Injured looking belly scales?

[Hollizard]

Hello,

My buddy, Charlie, seems to have developed some strange looking scales along his belly. They also appear to be peeling off in some places, including his chin. He is due for a shed soon, but I haven't seen any signs of one starting, so I don't believe that to be the problem.

As well as the bad scales, he has also refused to eat for a while. He last ate March 7th, but hadn't eaten for a few weeks before that either. I know that corn snakes can go without eating for quite a while and sometimes just aren't hungry, but I'm worried now that these injured looking scales have shown up. I don't know if they're related. I called the vet and they said it might be dehydration, but the words 'scale rot' are floating around in the back of my mind. I don't know what early onset scale rot looks like, so I would appreciate someone who does to either ease my worries or confirm my fears.

I don't know if this is relevant, but Charlie is about 5 years old and I've had him for almost 3 years.

Help?

P.S. I did my best to get nice close-up pictures of the worst spots, but he does like to move.

[nancyg]

I have no personal experience with injuries, but I'm sure one of the more experienced people will be along soon with a better diagnosis.

Have you changed anything in his viv that he could be hurting himself on? Or does anyone else besides you handle him? (someone else accidentally hurt him?)

Do you remember when his last shed was?

Here's hoping it is minor and a full recovery is ahead.

[Hollizard]

Nope, nothing has changed and I'm the only one who handles him. I believe his last shed was near the end of February/beginning of March. It wasn't a particularly good one, but it wasn't horrible enough to cause this. I'm crossing my fingers that he will shed again soon and everything will be hunky-dory.