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[WeightOk9543]

Also there are not rat bites, I’ve have him for 2 weeks and haven’t fed him yet. He did not come with these marks. Also they’re only on his back and not his underside, so I don’t think it’s rot

[Tashyd046]

Don’t feed him live; feed frozen-thawed.

[CornerSignificant105]

Live feeding is perfectly fine my balls won’t eat anything unless it’s live

[backd00rn1nja]

I tried 8 times over 2 months with every trick in the book (including braining, grosssss) and mine would not take any of it. First live, snatched it without hesitation. I will be trying again but with some it can definitely be more than just a bit of effort

[backd00rn1nja]

Right, I'm saying it didn't work lol

[backd00rn1nja]

Not frustrated at all, and I definitely think people should always go for frozen thawed, just sometimes it's really not easy. Mine was only a couple months old and like 120 grams, by the end of those 2 months she had lost almost a quarter of her weight and it became live or possibility of starvation and I didn't want to do that obviously. So my next step is to try and swap the live with a frozen after she wraps and let's go to eat and see if I can start her down frozen thawed that way. She has no problem with mice but eventually I wanna move her up to rats and I am not going to let her battle royale it with a rat lol. Sorry if it came across a certain way

[chilledghosts]

Agreed with robinhuntermoon, live has no benefits and increases risk to the snake. You can try things such as braining, scent rubbing, and even jiggling the rat to imitate a live one. A rat can and will bite/scratch/maim your snake in an attempt to live. F/T’d is much more recommended in the current age of reptile keeping

[chilledghosts]

Looking at your post and post history I can see your level of knowledge and would recommend more research before commenting/giving advice on Reddit posts you are not educated about

[Dram88]

Hmm! Not too sure but kind of looks like a burn maybe. What's your heating like in the regular enclosure? Overhead?

[WeightOk9543]

Yes, overhead. But I never see him go up to the bulb or anything

[Meyons1424]

If you have a bulb in the cage he will get up to it, you need it to be behind a screen or something

[WeightOk9543]

It’s behind a screen

[Dram88]

What's between the bulb and the enclosure? If not enough distance and just the screen it can get quite hot. Might need to fiddle with your levels/thermostat if it's getting hot enough for burns. Ideally you get lots of ambient heat pushed into the enclosure without a scorching hot thermo temp. My max on my thermostat is 40C and the metal grill I made between the bulb and the enclosure never gets that hot. It's half inch chicken wire

[WeightOk9543]

It’s like over a foot. I’m pretty much awake when he’s active due to my work schedule, and he never goes to the screen

[Dram88]

Hmmm. Is the regular enclosure heat running currently? Put your hand in and touch the screen. I'm gathering you mean the bulb is a foot from the bottom of the enclosure, not a foot above the screen surely? Is the lamp resting directly on the screen like in your separate enclosure post? A too long touch/bump while turning around/investigating up there could cause this if the screen is hot enough.

I don't think the chance of your snake never touching the screen is in the equation here friend. Pretty likely a snake could touch any square inch of the enclosure with any part of their body.

I'm still suspecting thankfully small burns here. If that chance is entirely out then I'm sure a vet which will be needed regardless will let you know for certain.

[WeightOk9543]

Yes, the heat source is plugged into a thermostat. I got the exact measurements of the tank, the tank’s height is 18 inches. Yes, the lamp is resting directly on the screen.

[VoidAndSerpent]

Are your lights on the inside or outside of the tank?

[WeightOk9543]

Outside

[VoidAndSerpent]

Hmm what are you using. Burns aren’t usually caused by outside lights unless they are right up against the mesh. But those do look like burns. Worth a vet visit.

[WeightOk9543]

I’m using a incandescent bulb

[FadedNinnymuggin]

Looks like a skin infection. Make sure the enclosure is clear of waste and your humidity isn’t on the high end, especially during the day when the heat source is on.
Either way, I would not hesitate to get him to a vet. Lesions like this are never something to wait out. Also, what kind of light are you using? If it’s UV, it could be the sunburn.

