I noticed that there were patches of flakey or dry looking, discolored (darkened?) scales that appeared on my boa. He's almost one year old (11 months), and he was sold to me as a hypo hog island boa. He didn't look like this a week ago. I fed him 4 days ago (f/t mouse fuzzy), but today when I took him out to handle, I noticed random spots of dry and discolored scales on him. His hot spot (UTH w/ a thermostat) is 90F, and cool side is 75F. I'm worried that it was scale rot, but his ventral scales look completely fine, and his enclosure and substrate are pretty dry and not wet. Could he have gotten hurt from rubbing against something? It almost looks like it could be a friction burn...



He does enjoy to burrow a lot in the substrate, which is Zoo Med's Forest Floor cypress mulch substrate. I've had him since June, but he still hasn't shed for me, so could it be due to a bad previous shed? I feed him one f/t mouse fuzzy every two weeks. I'm considering taking him to a vet, but I would really appreciate advice from more experienced snake keepers. Should I take him to a vet ASAP? I was reading online, and some sources said to wait until his next shed to see if those marks are still there? And I saw that some recommended a betadine soak, should I try that first? Thank you in advance.