Peeling Belly scales....

[GrapefruiTgirl]

Very much so, like clear scotch 'magic' tape, only not sticky. Very fine, thin clear, like plastic.

[Jake Dubz]

Yea Thanx allot adamanteus- I'm gonna have to play it by ear a lil bit... considering this was a wild snake, i'd rather TRY bathing him more often first and go on with the variables from their. Tonight i'm gonna rip apart his cage and REALLY thoughly clean it to eliminate any threat that theirs some irritant in their. BTW ALL I HAVE for heat in the tank is a screw in blacklight bulb. I didn't imagine this could even possibly harm him, especially since his water dish is at the other corner of the tank... seems a bit of a stretch to think he's too hot..... he's always ice cold when i pull him out the cage- but what do ik right??

[Jake Dubz]

Ok- upon closer inspection, the snake's head is somewhat a differen't tone than the rest of his body so maybe he is "sloughing" but i think it might be the mites, bc i just gave hime a thoughout bath and his behavior is much less "twitchy" he seems a lot more relaxed. Also, if he does have a start to scale rot, would it be a bad idea to temorarily take out his water dish like every other day or so?? nothing drastic.. <----- thats prolly a dumb idea... but i thought i'd shout it out. Also i clean his cage QUITE often after he's soiled it only a few times (cage is RIGHT next to my bed... don't need to see/smell that) So i highly doubt it's from an over dirty cage- BUT i have a feeling some airborne febreze spray may have found its way into the cage since i was cleaning my room a few days back . I'll keep ya posted

[GrapefruiTgirl]

Just an idea from me, while awaiting a more authoritative answer: I would remove the LARGE water dish, if scale rot is becoming a possibllity, and just provide him a much smaller water supply so he can drink it, but not bathe in it. Plus, this will reduce the relative humidity, if humidity is an issue.
Sounds like he did feel a bit better after the bath

PS - is it OK to use Black Light as heat/lighting? Wouldn't this be a U.V. overdose?

[Jake Dubz]

yea, thats what I did today while i was waiting for a response (took his water dish out temporarily) also, i left him without light/heat for about an hour or so and he still sat in his usual chill spot, so i think it's more about too much heat/ humidity. I'm using a screw in black light bulb, which seemed fine but i think it might be too much for my enclosure. can you guys recommend another screw in bulb that wouldn't be so "intensely" hot??? possibly just a std screw in fluerescent bulb perhaps??? what do u guys think?

[GrapefruiTgirl]

FWIW I am using a homemade light fixture which holds two blue 25watt aquarium bulbs. The fixture sits outside/above the screened roof of the tank and directs heat downwards onto a flat rock which is raised up to within about 4 inches of the roof. Snaky can get up on the rock if she likes, but can't get dangerously close to the bulbs because the screened roof is between her and them.
It warms the rock, and the ambient temperature in that area is about 30'C. The bottom and other end of the tank goes from about 20'C to 26'C on average, depending on the temperature in my house here.
My tank has lots of ventilation, due to the screened top and one end is screen too. If your tank is too airtight, perhaps it is contributing to a too-high humidity level?
Also, have you got thermometers in there?

[Jake Dubz]

no, i'm getting a thermometer today. Although i think i more or less figured out a solution to this issue. First off i got a MUCH smaller, shallower water dish for daily use, and will only use his bowl for fish feeding. Also I've been turning the light off at night for a few days and it's seemed to change his behavior quite a bit (as far as how fast he's moving n what not) so i think he's allot more comfortable now, although i'll have to get back to u about the scales impovement in a few days

[GrapefruiTgirl]

That sounds good it mightbe that he was getting heat stress. Keep us posted!

[adamanteus]

Like I said way back.......too high a temperature makes them lie around in the water bowl.

[Jake Dubz]

OK- It seems that he's alright now, the scales are DRASTICALLY "better" as in their not real soft and pliable like they were, i elevated his smaller water dish to completly eliminate him laying in their, provided him a larger, thicker hideout, WITH a fake plant between the bulb/shelter/water dish. So i'm thinking with scales ok i'm gonna keep his light on during the day and turn it off at night.... don't know if this is "ok" but this ain't Alaska it gets dark where i'm from