iridescentfire
New member
I was watching my ~14 year old male move around his enclosure today and noticed several cuts on his belly and a bump under one scale. I did not notice these bumps when I last fed him and cleaned his enclosure, 14 days ago.
I've attached images of the cuts, which look like they must have been healing for some time. There is also a large bump on under one of his scales, which feels a bit hard to the touch. His hiding spots and other decoration have been in his enclosure for years, the newest addition (besides fresh clean bedding) was in 2017 when I purchased a new enclosure and water dish.
I have changed his bedding again tonight to ensure that it is dry and fresh after reading other posts about scale rot. His enclosure is about 70F at night and 85-87F during the day on the warm side of his tank. He does have an under-tank heater, which is about 3/4" away from the glass and not directly on the glass. His bedding is approximately 1-2 inches thick. I currently use Carefresh Small Pet Bedding, which I started to use at the recommendation of a vet after seeing issues with his scales over 2 years ago.
The vet visit 2 years ago was prompted by me noticing darkened/blackened scales all over his body and lighter/whitened scales at his neck. The vet said that these were normal for an aging snake. I was not a huge fan of this vet, but have not found another close by yet. Reading more posts on this forum, I see many comments about the white scales possibly being from rubbing on small enclosures, but he fits well with room under both of his hiding spots. The lighter scales also appeared before I used this Carefresh bedding, back when I used coconut husk bedding (again over two years ago).
For the new wounds - given that the wounds do not look fresh, do I leave them to heal? Any ideas where the cuts and bump may come from?
I have attached images of the back of his neck that has lightened scales for several years, as well as a picture of each of his wounds (the worst 2 out of 4 due to file limits), one of his bump under his scale, and one of him curled up where his darkened scales can be seen, mostly where his dark red meets light red/orange spotting. I appreciate any feedback, help, and recommendations.
I've attached images of the cuts, which look like they must have been healing for some time. There is also a large bump on under one of his scales, which feels a bit hard to the touch. His hiding spots and other decoration have been in his enclosure for years, the newest addition (besides fresh clean bedding) was in 2017 when I purchased a new enclosure and water dish.
I have changed his bedding again tonight to ensure that it is dry and fresh after reading other posts about scale rot. His enclosure is about 70F at night and 85-87F during the day on the warm side of his tank. He does have an under-tank heater, which is about 3/4" away from the glass and not directly on the glass. His bedding is approximately 1-2 inches thick. I currently use Carefresh Small Pet Bedding, which I started to use at the recommendation of a vet after seeing issues with his scales over 2 years ago.
The vet visit 2 years ago was prompted by me noticing darkened/blackened scales all over his body and lighter/whitened scales at his neck. The vet said that these were normal for an aging snake. I was not a huge fan of this vet, but have not found another close by yet. Reading more posts on this forum, I see many comments about the white scales possibly being from rubbing on small enclosures, but he fits well with room under both of his hiding spots. The lighter scales also appeared before I used this Carefresh bedding, back when I used coconut husk bedding (again over two years ago).
For the new wounds - given that the wounds do not look fresh, do I leave them to heal? Any ideas where the cuts and bump may come from?
I have attached images of the back of his neck that has lightened scales for several years, as well as a picture of each of his wounds (the worst 2 out of 4 due to file limits), one of his bump under his scale, and one of him curled up where his darkened scales can be seen, mostly where his dark red meets light red/orange spotting. I appreciate any feedback, help, and recommendations.