Scale issue?

[leftycrane]

Hello. I will sart off by saying I'm sorry I don't have pics to accompany this. I know it would help, but he just ate and my camera would not focus on him for some reason today. I will def try again in a few days.
But my coral snow corn snake looks to be having some kind of scale issue. We noticed he had a few very tiny shreds of skin left after his last shed so we let him crawl through a wet towel to help. Tonight we noticed in one little part of his body his scales seemed to be almost separating from his body when he bends or turns and they look...for lack of a better expression...chewed up. I looked up scale rot pics but they don't really look like that. They're not brown at the edges, they're not bloody looking or anything.
He is kept on aspen shavings, gets fed every 10 days, humidity is about 40%, temperature in the cool side is about 74, on the warm side it is about 86-88. He has a water bowl, a fake tree thing to climb on and a bendy vine.
He does try to climb up to the top of his tank and get between the lip of the tank and the screen and he falls off of it all the time. I honestly don't know if its an injury, scale rot, an infection...I dont know. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[kmonique07]

My corn snake is having the exact same problem! I haven't figured out what's wrong with mine yet either. :(

[HeavenHell]

It may be rubbing against the top screen and damaging it's scales. My young corn used to do that so I moved it to a rack instead of a tank. Good thing is it repaired itself after a single shed.

[bitsy]

Very difficult to give any ideas without a picture - apologies.

Can you find anything on the internet which looks similar?

[leftycrane]

Hello. Here are the pics as promised. Sorry they are so crappy, he was squirming all around and my camera sucks. But what you can see in the first one is how chewed up his scales look. This actually occurs in a few places on his body. His scales just feel brittle and flaky almost.

The second picture is the one closer to his head that his scales look like they are almost seperating from his body.

The last one is a horrible picture but a little dark area on his tail that looks brownish. I just dont know what to make of it or what to do for it. Any input would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

[AliCat37]

How are you measuring your temps and are you heating him with a light or an UTH?

[leftycrane]

i have an UTH and we measure the temps using a digital thermometer. we also have a rheostat to control the temps.

[AliCat37]

Hmm. Well then it's not from being too hot. I've seen that happen on snakes that were kept on unregulated under tank heaters or unregulated lamps.

My motley boy rubbed some of his scales up a few months back when he was looking for a girlfriend. I'd wait to see if it goes away with a shed.

[leftycrane]

Crap. Well I just double checked his temps. We just got a new rheostat like a week ago because our older one broke. And when I checked the temps a few days ago they were fine, I checked tonight and it was 95! Could this be a cause of it? If so, what should I do now?

[AliCat37]

It could be the cause, that's just my opinion, I'd wait to see if others chime in. I just remember that my corns had those when I didn't know the temps had to be regulated o.o
I'd just get the temps under control and give a humid hide maybe?

[leftycrane]

Ok. I turned the rheostat down last night to the lowest setting...checked this morning and it's still at 91. Do they just take a while to drop the temps? And I guess I will be looking up how to make a humid hide lol. Thank you so much for the help alicat! If anyone else has a thought, it is still welcome!

[Karoni]

Just my opinion, but I find rheostats very undependable; it's harder to get the temp right and for it to stay there. Maybe you should try a thermostat. Good luck!

[leftycrane]

I thought they were the same thing. Where does one buy a thermostat and wants the difference? Thanks!

[leftycrane]

oh and the snake. does it look like scale rot or a burn? should i do anything different to his tank? like, i read for scale rot to make their tank a hospital sterile type tank with paper towel substrate and no porous hides or anything and to give medicated baths. Do i need to do this do you think? or just see how the reduced heat and humid hide works for now? Thanks so much to those that have helped!

[Karoni]

I'm not the best person to explain the difference, but I'll try. A rheostat is like a dimmer switch. You plug the UTH into it and slide the dimmer until you get the temperature you are looking for. It controls how much electricity operates the device. With a thermostat, you plug the UTH into the thermostat and set the thermostat for the temp you want (say 85 degrees). The thermostat may vascillate a little bit (mine does about 3 degrees), but in my experience it's much better controlled than the rheostat/dimmer. The dimmer seems to change without warning and is harder to get the temps right. You can get a thermostat at a pet supply store or Amazon.

[leftycrane]

ok. Thank you so much Karoni. Any help is appreciated so much!

[Dakota314]

Also, I thermostat controls the temp automatically, so you don't have to adjust it. You just have to check on it to make periodicly sure it's working.

I'm not sure if 95 degree temps would be the cause of it. Our body temp is 98, our skin temp is a little cooler. Chances are he wasn't on the heat for the entire time it was that hot, which is why I don't think that is the cause.

[dave partington]

But my coral snow corn snake looks to be having some kind of scale issue. We noticed he had a few very tiny shreds of skin left after his last shed so we let him crawl through a wet towel to help. Tonight we noticed in one little part of his body his scales seemed to be almost separating from his body when he bends or turns and they look...for lack of a better expression...chewed up. I looked up scale rot pics but they don't really look like that. They're not brown at the edges, they're not bloody looking or anything. .................................I honestly don't know if its an injury, scale rot, an infection...I dont know. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

does it look like scale rot or a burn? like, i read for scale rot to make their tank a hospital sterile type tank with paper towel substrate and no porous hides or anything and to give medicated baths. Do i need to do this do you think? or just see how the reduced heat and humid hide works for now? Thanks so much to those that have helped!


Not all scale rot starts out bloody, it may take some time to reach that state. And not all forms of scale rot are caused by the same thing. I have a newcomer here that from what I understand has always developed scale rot every year during winter brumation (cooling cycle), and then got a round of baytril for a couple weeks to clear it up. He has shed twice now and it has all cleared up again; the rotted scales have been shed off. I'm not a vet so I can't accurately diagnose anything. It might be worth your (and your pet's) time getting an offline professional diagnosis to be on the safe side.

[leftycrane]

ok. thanks so much for the tips! I will look into these ideas!

[leftycrane]

would either of these thermostats be a good one to get?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zoo-Med-Repti-Temp-500R-NEW-Thermostat-Remote-Sensor?item=120711107572&cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D5%26po%3D LVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D54939550833037623#ht_500wt _971

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190693315147?_trksid=p5197.c0.m619#ht_500wt_1204

[HeavenHell]

If you don't have $100+ to spend, this is a good option:
http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPRTC-Digital-Thermostat-Heat/dp/B000NZZG3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340234633&sr=8-1&keywords=plant+thermostat

[leftycrane]

wonderful thanks!

[NickP961]

Also, I have that thermostat and mine works GREAT! Just so you know. Never spikes and is always really accurate. Nice little thermostat for a cheap price.