
>Something I usually take for granted - snakes are allergic to cedar (as in cedar
>shavings).
ssssssssssssssssssssex
Interesting sidenote. Bob and Igor lived in their own room for a while. And I
had cedar shavings on the floor. When I moved to my new place and no longer
had a spare bedroom, I put them into an aquarium with pine shavings. Bob,
apparently, wound up being allergic to the pine shavings in a similar way to
...oops, now I forgot his name....<Joe>'s Ball.
BTW, <Joe>, I tried to send you a reply, but it bounced. The advice I have is
to switch from the newspaper to something else for about a week. If the
problem stops or starts to get better, than I'd bet it's an allergy to
something in the newspaper. Also, no matter what bedding you use, KEEP IT
CLEAN.
---- The Cunning Linguist
Steve Poole
>
> In article <1992Jan21....@solbourne.com>, de...@solbourne.com (Debra Frances) writes...
> >Something I usually take for granted - snakes are allergic to cedar (as in cedar
> >shavings).
I read somewhere that cedar shavings can actually cause nerve
damage in lizards. Does anyone know more about this?
- Steve
ams...@zeus.tamu.edu
ssssssssssssssssssssex
I have heard this, also, but I couldn't tell you the validity of this.
BTW, in an earlier post, I mentioned that I'd had my Burm and Ball on cedar
shavings. I did not intend that anyone else should try this. In fact, it is
the general feeling of eveyone here to not use any type of wood shavings as
the bedding for your snake cage. As for the other animals discussed around
here, I would say the same goes, but I'll leave that for the more knowledgable
of those species.
---- The Cunning Linguist
p.s. No flames on this, yet. But I did want to clear it up.
Paul J Hollander
> (Stuff deleted)
>BTW, in an earlier post, I mentioned that I'd had my Burm and Ball on cedar
>shavings. I did not intend that anyone else should try this. In fact, it is
>the general feeling of eveyone here to not use any type of wood shavings as
>the bedding for your snake cage. As for the other animals discussed around
>here, I would say the same goes, but I'll leave that for the more knowledgable
>of those species.
>
>
> ---- The Cunning Linguist
------------
The only wood product I've seen used successfully (other than paper of various
kinds) is shredded aspen. It's very fibrous, not a chip or shaving, and it
didn't seem dusty.
Oh, yes, one other. The St. Louis Zoo's herp department had a couple of
indigo snakes in a big cage with several inches of wood chips on the floor.
The indigos were crawling around both above and under the chips and seemed
happy. A keeper told me that the city ran branches and stuff through a
chipper to dispose of them, and the zoo could get as much of the chips as they
wanted. These chips were several inches across and up to 1/2 in thick.
Paul Hollander phol...@iastate.edu
Behold the tortoise: he makes no progress unless he sticks his neck out.
Anthony A. Datri
A local store has recommended a new one on me -- chipped walnut shells.
I'd expect them to have the same problems as corncob, and I'll just stick
with newspaper.
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