Ball python has really dry skin.

Hello,

I'm fairly new to the ball pythons, I only have one, and it has really dry skin. He had a bad shed and is still working on getting a large piece of skin off. He also looks and feels really dry. I keep the humidity at 50-60% in the tank so I havn't a clue what the problem is.

I have a UTH regulated at 90% and a dimmed heat lamp sitting on the top of the cage. Could the light be drying him out too much? Do I even need it?

I've tried everything. I mist daily, sometimes even spraying him directly, however the skin patch from the shed just won't come off and he looks and feels really coarse and dry. especially around the head and neck area.

Does anyone have any advice for me?

Humidity needs to be bumped up into the high 70-80% range during shed time.

Lights will dry the air in the tank out and ruin your humidity, you don't need them unless your ambient air temps are super low.

There is a DIY sticky for tank top lids that will help keep in humidity and heat.

You can give him a steam bath in a couple inches of water in a closed container. The water should be warm, in the mid to low 80's. Leave him in their for about 10-15 minutes and he should be good.

ok thank you kindly AkHerps. I'm going to turn off the light for the night and see what happens. The ambient temp never drops below 80 on the warm and 70 on the cool, even at night. So I'll try that out. I would try to give him a bath but he is really young and terrified of everything, I don't want to scare it to death.

How long have you had him? Has he eaten for you, and if he has, how many times?

I've had him for at least a month now. probably 5 weeks. He has eaten every 5 days without missing a beat taking the food within the first 3 minutes of putting it in the tank. I feed him frozen/thawed small adult mice. He is about 14-16 inches long.

I wouldnt "bathe" him like a sink, but you could try putting him in a sealed plastic container. Small containers are good because theyre prtty much just a super wet hide. Stress isnt that bad as long as the water isnt deep.

Yeah that's what I suggested. It may stress him out a little, but just do it for 5-10 minutes then, and make him "slither" through a washcloth that you are holding and his old skin will probably come off.

ok so i currently have him sitting in a plastic tub, bottom lined with paper towels sitting in a small puddle of warm water. will this be good enough? i'll try a half hour. I really need to get that skin off.

Just to clarify, snakes are supposed to feel dry and smooth, not damp or slimy.

Unless his skin is really saggy and loose, which indicates dehydration, he's probably fine. I remember thinking something was wrong with my Ball when it didn't feel damp to me. Then I learned they aren't supposed to feel that way.

Gale

I just had to do this with my bp, put a little bit of warmish lil hot bit not too hot water in a tupperwear container and let her crawl around for bout 30min. Took her out and held her for another 10 and got all skin off.... keep in mind they mine is a year and a half old and very very docile.

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Hey AkHerps, just saw your post about a DIY sticky for tank top lids. How would someone go about making one? I Have a screen top currently covered in towels (not all the way) but would like something that is waterproof. I cant keep my snakes temp up above 85. I have a UTH and a 100 watt heat emitter on top of the screen (40 gal tank thats why I chose 100w). I cant seem to keep her humidity and temp at the right levels. Any tips would help!

Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AkHerps

Humidity needs to be bumped up into the high 70-80% range during shed time.

Lights will dry the air in the tank out and ruin your humidity, you don't need them unless your ambient air temps are super low.

There is a DIY sticky for tank top lids that will help keep in humidity and heat.

You can give him a steam bath in a couple inches of water in a closed container. The water should be warm, in the mid to low 80's. Leave him in their for about 10-15 minutes and he should be good.

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I don't think your ambient temps need to be above 85? You should have a temp gun to measure the belly heat coming from the UTH- thermometers measure either ambient air temperatures or the temperature of the surface they're attached to, depending on the model, while temp guns measure the temperature of surfaces. You want it to read at 90 on the inside bottom of the tank, over the UTH. If it is, hot end ambient temps (as measured by a thermometer) at 85 should be plenty hot enough as long as your cool end isn't below 70. For a screen tank lid, placing thin plastic (perhaps something similar to seran wrap?) over the half of the lid where the water bowl is should raise your humidity some. Don't cover the whole thing because the snake still needs air.

How big is your water bowl? It should be 1-2 inches deep and large enough for the snake to get inside if it chooses to. If your humidity is staying too low, try putting part of the water bowl over the UTH. I've been told that high humidity generally doesn't cause problems, as long as it's not keeping your bedding wet or anything.

If you do all of that and the humidity still isn't staying up, consider switching the enclosure to a tub instead of a tank. As long as you don't drill too many holes in it (which is unlikely), tubs keep humidity better than tanks.

If the snake got stuck shed then it could be dehydrated. Even snakes with plenty of water and humidity can get dehydrated sometimes. If you do what others recommended with the plastic tub and warm water, that should help some. You could also occasionally mist the snake, but they usually don't like that very much.

Also provide a humid hide if you haven't; just get a hide you can stuff with moss and the snake still be able to get inside. (Mine is a small plastic tub I cut a hole in one side of with a hole saw. I sanded down the sharp edges. Sphagnum moss on top of a bit of aspen/whatever your normal bedding is works well.) Keep it on the warm end and the moss a little damp.

I'm pretty new at this as well, so if any of my information is off the mark, I'd be delighted for more experienced snake keepers to correct me. :)

Soaking can do more harm than good... Do you have anything measuring your humidity inside the tank? If not, that will help. Cover the top of the tank, as much as possible, with aluminum foil if nothing else... maybe put an extra water bowl or two in there for now. That will increase the humidity and would be the best way to let the snake get the old skin off naturally.