Hi again Kyle,
I'm glad I was able to help - sometimes it just talking it over with someone else, you come up with the answer yourself.
The obvious explanation is that it was a burn from the heat pack up too high. In that case, I think it should heal itself as long as you keep it clean and dry, and keep an eye out for any sign of infection such as reddening or weeping discharge. (In which case it's back to Betadine/ antibiotic cream and probably the vet.)
I don't know whether the scales will grow back or not - this may depends on the depth of the burn. However, if they don't, it probably will not affect the health of the snake - I have one with an scarred mouth who just leaves a patch of clear skin in his shed.
I have a lot of problems with power surges too - I'd advise that you buy an (inexpensive) power board with surge protector to stop surges getting to your heat packs and burning them out. Also check over your heat sources to make sure the snake cannot rub up against, or sit on a naked bulb or heat pack. If I use a heat pack I put it under an upturned ceramic dish so that the snake cannot make direct physical contact with it.
I'd keep that photo of the bald patch handy, so that you can compare whether it is getting worse or better, and if there is any further sign of a problem, you should keep on looking for an expert diagnosis for the scale loss.
I get a lot of information just from reading around the forums, so you might keep looking through other threads in this Veterinary forum and see if you find anything that looks or sounds similar.
Also, although the Vet. forum is definitely the right place for this thread, often it is not the fastest moving, and you might get more responses by posting in the relevant snake discussion forum (you haven't actually mentioned what type of snake this is). People often want a lot of information about how the snake is being kept, so I'd include: species, age, size, how long you've had him/her, type of cage, bedding, temperature range, humidity etc.
However, hope we've found the cause, and that the problem is solved. Do post more pics later if there are any changes.
