WTF IS ON MY SNAKE?

Welcome to this handy guide to things you might find on your snake. Some of the following are harmless or easily treatable conditions, while others require urgent veterinary care by a licensed exotics vet.
The information in this document is not a replacement for veterinary care. Do not attempt any remedies you do not feel comfortable with. You and your animal’s safety come first.
This is a living document. We encourage the community to add topics they would like to see covered and advice that they are able to give in the comments. All potential advice is vetted by myself and other mods, however, we are not infallible beings. Please use this guide as a starting point to getting more comfortable and confident when dealing with your snake!
Cheers,
/u/Angsty_Potatos

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HOW TO GAUGE YOUR SNAKE’S BODY CONDITION

Knowing how to visually assess your Ball Python’s body condition is a very useful skill, when used in conjunction with regular weigh-ins. Visually assessing your snake means you can more effectively keep your pet in a healthy weight range and avoid all the health issues that come from under and over feeding.

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The Overweight Ball Python



Visible Markers:

Visible ‘Muffin Top’ where the tale meets the body

An overall round, almost inflated appearance. Extremely overweight animals may look apple shaped.

Spine will not be visible, or may actually be viewed as a dorsal dimple.

Poorly defined neck (head looks to flow directly into the rest of the body with no delineation between the end of the head and start of the neck)

Related Health Complications:

Fatty liver disease

Shortened life span

Digestive organ damage

Remedies:
Assess your feeding schedule and prey size as relative to your snake’s actual weight. A detailed info sheet can be found in the “Start Here” sticky.

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The Ideal Ball Python Body Shape



Visible Markers:

A soft, triangular body shape

Spine should be visible, not not sharply delineated

Visible separation between neck and head

Smooth transition between tail and body

Visible muscle tone



Related Health Issues:

A snake that maintains proper body proportions lives longer and avoids fatty liver disease.

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The Underweight / Emaciated Ball Python


Visible Markers:

Extremely sharp, prominent spine

Loose skin folds

Holly or sunken in belly and sides

Extremely acute triangle body shape

Related Health Risks:

Stunted growth rate

Shortened total life span

Digestive organ damage

Starvation and death

Remedies:
See the START HERE sticky post to learn how to properly choose prey sizes and what a feeding schedule will look like for your own snake.

*A NOTE ON EXTREMELY EMACIATED ANIMALS*
Animals that look like the example photo should be seen by a reptile vet ASAP. If you are new to the hobby or inexperienced in what goes into rehabilitating an exotic reptile, you should not be the one attempting to rescue the snake.
Offering prey should be done slowly, and with prey as low as 5% of the snake’s body weight and stepped up gradually. Reintroducing food to quickly or prey that is too large may kill the snake or compound the animal’s destress.


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PRE-SHED PINK BELLY OR THERMAL BURN?
Often you will notice that just before your snake goes into its shed phase, it’s stomach can look pink. This blushing is a normal part of the shedding process and may be more or less pronounced on your animals than examples shown, but it will always be uniform and not splotchy.
While a pink blushing is normal, any discoloration that verges on red with swelling, scabbing, or discharge is abnormal.


The Pre-Shed Pink Belly:


Visible Markers:

Uniform blushing

Smooth, undamaged scales

Notes: As long as you are properly monitoring your snake’s temperature with a thermostat and thermometer that you know are accurate, you should have very little reason to worry about a burn. Check and test your heat source and heat measuring devices regularly, for your safety and your pets.

Thermal Burns:


Visible Markers:

Red, not pink scales

Non uniform

Scale damage

Scabbing and flaking

Notes: Burns are an injury caused by unregulated, unsuitable, or malfunctioning heat sources. It is imperative that your heat sources be hooked up to a reliable thermostat to keep the basking area at a safe and stable temperature. You must also have a way of spot testing surface temps and double checking that the reading on the thermostat is correct. Un-regulated heat mats can reach temps of 120+ degrees, enough to melt plastic enclosures and potentially start fires in addition to the damage it will cause to your pet. If your snake suffers a burn, a vet trip is needed as soon as possible. Burns can become infected easily and kill your snake. Burned snakes should be housed in a simplified enclosure while they are being treated. A substrate of newsprint or paper towels should be used to keep the wound free from debris.

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SCALE ROT OR SOMETHING ELSE?
Scale rot is a bacterial infection caused by an animal laying in persistently wet or wet and soiled bedding.

