Worried mother, first time BP owner!

[blondiee411]

I know this is a dumb (and probably simple) question for the experts on here, but is my bp about to shed? For the last week he has been sitting and sleeping in the corner of his cage between the water bowl and the wall of the tank. He hasn't even gone into his wooden house. I've noticed his eyes have gotten somewhat cloudy which is a sign of shedding, but the whole time before his eyes weren't cloudy he was still hanging out in the corner. He was acting weird and my boyfriend thought I was overreacting. He isn't being mean or striking at me even though his eyes are a little cloudy, so I am happy he isn't acting aggressively. This is my first time handling him in about three days. I picked him up just a few minutes ago to get a pic so I could share. If he is shedding, any tips and tricks to make it easier for him?

Here is a pic of him currently:


And here is a picture of his enclosure. Roomy house, climbing sticks, and giant water dish to the right.

[LightningPython]

Yep he's going into shed alright. His eyes are blue.
Right now, it may be best to bump up his humidity a little.

How many hides do you have in the viv? It may be best to get another, so you have one on the cold anf another on the hot side.
Also those wooden hides are not very good IMO, they nake the BP feel less secure bacuse of the wide opening whivh let's loads of light through. I prefer the ones from exoterra, specifically the large ones for the adults) It looks like this.

You can get smaller ones for younger snakes. All my snakes use them and they are really easy to clean as there is no risk of mould.

Hope this helps, and it's a cute little snakey. Good luck!

[melcvt00]

Agreed. Definite shed getting ready to happen. My bp just spent 2 weeks looking like that before he finally gave it up.

As as far as humidity goes, on a normal basis I keep mine at 50%. When he is getting ready to shed, I push it to 70-80% (AC in my house drops it like crazy, so I have to spray things down 1-2 times daily to keep it this high).

My snake loves the hide pictured above - your best bet would be to get two of them so he doesn't have to choose comfort over temperature.

No more handling until he sheds, and he isn't going to eat, either, until a day or two after shedding.

[cchardwick]

His eyes will actually clear up and he will look like he won't shed for a couple days, then BAM off comes the shed! I actually have several snakes that will eat during a shed, just depends on the snake. But that snake looks healthy enough to skip a meal if he won't eat. I'd still offer it to him and see what happens.

[blondiee411]

I have one hide but he loves it! I blocked off one end of the house with moss so he doesn't feel vulnerable. Thank you for the info!

[blondiee411]

Is having the heat lamp over the giant water bowl enough to keep high enough humidity for shedding? Or should I mist the cage twice a day? I just thawed a small mouse and he ate it like a champ!

[melcvt00]

Is having the heat lamp over the giant water bowl enough to keep high enough humidity for shedding? Or should I mist the cage twice a day? I just thawed a small mouse and he ate it like a champ!

You will have to measure the humidity and find out what you need. You want it humid, but not so much that you cause mold/other health issues. You can get a digital Acurite from Walmart for under $10 that is pretty accurate.

[blue roses]

I use 2 of those exo-terra rock hides and my guys love them. The heat lamp over the water bowl acctually lowers the humidity in a tank, so i move my water bowl to the cool side so the water evaporates slower. I use a reptifogger by zoomed on a timer to up the humidity when they are in shed 30 min of light fog 4 times a day, I keep a digital hygromiter in my tank so i can see the humidity level at all times, and i put moss in my warm hide to give them a moist humid place to shed if they want it, and both my guys use their humid hides to shed in.