Skin Dry or Scale Rot?

[Valkyrie]

Hey folks! Im a lurker here and read much more than I post but I have an issue with my black rat snake. Male, aprox. 50" long. He is an agressive eater and has no issues there. He is docile and doesnt mind being handled. But he has developed this skin condidtion of some kind.

First I will descibe it and then you can look at the pics. He has patches of dull and dry scales on his back. His undersides are clear and show no pinkish areas at all. His viv is meticulously cleaned and disinfected. The humidity stays at whatever my apartment is and thats about 30-40% in the summer, a little less during the winter. When I hold him I am able to flake his scales right off, The dried ones as well as the healthy looking ones. His whole body feels like the edges of his scales are sticking out all over. He hasnt shed in five months and he usually sheds every three months.

Is he too dry and not able to shed? Does he have scale rot? he is active and healthy otherwise, Im confounded.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff110/1mccarty/th_Nag.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff110/1mccarty/th_Nag3.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff110/1mccarty/Nag2.jpg

[BigByrd47119]

Although I have never seen this with my corn snakes, something very similar happens with my milk snake. Usually about 2 or 3 weeks before I find a skin in the tank.

When you say scales that are coming off, are you referring to the scale or small scale shaped pieces of shed? If scales themselves were falling off I might be concerned, but the thin shed-type pieces are, in my experience, a precursor to a shed.

If your really worried about it, you could always let the little guy go for a swim.

[Karoni]

Hi. I'm a snake newbie, but I had an issue like this with my snake, Mango. He looks horrible right before a shed. Really dry skin, the skin over the scales flakes off easily and sits up at weird angles. I took him to the vet and while he was handling him, clear skin was coming off everywhere. A week later, he shed and now he looks fine. I'm wondering if your guy doesn't just look scruffy because he hasn't shed in a long time. If others who are more experienced help you rule out scale rot (which it doesn't sound like he has because you said there's no pink skin on his ventral scutes), then maybe you could put in a humid hide for him and see if he'll use it. I'm hoping it's just the scruffy, pre-shed look and that nothing is wrong with him.