Scale Rot:

Visible Markers:

• Scabby, flaky scales
• Dark tinged scale edges
• Severe bouts of scale rot may also be accompanied by redness and swelling.
  

Notes:

If your snake has scale rot, you have a moisture issue. While it’s true that Ball Pythons require higher humidity, they should never be housed on wet bedding. Wet bedding, or worse, soiled and wet bedding creates a wonderful environment for bacteria to breed.
If your enclosure is too humid to the point of damp, wet bedding, you will need to add more air flow to the cage by drilling holes, or exposing more screen if you are using a covered screen top enclosure.
Mild scale rot will clear with husbandry correction within a shed or two. Moderate and severe bouts will require a vet visit to treat and assess.

Flaked scales:

Notes:
Sometimes you will notice dull patches on your snake’s scales. These patches are caused by the top layer of some scales becoming attached to the old skin as it is shed so that it is removed. This can occur due to slightly low humidity, or a snake that was too enthusiastically rubbing against cage furniture while shedding causing a slight abrasion. These dull spots are no cause for alarm and will resolve themselves within a shed. If necessary adjust your humidity to ideal levels.


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BELLY SCALES THAT SEEM TO BE SPLIT IN HALF!

Split belly scales:


Notes:
This is no cause for alarm. What you are seeing is your snake’s “belly button” or, where it absorbed it’s yolk while inside the egg. This slit is generaly more obvious in young snakes and will fade with age.


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BUTT STUFF

The normal anatomical features of your Ball Python’s tail area.


The Vent:

Notes:
The vent is where the snake’s body and tail meet, and where it secretes its waste. Under the vent is the cloaca, it is from here that a snake releases urates and water. This is how a normal, healthy vent should look.

Spurs:

Notes:
Spurs are the vestigial remnants of the snake’s back legs. The are used by males during mating to tickle their mate. Sometimes a spur can be pulled lose during a shed, leaving a small amount of blood. As long as the amount of blood is small, and the area isn’t actively bleeding, this is nothing to worry about.

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SOMETHING LOOKS STRANGE ON MY SNAKE’S VENT!
If your snake’s vent does not look like the above photo, you should visit your vet ASAP. Blockages, Projections, *Swelling, and Crustiness are not normal and require vet attention to diagnose and treat. Common issues are Prolapse, Scale Rot, and Constipation and Egg blockages.

*Swelling near the vent, if unaccompanied by redness or crust could just be a sign on impeding poop. If your snake stops feeding, doesn’t poop after a few days, the snake could be blocked up. Warm moist compresses can help loosen things up, but if that doesn’t work a vet is needed.

Abnormal Vent due to Prolapse:


Notes:
Should you ever notice anything protruding from your snake’s vent, it’s important to get to the vet ASAP. A prolapse can become easily infected and cause further stress and possibly death.

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TICKS, MITES, AND... FRECKLES?

With the darker coloration of normal Ball Pythons and some of the unique patterning of designer morphs, finding and identifying external parasites can be difficult.

“Freckles” :

Notes:
Some morphs, such as Bananas can have freckling or speckling in their scale patterns. These flecks can look, at first glance, like a tick or mite. You can tell the difference by running your hands over the snake - Mites and ticks will feel like raised bumps, freckles and flecks will not.
Note that freckles and flecks can disappear,  appear, or seem to move over time as your snake ages.

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Mites:

Visible Indicators:

• Prolonged soaking in water dish
• Black specks that move
• Rubbing

Notes:
Mites look like small black bits of pepper. It’s easy to mistake them for freckles or bits of substrate on first glance. Mites will often lodge themselves in your snake’s chin cleft, in and around the eyes, heat pits, and mouth. Very severe mite infestations can take over entire collections and cause sickness in the animals infected.
If proper quarantine practices are observed when obtaining a new reptile, you can significantly lower your risk of a mite infestation. See the “Start Here” Sticky for more information of treating your snake for mites and riding them from your home for good.

Ticks:

Notes:
Just like a dog or a cat, reptiles can to get ticks. Ticks can be hard to spot when small and can look like a raised scale, but on closer inspection you will likely see that the scale in question has legs! If you are comfortable removing ticks you may do so, but as with any tick removal, it’s important to get all of the tick to prevent infection. A dab of antibiotic ointment can be placed on the wound, but be sure the ointment contains no pain killing agents as these are harmful to snakes.

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What’s up with my snake’s eyes!?!

