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scale prob?

K

kasidee

New member
i just took my corn out to feed and noticed that some of her scales on her back werent laying "flat".. so i could see some like they had been rubbed the wrong way or something and were bent or standing up... i let her crawl through my hands for a bit and this seemed to smooth most of them out... but i was wondering if its a sign of any skin conditions?? ive tried looking in my pet care books and online but cant find anything about it really.. i did notice a post about scale rot and it mentioned red scales on the belly... my corn has pinkish scales on most of her belly and has since she got stuck to duct tape in her enclosure about 10 months ago, so i never really thought much of it (its a very light pink colour between the black patches of her belly)... she isnt showing signs of being very sick.. ive had a bit of trouble feeding, but she always ends up eating, it just takes longer sometimes than it usually does... but we also just had a 24 hour blackout here so she was in the dark for an extended period of time and its also bloody hot out here so the temps are slightly higher than they have been prior to a few weeks ago...

she shed about 2 weeks ago.. and usually sheds every 3-4 weeks depending on how much shes eating...

she hasnt eaten right now but i also handled her quite a bit checking her out so shes probably a bit stressed out... but i must mention that shes never gone a week without eating so im not quite sure what to think:(
 
...

k.. so i left her for about 10 minutes alone in her feeding tank and she ate the mouse while i was writing htis so obviously she was hungry and is eating fine still... now just to worry about whats up with her scales
 
Any chance you have a digital camera?

I'd love to see a photo. If the belly scutes seemed to "flatten back out", I seriously doubt they were actually raised in the first place. Corns don't have the smoothest scales in the snake world to begin with. Have you seen another corn snake for comparison? I don't think you have a problem, but don't want to advise against having it looked at if there should be something awry. Know anyone nearby who really knows snakes?
 
well

it wasnt the belly scales.. it was on her back, it was like they were bent upwards.. and about half of them flattened back down, but you can still see that they arent as smooth as the others... her belly is just pink.. but its been that way for a long time as ive said.. i am a vet student so i do know a bit about them and have had other wild snakes but i never handled them as they were simply for rehabilitation purposes.. ive never really seen anything like it in any textbooks... as for a pic, i dont have a good enough quailty digi cam to get a shot of it.. im sure its probably nothing, i just wondered if anyone knew of any problems that could be a result of it or be a symptom of it...


the best i can do to describe it is its like she had something get stuck on some of her scales and it pulled at them causing them to be raised and thus you can feel them almost prick when you touch them..

i dont know if that helps... i had her checked out about her belly but because shes not showing any eating problems or growth probs (she used to shed every 2 weeks for the first couple months).. no one seemed to be able to find a prob and just said to keep an eye on it.. im more worried about scale rot cause its been sooo humid and hot here
 
I think I know what you're talking about and I don't think it's scale rot.
My snake got that sometimes either because it was too dry or he was squeezing into hides that were too small for him (he LOVED his paper towel tube but he was 3+ feet), therefore catching himself on the edges a little. The scales were fine on his next shed.
As long as no scales actually tear off, I don't think you need to worry about it too much.
 
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