The Shedding Process

[MedusasOwl]

Very cool article! I reminds me too of a question my Mom asked the other day. She asked why snakes shed, and I told her that everything sheds, even we shed, it's just that they do it all at once and we do it so subtly we don't even notice (sunburns being the exception to that) and she said "Yeah, but *why* do they do it that way?"

I have no idea. Does anyone else know?

[frankykeno]

I think that thread and it's related links should help you Sheree.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...hlight=ecdysis

~~Jo~~

[rabernet]

Excellent, Daniel! Thanks for sharing!

[iceman25]

Very nicely done Daniel!

[Damian7]

Aweseome writeup.
Damian's been chilling in his hide the last couple days and not evening coming out at night since I think Friday. When I checked this AM it appeared his belly had a pink tint to it. I could be in for my first shed with Damain since I got him 1/13/06.

[Damian7]

It's official he's going into shed. I checked on him this morning (he still has not left his hide in 4 days) and his eyes have become cloudy. Thing is today is his feeding day. Should I go ahead and try and feed him?

[daniel1983]

I would not feed live prey when the eyes are blue. If you feed f/t or p/k, go for it. Some ball pythons will eat during shed...some won't. I don't feed during shed....kinda consider it a week off to give the girls a break from digesting constantly....it is not like they are getting 1 rodent a week in the wild

[4Khan]

Very informative...
Now do a piece on the not so fun side to your BP shedding process..like how the humidity has to be just right..the no feeding..the wet towel trick, the eye caps all that stuff. My 2 foot ball just shed for me and it took over a week with my help as a final straw, its not only stressfull for your ball but you as an owner..you want nothing more than to have it run smoothly but thats not always the case.
Great article and great pictures!

[frankykeno]

Oh did I miss the part where keeping ball pythons was supposed to be totally easy LOL. I figure though if it was say a dog you'd be dealing with grooming, getting it's shots each year, shovelling up dog crap daily, local leash laws, getting it's tags...yada...yada. Fiddling a bit with a snake's enclosure or just about any husbandry issue with them still seems like a lot less work than one small yappy poodle but maybe that's just me LOL.

[daniel1983]

Very informative...
Now do a piece on the not so fun side to your BP shedding process..like how the humidity has to be just right..the no feeding..the wet towel trick, the eye caps all that stuff. My 2 foot ball just shed for me and it took over a week with my help as a final straw, its not only stressfull for your ball but you as an owner..you want nothing more than to have it run smoothly but thats not always the case.
Great article and great pictures!

Working on it .....and putting a humid hide in the enclosure will generally make a shed go much better