Going Blue:

Notes:
The above shows the “blue” stage of the shed cycle. The animal may have an overall dull, bluish grey hazy look to its scales, but the most notable trait is the milky - opaque eyes.
Snakes that are in blue may abstain from eating and some become much more nervous or defensive as their vision is obscured. It is best to leave a snake alone when you see that it is in blue. The snake’s eyes will clear again just before they begin to actively shed their skin.

Cracked or Dented eyes:

Notes:
If your ambient humidity is too low, your snake can have issues shedding fully, resulting in retained eye caps amongst other things.
If you notice your snake is having a patchy shed, or that its eye caps are still in place, you need to check to be sure your humidity is above 60% at all times (not just when you notice they are going into shed)
While a retained eye cap itself is not an emergency, it is indicative of husbandry issues that need to be assessed for the health of the animal.
Usually eye caps will be fully shed with the next cycle, or, you may opt to provide a humid hide for your snake to “soak” in to help the cap slough off. If done extremely gently and if your snake tolerates it, you can dampen a q-tip and gently rub the area to help loosen the cap. NEVER POKE, PROD, OR PRY AT YOUR SNAKE’S EYES TO REMOVE EYE CAPS.

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MY SNAKE SHED AND IT ALL CAME OFF IN LITTLE BITS, WHAT GIVES?

If your snake shed and it looks like someone sprinkled snake skin confetti in the animal’s enclosure, or you see that your animal is dull, dry and wrinkly,  your humidity is far, far too low and needs to be addressed ASAP.

Normal Shed:
.
Notes:
A normal shed should come off all in one piece, or mostly intact, as if it were peeled off like a sock.

Flakey Shed:

Visible Indicators:

• Mottled, stuck bits of dry skin hanging on the snake
• Prolonged soaking

Notes:
If your snake looks like this, your humidity is too low. Humidity should stay at 60% at the barest minimum at all times. Look into adding larger water bowls, a substrate that holds humidity without getting wet, or blocking off excess ventilation in your snake’s enclosure.
Snake’s with stuck shed should not be soaked, as terrestrial snakes, putting them into water causes them to stress. Instead try allowing them to slither thru a warm, damp pillow case (with supervision) or allow them to be in a plastic tub with a warm damp towel for a few minutes to help loosen the shed.

WTF IS IN MY SNAKE’S MOUTH?!

Windpipe:

Visible Indicator:
That snorkel / tube looking thing you see when your snake is eating.

Notes:
This is your snake’s windpipe. Its placement makes it possible for your snake to eat a huge meal and still breathe!

















Mouth Rot:

Visible Indicators:

• Pasty, cheesy white or yellow build up in and around mouth and gums
• Swelling and discharge
• Gaping or unable to fully close mouth

Notes:
Mouth rot, or Ulcerative Stomatitis is caused by an infection from cuts or stuck food. If not treated promptly, the infection will spread into the digestive tract and can cause other issues.
Mouth rot treatment requires vet care and a course of antibiotics.

Phlegm and Mucus:


Visible Indicators:

• Open mouth breathing
• Bubbles inside and outside of the mouth
• Popping and gurgling sounds
• Gaping
  
  Notes:
  Snakes presenting with an excess of mucus are usually suffering from Respiratory Infections (or RI). Incorrect husbandry such as wet substrate, and low temps can contribute to this infection. A vet visit is necessary to treat this illness.
  
  
  A SYMPHONY OF STRANGE SNAKE SOUNDS
  
  No Photos here. Only descriptions, though, if you search youtube you can find audio examples of everything!
  
  Pooping:
  If you haven’t already heard your snake poop or fart, get ready. Your ball python can make your most unapologetically flatulent friends blush.
  Owners have been woken out of a dead sleep by the tremendos cacophony of butt trumpets played by Ball Pythons.
  Imagine the wettest, nastiest, explosive drawn out fart you can think of.
  After your heart starts beating again, you might just be impressed despite yourself.
  
  Gurgling, Popping, Clicking, Wheezing and Whistling:
  These noises, accompanied by nose and mouth discharge and open mouth breathing (gaping) are the calling card for RI’s. Go see a vet and check your husbandry!
  
  Hissing:
  Even though Ball Pythons are sometimes called pet rocks for their docile and shy nature, sometimes you will hear a hiss. Hissing can be due to fear and you will notice your snake taking big, exaggerated breaths, while stiffly coiled in a defensive position.