Clear scales flaking off?

[xStaticSnow]

Hello, my corn is about 7 years old and I got him a few months ago. He just shed about 3 weeks ago so I'm doubting this is connected to a current shed, but maybe somehow a retained shed? ):

He has a few areas on his back where his scales look deformed almost, like he had an injury in the past which is healed now, but the scales are shaped odd. I noticed today when I took him out that he had a few transparent, very thin scale shaped pieces of skin or something that were standing up, when I ran my finger over them they started flaking off and my hands had a few spots of sparkly shiny scales.

I'm not sure what would cause this as I just bathed him yesterday to get him to poop finally. He did defecate within minutes so his bath was pretty short but he seemed nice and shiny after his bath.

Should I maybe just increase the humidity in his tank and see if this helps?
Any other advice?

He also has one scale on his back which developed a brown scab a couple days after his first shed. He also developed a tiny red scab near the tip of his tail. He's only shed once since I've had him and it wasn't a very good shed. I let him soak in a tub for a few minutes then let him crawl through my hands and eventually I got all the shed off. When I first got him he had several pieces of stuck shed around his neck so I'm guessing he doesn't have a great history of good sheds.

I remember seeing something similar in another snow corn on here. I couldn't find that thread but if I remember correctly that snake had more sever symptoms related to their scales. I'm just worried this could be a sign of something bad. He's a snow corn and I've checked for scale rot and such and he has no signs anywhere else

thanks so much

[Caryl]

It's hard to say without pictures, but what you describe does sound like it could be a bit of retained shed. Once the snake does this one time it's more likely to happen for a few more sheds until everything underneath gets healed. You're on the right track with increasing his viv humidity. Easy ways to do this include putting the water bowl on the warm side (change it daily if you do this), misting the viv lightly each day, and/or covering the mesh with a cloth towel. You might also give him a moist hide with damp sphagnum moss inside. Damp is the key there, as opposed to actually wet.

As for the areas that look scabbed, feel free to put something topical like antibiotic ointment on these spots with a cotton swab. That will help keep them moist and help these areas to heal properly. The next shed is likely to want to stick in these places, so be conscientious about checking there after he sheds again.

This doesn't sound like anything severe. Your snake is fortunate to have an owner who wants him to be healthy, and you have every reason to expect that he will be.