Rough belly

[amcurls]

Recently got a Northern and noticed it's belly scales are rough when rubbed from tail to head. They are smooth when rubbed head to tail. My other Northern does not display this characteristic and neither do my Meraukes. It's dorsal is smooth. Has anyone else observed this ?

[Susann]

I think this is very normal. Might be a sign to maybe bump up humidity for the rough belly guy, but many BTS have this regardless.

[amcurls]

This is what I thought. He was kept on aspen, which is a drier substrate then I use (cypress mulch). I will be switching to cypress. He also now has a 12" terra cotta water dish. His cool hide also has sphagnum moss bedding.

[Clavietika]

My Northern has this issue from time to time as well, and he also lives on aspen. I don't think it'd be anything to worry about unless you notice he's actually having shed problems.

[jdheff1982]

My guy had this on aspen. Once I switched to cypress mulch, it seemed to have smoothed out. I think the cypress holds humidity better.

[Emz3]

My Merauke has this problem too! He's always had difficulty shedding too. It got better for a while when I uped his humidity, but it's routinely at 25%-50% so I'm not sure what else to do on my end. Raise your humidity for a few months and see what you think!