iHerp Answers: Weird white scales post shed on an RTB

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Weird white scales post shed on an RTB

Posted By:

Katie M

In Relation To:

Athena

So, After 2 sheds post lay, I had Athena out in the sun, and found what appeared to be spots where her scales had "rubbed" off... they don't appear swollen, tender, or infected, just strange. She's got no ability to burn herself in her boaphile, and no rough surfaces to inflict injuries... it's so strange! Any ideas??


Points:	150
Topics:	General Health , Skin
Tags:	Boa, Skin
Species:	Boas > Large Boas > Boa constrictor imperator
Administrative:	Show/Hide

Accepted Answer

6/26/2009 2:34:15 AM

amarilrose

Actually, yes.

One of my Ball Pythons, Sylvia, is my typical worst shedder. She gets some very weird looking pale scales, which I have peviously thought were forms of scale rot or a fungal infection, so I took her to my vet. He explained that in his opinion, in the last shed, the layers of skin did not separate where they should have, and some of the topmost layers of the new skin came away in the shed as well. He was basically suggesting that it was a humidity issue.

I honestly thought he was BS'ing me when I heard that, but was happy at least that he didn't think it was anything pathological. So, with Syliva, I did everything I could to keep her humidity super high (I pretty much joke that I have to keep her like a Blood or an Anaconda to get her to shed decently -- I do KNOW she has humidity issues), and in the following shed, the scales that had looked wierd & pale looked noticeably thinner... and looked normal again on her.

I've seen similar wierd partially pale scales on my Dumeril's Boa, though never as significantly as what I've seen on Sylvia.

Take all this with a grain of salt of course, as you've got the animal, and all I'm going from is a picture. ;)

Member Comment

8/6/2009 8:50:32 PM

amarilrose

Jane just had a patchy shed last night; not the worst ever, but probably her worst for me so far. She has exactly what I was trying to describe on her head, so I tried to take some pictures. The following are the 3 best I was able to take:

Member Comment

10/7/2009 3:38:48 AM

amarilrose

...Jane finally shed & resolved her own white scale issue

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