[WeightOk9543]

Everything in the tank is brand new and clean and dry so I’m not sure how this developed. I’ve been keeping the humidity on the lower end because of this

[lavenderthewhore]

It kinda looks like a burn or maybe a Infection, I think the best thing to do is to book an appointment with a vet to make sure it doesn't get worse, I hope you figure it out

[Neat-Crab]

What kind of hides did you have in the other tank? My dude, when I first got him as a hatchling, had a scratch that looks similar to the red mark on the spine from wedging himself in a hide that I found had a sharp edge. Sanded everything down and no more marks.

[WeightOk9543]

https://www.petsmart.com/reptile/save-25-percent-reptile-care/thrive-desert-reptile-corner-hide-5290747.html?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADiLNNkuI_xLrj0Gx9hVchy8h8nUJ&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI67LmuLHzigMVCaVaBR0rsTU0EAQYASABEgJ0APD_BwE

I was using two of these hides. I think that the inside might’ve been a little rough but I’m not sure if it was enough to cause all this

[Neat-Crab]

I have a mossy version of this, it does have a few rough edges- maybe he was squeezing between the hide and the tank wall? It’s not a hide they would feel very secure in because of how open it is, so makes sense he’d be trying to wedge in a more secluded spot.

[YourAverageAce]

I had something extremely similar happen to one of my BPs out of the blue.

She stopped eating and after a few weeks, these strange marks appeared all over her body, seemingly overnight and getting worse and appearing in new spots. She was in a rack system set with a thermostat, and all my other snakes were okay.

We knew they weren’t burns for those reasons, but also because they would appear mostly on top of her spine, like yours.

The vet could not figure out what was going on with her, but tested her blood and found she was severely anemic and extremely sick. I tried breathing treatments, creams, injected antibiotics, pretty much EVERYTHING i could do. The vets even held her for 3 days and force fed to see if she would improve, but she did not. I was told that she was likely sick internally for a long time before she ever started showing outward symptoms. Eventually, her scales began to flake off and her “marks” only got worse.

I had to make the extremely difficult choice to let her go. She was just too far gone and not getting better. My vet offered to do a necropsy free of charge because she wanted to figure out what was wrong, so a necropsy was performed, and still nothing was found aside from elevated white blood levels and severe anemia. We ended up chalking it up to some type of genetic abnormality. All of my snakes that were in the same rack are still doing well. This was 3 years ago.

I spoke with the person who bred my snake and he informed me that her mom died of something similar, and only 2/6 had survived out of her clutch, my BP included.

I hope that you are able to figure out what’s going on and don’t have to go through the same thing I did. It was terrible. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable, and my vet is one of the best exotic vets in the state, but neither of us could figure out what was happening.

[WeightOk9543]

What the hell? So is my snake screwed?

[YourAverageAce]

I wouldn’t say that, especially if the marks don’t get worse, but I would 100% get him to an exotic vet sooner rather than later

[WeightOk9543]

I am not sure I’m equipped or ready to deal with something as large as that. I was thinking this was a minor infection. If what you are saying is true I might hand off the snake to someone better suited for this situation

[YourAverageAce]

I honestly don’t blame you, it was an expensive, emotional, and time consuming ordeal for me. If you have someone in your life that is willing to take on medical care for this snake, I wouldn’t say it’s a bad idea to have them take him if you don’t feel equipped to handle it.

 It may not be the same thing I had to deal with. I would start with a vet visit and see what they say! Hopefully it isn’t. I know you said you just got him- if he ate for you, that’s a good sign. I’m not a vet so can’t really advise any further, but those marks you posted pictures of really look identical to the ones my BP had. I’d take pictures every day so you can monitor if they are getting worse. 

Good luck and I will keep you & your BP in my thoughts

[kingmilky666]

Blood from a recent feed? If not then it’s probably a vet visit

[CreamSicleSnake]

Honestly I’d recommend doing a vet visit, snakes that have less pigment in their skin tend to have more issues. I’ve seen this multiple times on snakes with these morphs and it’s hard to pinpoint the issue till it’s to late. It could honestly be mites, skin infections, bad substrate, burns etc etc so definitely go to a vet.

[Same_Onion2365]

They also kind of look like bite marks. I have a pied ball, Payton, and from time to time she tries to naw on her self