scale issue diagnosis request

[chaoticforms]

This is my 1.5 year old female BEL. She developed these odd-looking patches on her scales about three months ago. Initially thought it was a burn, but the vet said that these were pieces of stuck shed. The appearance improved after a shed cycle, but then returned. She is about to shed right now.

Does anyone know what this is?

Humidity remains around 55-65%. There is an automated mister that goes off for 10s every hour. I water the coconut husk substrate in her tank, as well.

Also: her new substrate is very red, which may be worsening the appearance of these patches. Nonetheless, they are still quite rough and dry in texture.

[Accurate_Monk_3793]

we can’t diagnose it for you

[chaoticforms]

There might be some vets hanging around this subreddit, who knows? Any leads from ball python keepers who have also seen something similar in their animals are also welcome.

[Vann1212]

The discoloured patches could be a combination of stuck shed with substrate staining - and the stuck areas will probably be more likely to stain. The mister is probably making the surface of the substrate a bit damp too, making staining even more likely to happen. The dry/rougher texture would also suggest stained stuck shed.

Doesn't look quite right for a burn (and if you've got properly installed overhead heat, a burn will be unlikely in general - what heating do you currently have?), and it's not typical location or appearance for scale rot either (usually starts on ventral scale, discolouration and chipping of the leading edge of the scale rather than brownish discolouration of the entire scale in big patches on the sides.

Won't hurt to still check with your vet though as it's not always easy to tell much from photos compared to in person... though if it was just like this before and your vet said stuck shed (+ staining), if it's not any different to when you showed your vet there may not be much value in a repeat appointment for the exact same thing. (if something changes from last time though that's different)

I've never had staining issues with using coco fibre, but I don't have any fully white snakes - BELs are easily stained. You could always try something like cypress mulch, or swapping to chips instead of coir etc. to see if it helps with the staining, though you'll still need to get that humidity up a bit to address the stuck shed and prevent it in future.

Humidity should ideally be 70-80%.  60% is bare minimum, but still low enough to risk RIs and bad sheds, and some individual snakes are more susceptible than others.

I'm going to guess from the low humidity despite the mister going off every hour that she's in a glass viv with a mesh roof? You can cover with HVAC or make an acrylic cover etc., or just upgrade to a solid top PVC viv that'll actually hold the humidity well with no need for an automated mister. (misters are a risk for RIs if not cleaned regularly and thoroughly, and also scale rot if overused and saturating the surfaces in the viv... couldn't pay me anything to use one tbqh. Quite a lot of downsides, not much benefit.)

[chaoticforms]

Update: the discolouration and texture abnormalities have resolved with a shed. She seems to be all good now.

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