My BP just shed for me for the first time! Question:

[Alyvrae]

I got my BP roughly a month ago and he just shed for me. I had been reading up on the process and knew all the signs, watched as the process progressed, lo and behold last night I found a nice large piece of shed in his tank. It appears that he shed in one large piece with only a few lil stragglers of skin left. Now that I know how it goes, I'll be able to more effectively care for him during shed next time. I'm so excited that our first shed went so well.

So my question is (since I couldn't find the answer in the stickied threads, though I may have missed it) is it all right to handle right after shedding? There are some small pieces of shed in his warm hide, so I would like to clean it up and such. I also have some family coming over today who would like to see him.

On a side note, gosh he looks so different after shed! So bright, and even a bit yellowish. If I hear that it's all good to handle him I'll take some pics.

[Vypyrz]

Yes, it is ok to handle your shiny little friend, and congratulations on a successful shed...

[DmD]

aWesome man!!! Can't wait to get my little guy and girls, and watch how they develop and shed Oh please post pics of your ball python

[Alyvrae]

Will do!! My mom (who is terrfied of snakes) is dropping by this morning and she actually wants to see him. I can't pass up snapping a photo of my mother holding a snake of her own free will, so there will certainly be pics to be had later today! I will stick them in this thread as soon as I get a free moment.

[Alyvrae]

Hm, okay, I have another question.

He still had a bit of shed on his face/nose area and I'm not sure if the eyecaps are off. When I removed his hide he seemed more jumpy than usual, so I'm suspicious they might be still there? With all of the people and excitement going on I decided to better stay safe than sorry and left him alone, just took his hide off for about 15 mins so everyone could look at him through the glass instead.

Should I wait until the eyecaps come off? Is there a way to tell by looking at him if they are still on?

[ClarkT]

You can still handle him, even if his eyecaps are still there. Most likely, he'll still not bite, though he'll probably act shy.

Keep him humid (65%-75%) and it should help. If nothing else, he'll shed them with his next shed.

We just picked up a rescue female. She has had bad sheds for who knows how long. Her eyes were horribly covered with eyecaps. She just shed 2 days ago in a complete shed, and got rid of those eyecaps!!!

She's gotten some good meals in her, too. She's doing wonderfully better, now that she has heat and humidity. Her previous owners had her for 10 years. She sure has a lot of battle scars. She weighs in at 2,250 grams. Hope she'll breed for us. But even if not, she'll be well off with her better environment now.

Anyway, good job on the shed! just watch humidity, and go ahead and handle your shiny snake!

[Vypyrz]

There are some different ways to tell if the eye caps came off or not:
-If you still have the shed skin, you can look for the head piece and see if they are attached.
-Look at the eyes. Even though their eyes are black, the surface should appear somewhat shiny and smooth. Look around the outer edge of the eyes. Sometimes you might see little flecks of skin where it looks like it tried to come loose, but it didn't come off. If part of the eyecap came off, but not all of it, you will usually see a line running across the surface of the eye. It will almost look like a tiny hair laying across the eye.

If there is a stuck eyecap, or you aren't sure you can:

-just leave it alone and let it come off with the next shed.
-loosely wrap the snake in a warm, wet towel, and let them crawl around inside of it for a few minutes. This can help with both retained eyecaps and stuck shed. Once you wrap your snake in the towel, you can then place it in another container. Some people will put the towel and snake in a pillow case, tie it off.(not too tight, you may not be able to get it untied). Personally, I have some extra holding tubs and just place the snake and towel in one of those for a while.
-This next method, I have never tried before. This will require a steady and gentle hand, and there are a number of people on here who use it. That is to take a Q-tip, dip the cotten tip in mineral oil, squeeze it out, and lightly brush the Q-tip across the eye a few times to try remove the eyecap.

If you choose to wait till the next the shed, your snake will be ok...

[Alyvrae]

Thanks for the advice! I put him in a critter keeper with some damp washcloths, gonna wait about 15-20mins and see how it goes!

[Alyvrae]

Here's a crappy cell phone pic of the outcome. After about 15 mins I placed the critter keeper (sans lid) in his tank and let him wiggle around. It appears that he is either nearly or completely free of shed, I can see a couple of nice pieces of shed on the washcloths.

I appreciate the advice guys, thanks so much!