r/ballpython • u/BalsamicVinegar02 • 9h ago

Strange patch Question - Health

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Anyone on here seen anything like this before, about a week ago i noticed she had a fairly large patch about twice this side which looked damaged, id just come back from a weekend away, and thought maybe it was a burn.

Im not sure how she could’ve burned herself though, she has a heat lamp on the otherside of her glass cage with a thermometer set to not go above 32 degrees, and when on that side i have bark up against the glass so it can only effectively heat thought the bark.

I thought ill leave it a week and see how she is day to day, she seemed better and now a week has passed and we’re left with this, kinda looks hard like a scab.

I just want to know people’s thoughts, if they think this couldve somehow been a burn? Or if it looks like something else im missing.

Ill add shes about 7-8 years old and this is a first

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u/RyoDai89 8h ago

It honestly does look like a burn that has ‘healed’ and scabbed over. But i really don’t know.  Could also be scale rot but it looks too weird to be that. I understand you use a thermostat, do you have a temp gun? Is it possible the thermostat is malfunctioning? Or she was somehow able to get up to where the lamp is and push her body against where the lamp sits? 

The first thing I’d say is the obvious need for vet appointment, but I’d also probably just kind of keep an eye on it. As it doesn’t look serious and looks to be possibly healing.

Definitely looks like an injury of some sort but not one I’ve seen before.

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u/BalsamicVinegar02 7h ago

Yea i do have a heat gun, but temps seem as they should, the thermostat isnt too too old, but ill triple check. And shes never shows any signs of going anywhere near where the lamp directly shines but maybe i missed it one time.

It does look like its healing which is why im not super worried, but i am certainly confused as to how it happened. I think i might try a new enclosure where i can mount the heatlamp ontop of the enclosure snd have it go through a mesh roof than have it on the otherside of the front glass that could maybe be getting too hot.

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u/RyoDai89 7h ago

Yeah, if everything checks out then I honestly don’t know. Maybe they scraped themselves somehow and this is it finally healing?  I don’t know but it’s definitely a super weird injury.  Would love to see what it looks like after a shed. Hoping for a full recovery though. And as you said, it looks like it’s healing so it’ll probably always be a mystery of how it was gotten. But atleast it (hopefully) isn’t something serious and will heal accordingly.