Raised Scales?

[haydnrobinson]

Hi everyone,

I've looked in the forum and mostly found replies to questions like this saying scale rot but I'm pretty sure from pictures etc that's not the issue here as Salvador doesn't look the same. Anyway, we noticed 2 days ago that a scale on her head is sticking up. It's clear and she's a normal snake so is mostly brownish red on her head, so I'd say it's just the outer layer, would that be a sensible thing to think? We can't really look at her properly until tomorrow as she was fed on Saturday and we noticed as she started to eat and couldn't disturb her during eating or after as we didn't want a regurge. She's due to shed according to her calendar and did look a little dull last week but before it's been VERY obvious when she's in blue. We haven't noticed her eyes go blue yet and handle her at least once a week, and she's active enough to see around other times.

Any ideas on the scale? Do you think it'll come off with her next shed? We're a little worried! I was thinking to put her on newspaper and clean the cage etc but we're not sure if it's that serious if she may be due to shed.

Thank You in advance for your answers!

[medusacoils]

I had this same problem with my little ghost. I'm not sure what caused it, but it freaked me out. A scale, right on the top of her head, seemed to stick up and then peel right off. I don't know what caused it.

What I can do is off a little advice on how to treat it. The first thing I should tell you is that it's going to grow back and be normal again. So don't worry about that.

It's going to take a while to heal. The idea is to keep it dry, but treat it with a little non medicated antibiotic ointment. Neosporin does good, but make sure it's non medicated. Use it sparingly. It should scab over.

When she sheds the next time, unfortunately the scab is going to come right off and the wound will open back up again. I noticed that the shed from my snake stuck to it. I used a little warm water to loosen it up and it came right off. I then dried it again and treated it with the non medicated neosporin.

I would say that in about 4 or 5 sheds, it should really start to clear up and look normal again.

If you have any other questions, please ask!

Good Luck

Wayne

[Asbit]

Or the entire scale may not come off it may be like with my biggest snake. Almost every time she goes into shed, a couple of the scales on her head and neck have the clear layer lift up like you described and then when the shed is over, everything is fine. /just keep an eye on it and if it does come off the treat as Wayne suggested.

[Lennycorn]

My amel did this a long time ago. Nothing to fret.
Wayne gave ya good advice.

[haydnrobinson]

Thank You all for the advice, people here are always super helpful :) We'll have a proper look at her tonight as she's ok to handle then since she ate, and see what it looks like. We feel much happier now with your advice though, thank you all.

[haydnrobinson]

Hi everyone!
Just to give you an update in case you were wondering how Salvador's doing. We just got her out of her viv and properly checked her, and the scale from her head has disappeared so it must have come off. And her head looks completely normal rather than the scale completely coming off as you suggested Wayne, so we're assuming it's part of the shed that she's about to have (her belly is very blue). So this may be the start of a bad shed? We have the viv at 60% humidity but are going to mist it a couple of times a day to make sure she's ok, although she's always had perfect sheds before.

Just out of interest, how many people here have normals? Because I'd have thought all over a normal it would be obvious when they're blue, but Salvador seems entirely her normal colour apart from her belly, which kind of looks like it's got half dried PVA glue all over it!

[Asbit]

My normal is very easy to tell on the belly and slightly lighter on his dorsal side. As I said earlier, my big one does this clear layer of the scale lifting and peeling while in shed frequently and it does not impact her sheds at all. So here is hoping for Salvador, that the same will be true.

[haydnrobinson]

Thanks Tisha, always so kind! Hope you're ok anyway?

[Asbit]

Things are pretty good, this weekend was a loss though, spent it all in bed with a terrible flu!!! My teenager has one cabinet making class left before he grads Gr. 12 and he is making me a snake viv cabinet that will hold my 3 30 gal long vivs on roll out shelves for easy access and have a roll out storage draw on the bottom for feeding supplies and the Herpstat. Only thing is I will have to wait until May or June for it!! Long time no talk, I will PM you my email so we can have more frequent personal chats.