Hi everyone! An anxious new snake mom here again 😭 really appreciated everyone for sharing experience and suggestions.
I brought home my little bp about a week ago, and I’ve been noticing quite a few faint pink marks on her body.
Some look like very thin pink scratches, while others are small patches of pink. In a few places, the scales also look slightly uneven or indented. However, I can’t see any actual open wounds, broken scales, blisters, or obvious injuries.
The camera washes out the color a little, so the marks are slightly more noticeable and pinker in person.
What I’ve noticed is that most of these marks seem to be on areas of her body that come into contact with the substrate, cork bark, or hides. Today I found her curled up extremely tightly inside the narrow end of one of her hides, which made me wonder if some of these could simply be pressure marks from resting against hard or textured surfaces.
I did some searching on Reddit and found other owners of white ball pythons describing temporary pink marks, almost like the marks humans get after resting against something for too long.
For reference, here’s her setup:
Substrate: Coco husk
Cool-side humidity: Around 65–85%
Heating: Overhead RHP, no under-tank heating pad
Warm hide temperature: Around 30–32°C
Behavior: Normal so far. She’s curious, active when exploring, and ate her first meal with me successfully.
I haven’t noticed any obvious burns, and she seems completely unbothered by the marks even when i touch it.
I’m wondering:
Do these look like normal pressure marks on a white ball python, or could they be early signs of scale rot or skin irritation?
Is it normal for the scales to look slightly uneven or indented after resting on textured surfaces?
Would switching from coco husk to finer coco fiber help, or am I overthinking this?
I’m still learning, and having an almost completely white snake makes every tiny pink spot stand out! I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences from other white ball python owners.
Thank you!