Need help for my baby ball python!

[felix.liang]

I just got my female ball python about 2 days ago, and her skin is looking weird. Yesterday, I found a small piece of shed in her hide, and thoght that she would be shedding. However She doesn't seem to have the cloudy eyes. Also her skin is kind of wrinkled up, which looks like she is dehydrated. Right now I am a little concern about her. Plz help my temp is overall 78 and the humidity is always 50-65%, Her hot spot hide is always 85-93 the humidity was 30-40 then I immediately put a damp towel in her hide, so now is around 60-70%. And I have a big water bowl right next to the hide. So I don't think she will let herself be dehydrated like that.

[felix.liang]

http://www.dropshots.com/felixliang Here are some pics of her and my enclosure.

[Dave Green]

Looks like a retained shed. Either but her in a wet snake bag for a few hours, or soak her in very shallow water. Make sure you use warm water (not hot) and keep it shallow, like 1/8 inch deep.

[felix.liang]

I just put her in a wet sack with a damp towel in it. So i just have to leave her alone in the bag for like 3 or 4 hrs then take her back out? Also should keep doing this until her retained shed is gone? thanks

[Saber402]

She is definitely in shed. The eyes will clear up 2 or three days before the actual shed, sounds like just before you got it. That is likely why you didn't see it. What are you using to measure the humidity and temps?

[felix.liang]

yea, I got her on Thursday, and for my cage right now, I have 2 digital hygro-thermometers and one non-digital in my cage. So i can see the temp and humidity for different spots. By the way, I only see her shedding the bottom parts off not the whole body, is there something wrong with her? Also the breeder where I got my snake from, told me that he didn't feed her this week because of shipping, and i was worry and tried to feed her this morning but she didn't take it.... So what should i do right now?

[Eric Alan]

So what should i do right now?

Take Dave's advice in order to assist in the shedding process. A proper shed should come off all in one piece and is actually a very short process. Hold off on feeding until after the shed skin has been fully removed. Many snakes won't eat when they're shedding anyway, and especially so when they're feeling stressed from a move and a bad shed.

[felix.liang]

But my snake doesn't really like being in a wet sack, I will probably raise the humidity in the cage to 70-80%. Thanks

[Eric Alan]

But my snake doesn't really like being in a wet sack, I will probably raise the humidity in the cage to 70-80%. Thanks

Short term minor discomfort for long term relief = a positive result for you both. You could use his other option of soaking her in shallow, warm water and using your hands to massage the dead skin yourself. Good luck to you.

[Sea]

I know I just went through a bad shed with my girl last week (second week of having her, and couldn't get the humidity quite high enough early enough). I got some Reptished and rubbed that into her skin, then put her in a warm, damp towel and let her crawl around, then gently rubbed the skin. It came off really easily at that point. Good luck getting your girl through her shed! : )