Shedding and Humidity

[mbasile35]

Hi Everybody!

Just a few quick updates..

Well i've been the proud owner of a nameless genderless BP for a week and a day so today i decided to take him back to the pet shop to have the owner pop him. (He offered when i bought him but i just didn't think it was important) So now i have......a Boy!! and I've come up with the name Rocky! I've also made some set-up improvments, i have a digital thermometer, a dimmer for my heat lamp, two hides rather than one and i've gotten rid of the cypress bedding because i've never seen a BP poop and i want to make sure i know what it looks like before Rocky is sitting on his own poop and i don't even know! Anyway i plan on buying a thermostat within the month, but my temps are staying pretty stable for now.

Anyway, when i fed Rocky on tuesday i noticed his belly was somewhat pink. Could this be from his skin stretching to get the mouse to his belly? I'm assuming his eyes will cloud up in the next day or two, so i've increased the humidity to 70-80% Now my quesion is if he isnt begining to shed, will there be any ill-effect of the higher humidiy such as scale rot? Thanks everybody!!

[Crazy4Herps]

Hello, and congrats on your new boy!

Sounds like your setup is good. The pink belly would either be a burn or, as you mentioned, pre shed colorations. If your temps are within reason I would assume the later. There's no reason feeding should cause redness.

A consistently wet cage will give a ball python scale rot whether or not it is actually shedding. 70%+ is perfectly fine as long as no surface in the cage is wet. A bit damp is fine. Besides, especially with young snakes, the amount of time it takes for them to shed is not enough time for them to develop scale rot at 70%. Honestly, there's no need to bump up the humidity until he clouds, but if you want to it's not a problem.

[mbasile35]

Hello, and congrats on your new boy!

Sounds like your setup is good. The pink belly would either be a burn or, as you mentioned, pre shed colorations. If your temps are within reason I would assume the later. There's no reason feeding should cause redness.

A consistently wet cage will give a ball python scale rot whether or not it is actually shedding. 70%+ is perfectly fine as long as no surface in the cage is wet. A bit damp is fine. Besides, especially with young snakes, the amount of time it takes for them to shed is not enough time for them to develop scale rot at 70%. Honestly, there's no need to bump up the humidity until he clouds, but if you want to it's not a problem.

Thanks! The temps are around 82-83 ambient and 90-93 belly-temp under the warm side hide. I was a little woried about the belly temp above the
uth, what do you think the highest temp for a juvenile BP is? Just so i can be sure it isnt a burn.

[stevepoppers]

The highest ever recommended temperature for a ball python is 95 degrees Fahrenheit. You're doing fine. Just don't count on him not making his way down to the glass and burning himself. Surface temps may be safe, but the glass may be much hotter! Get that thermostat ASAP.

[Vypyrz]

... i've never seen a BP poop and i want to make sure i know what it looks like before Rocky is sitting on his own poop and i don't even know!

It will look like any other poop. I would suggest, at some point, after you get the t-stat, when he poops, put it in a ziploc bag or something, put it in the refridgerator, and then drop it off at a vets and have them do a fecal exam. This is just a precaution to make sure he doesn't have any internal parasites. Don't expect your snake to poop very often, and it is pretty common for them to go several weeks saving up a huge Poozilla. If you notice any little white chunks in the tank, those are solid urates and are usually passed when they pee. Make sure you check inside the hides at least every other day. From what I have seen, if they pee inside a hide they won't go back in it to thermoregulate...

I definitely recommend checking the temps of the uth on the glass. Your snake may not be actively burrowing down, but as the move around in their hide, the substrate can get pushed aside. Until you get the thermostat, I would suggest using the dimmer on the UTH...

[Crazy4Herps]

^^What they said.

[BabysMomma]

Make sure you check inside the hides at least every other day. From what I have seen, if they pee inside a hide they won't go back in it to thermoregulate...

I agree wholeheartedly with Vypyrz here, but for the opposite reason. Mine will poop in his hide and lie on top of it. When you have a snake that will do this, you have to be pretty careful to watch for any sign of bacterial infections.

[Vypyrz]

I agree wholeheartedly with Vypyrz here, but for the opposite reason. Mine will poop in his hide and lie on top of it. When you have a snake that will do this, you have to be pretty careful to watch for any sign of bacterial infections.

Yeah, I don't know why they do that. They won't touch their pee, but they have no problem with painting a Poocaso all over their enclosure...