Dried out scales on back?

[MlizGr]

I'm not sure what's going on with St. George, but I noticed 3 scales that looked all dried out on his back a couple of days ago. It hasn't grown, hasn't changed, and I'm really not sure what it is. Has anyone else seen this before?

Also, his belly scales seem to be cracking some, which has me concerned. It's almost as though he's got two layers of scales on his belly, and the top one is cracking off. Is this signs of a previous shedding gone wrong? I tried to let him soak in a bath for half an hour and seeing if they got loose, but there really didn't seem to be any change.

[guidofatherof5]

May I suggest a stay in a warm, humid shed box, followed by running warm water.
If there's a retained shed it should come off.

[MlizGr]

Hm. I've never designed a shed box. All I'm looking for is warm and humid? I think I can manage that. How long should he stay in there before the warm water?

[guidofatherof5]

Hm. I've never designed a shed box. All I'm looking for is warm and humid? I think I can manage that. How long should he stay in there before the warm water?

If you use a warm wet towel I would wait until the towel gets cold. I even warm them up a second time.
Many times the warm water spray isn't even necessary after the shed box.
This should let you know if it is a retained shed.
Best of luck.

[MlizGr]

I'm guessing it's not a retained shed, though I must say, St. George handled being in the bucket with damp paper towels floating in warm water very well. I'd shredded the paper towels and he'd been digging through them. Might have to try that with dry paper towels in his tank later.

Anyhow, I uploaded a photo to try and show what's going on. The black circle is an attempt at showing the 'cracking' of the top of the scales, which seem almost to be a crease in the scale? The red circle is where one of the scales had mostly peeled away to show the underpart of the scale, and is now black and slightly wrinkled, similar to the scales on the back. I don't think it's scale rot, but since I've never seen what that looks like in person I can't be completely sure....

Garter Snake Gallery - Help?

[guidofatherof5]

It's very hard to see what's going on with that photo.
Did anything come off using the shed box?

[Tyrel26]

I may be crazy (ok I am crazy) but that looks more like a snake belly than a back...lol

[MlizGr]

Yes, that is the belly. That's where the bent looking scales are and he now seems to have one of the same, wrinkled black scales there. And sorry for the quality of the photo. My nice camera broke a couple years ago and I haven't got the money to buy a new one yet. Nothing came off after the shed box.

It doesn't look like mold, doesn't seem to smell like rot should or anything... They just look kinda like leaves that have shriveled up from lack of water, only they're black. The only new one is the one on his belly, where one of the cracked ones had peeled a couple days ago. Could it just be he's lost the top part of the scale and what I'm seeing is the dried up underscale or something? Do I want to treat it somehow just in case or should I wait and see how he handles a shedding first?

[ConcinusMan]

Actually, what you're describing sounds like scale rot. The cause is the snake being in contact with constantly damp and/or dirty substrate and a subsequent bacterial infection. Think clean and dry when it comes to whatever the snake is sitting on. Keep the substrate dry and clean. Scale rot tends to make scales "shrivel up" giving them a shrunken dryed-out look. I suggest you sanitize the entire enclosure, hopefully it is a non-porous enclosure. If not, then get rid of it and get one that is non-porous, keep the snake on dry paper towels and change daily, and treat the snake for the infection. A weak iodine solution works pretty well for skin infections.

Here's an example:





What is Scale Rot?

[MlizGr]

Well darn. I was sure that the paper towels being changed every time he pooed and a weekly cleaning of the tank would be enough to prevent that... Ah well, off to look up how to treat scale rot then.