Loss of pigmentation?

[TigerCoastal]

Hey all, anyone care to hazard a guess of whats going on here?

I have an almost 3y/o coastal, who over the last couple of sloughs has lost pigment in a few small places. Its not retained shed, i have soaked him and gently tried removing it, and the patch seems to get bigger each slough. When i first noticed it, it was only on single scales, but now that i have noticed it i can see it moving across the scale, its not the whole scale loosing pigment.

 

[Serpentess]

My female spotted python has a bit of the "1/2 white" scale thing as well. Not as much as your Coastal... But I'd be interested if anyone has a reason or idea about it.

 

[GeckPhotographer]

Maybe it will spread and you'lll end up with a fully white carpet.

 

[Firedrake]

Strange thought, but could it possibly be anything like the white spots us humans get on our nails? Not claiming to know anything at all about this sort of thing but it kind of popped into my head, maybe something to do with a mineral deficiency? Just ideas

 

[TigerCoastal]

Strange thought, but could it possibly be anything like the white spots us humans get on our nails? Not claiming to know anything at all about this sort of thing but it kind of popped into my head, maybe something to do with a mineral deficiency? Just ideas

I was thinking along the same lines, but it is only happening to the one snake and they are all fed from the same feed line, and given the same water........

 

[Snakewoman]

That's interesting. This is a long shot, but I wonder if snakes can get vitiligo?

Vitiligo Treatment, Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis and Signs on MedicineNet.com

It's been known to occur in animals as well as humans:

Dermatology Clinic for Animals of Las Vegas--Vitiligo
Antibodies to surface antigens of pigm... [Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1986] - PubMed - NCBI
Animals can also develop vitiligo
Animals can also develop vitiligo, too | Vitiligo Cover

I found a reptile forum where the same thing was happening to someone else's snake, but I can't post that here. I can PM it to you if you like.