Hi there, thanks for checking out my first ever post! I have owned several species of pythons before but this is a new one for me so I am hoping for some insight & advice.
I got this gorgeous four year old female spotted python off Gumtree only a couple of weeks ago, and have noticed that her belly scales are flaking off - not the whole scale, what's coming off looks like fish scales?? I suppose it is the very top layer of the scale, I've drawn a yellow arrow on one of the photos to point out what the scales look like that she's losing (they are transparent and very very thin, certainly not breaking her skin, and her scales are otherwise healthy), but I haven't seen this before and Google wasn't very helpful at all. I have given her a couple of baths in mildly warm water, and she doesn't seem to be suffering any ill-effects, she is still active and curious, but I'm not sure how this will affect her first shed and was hoping for some insight or experience with this phenomenon and how to fix it so it doesn't happen anymore!
Thank you for any advice - I do wear prescription face and neck sunblock, and it was suggested in a post on another site that scales flaking could be due to (mineral) oil making contact with the snake so that is something I am considering as a culprit for lack of other information, particularly considering her scales are only flaking on her belly.
Thanks again!
I got this gorgeous four year old female spotted python off Gumtree only a couple of weeks ago, and have noticed that her belly scales are flaking off - not the whole scale, what's coming off looks like fish scales?? I suppose it is the very top layer of the scale, I've drawn a yellow arrow on one of the photos to point out what the scales look like that she's losing (they are transparent and very very thin, certainly not breaking her skin, and her scales are otherwise healthy), but I haven't seen this before and Google wasn't very helpful at all. I have given her a couple of baths in mildly warm water, and she doesn't seem to be suffering any ill-effects, she is still active and curious, but I'm not sure how this will affect her first shed and was hoping for some insight or experience with this phenomenon and how to fix it so it doesn't happen anymore!
Thank you for any advice - I do wear prescription face and neck sunblock, and it was suggested in a post on another site that scales flaking could be due to (mineral) oil making contact with the snake so that is something I am considering as a culprit for lack of other information, particularly considering her scales are only flaking on her belly.
Thanks again!