I recently aquired a Ball Python who shows severe signs of necrosis of the skin. I took her to the my vet and he said that it was most likely caused from a hot rock or another source of heat. I was able to find out that she was exposed to no heat source what so ever, there was none in the tank. Could necrosis of the skin be caused from being too cold for to long, or am I barking up the wrong tree? Does anybody have any ideas? She also has a pretty bad respitory infection. I am currently treating her with antibiotics, but what are her chances of surviving? Does anybody have any ideas?
Well, heat rocks do often cause thermal burns. Is it possible it was nibbled on by live prey? It could be a genetic skin condition, a fungus, possibly an internal fungus that's expelling itself through the skin - we've seen it in bearded dragons before. I don't think the cold would cause necrosis, but I'm not 100% sure. If she has a respiratory infection as well, is it possible that it's too humid in the enclosure and the scales are simply rotting because it's too damp?
How are you heating your tank if not with a heat rock? If it's an under-tank heatpad, it's possible it still could be getting too hot and it's burning itself on the glass, or if it can reach the basking light (if you have one of those), it could've burned itself on that, or on a hot piece of the tank if the light super-heats anything - as they often do. It also could've scratched itself (although somewhat badly by the sound of it), and it's not healing properly.
Can you post pictures of the problem? It would be a lot easier for the problem to be identified if we could see it!
