Shedding and Humidity

[kira1123]

I'm a new owner of a baby ball python and I have a couple of questions and any and all advice will be greatly appreciated. Before I got her I did a lot of research on my own, but there is still a lot of things I would like to know.

First off, I was wondering how to raise the humidity in my tank. She is currently in a 10g tank with a secured screen lid. She has two hide boxes, one on the warm side of the tank under a heat lamp and the other is on the cool side. I also have a UTH that is used at night when the heat lamp is off. I have a 2 Flukers thermometers, one on each side of the tank and I also have a Flukers Hygrometer. Her tank normally reads 40%-50% during the day when the Heat Lamp is on and it gets anywhere from 60-70% at night when its off. Even when the heat lamp is off during the day the humidity level doesn't reach the 60-70% mark.

Currently she is shedding, but she's shedding in pieces. Her head has completely shed, the eyecaps are gone, but as for the rest of the body it's uneven. She has only shed to the back of her head on top and on her belly it has gone about an inch farther than the top. I can see shed skin all over her tank and currently she is hiding in her hide box on the cool side of the tank. When should I try to help her finish her shed?

[JoshJP7]

First off do you have the heat pad & heat light connected to a thermostat? If so are they connected to separate thermostats? The belly heat is more important than the heat from the light and should be on all the time between 90-93. A heat light should only be used if you need help getting the ambient temps up. If you do need a heat light get a ceramic heat emitter... As youve noticed the heat lights kill your humidity... A CHE works very well for providing heat w/o killing humidity too bad. Again all heat sources need to be connected to thermostats... To be honest your best bet is to switch to a plastic rubbermaid tub. Youll have no problems with humidity and the heat pad on the bottom is usually good enough if the room the tubs kept in isnt too cold...

As far as helping with the shed... You can go with the damp warm pillow case method or wet wash cloth snake through the hands trick haha... Check out some previous threads and youll see theres much information on your situation. Welcome to BP.net and good luck with the new guy!

[pitbullNpythons]

Eventually you'll want a tub. Soooooooo much easier to control their environment. Not as cool for us to look at them in, but whats more important, their health/happiness, or ours?

If my snakes ever have problems shedding (which happens rarely since i put them in tubs.) I usually just fill the bathtub with an inch or two of warm water and let them "bathe" in it for about 15 minutes. Then they have no problem removing the excess on their various rough rocks and half logs

[juddb]

Just change your water dish to one with a bigger surface area for more evaporation. Right underneath the heat lamp or above the heat pad depending on what your heat source is... Good luck.

[juddb]

Oops i forgot about the shedding part. I suggest you take a pillow case, dampin it with warm water and let him sit in it for about an hour and the stuck shed should come right off.

[kira1123]

Thanks for the help, What is y'alls definition for warm? I know my definition for warm is completely different than my g/f's

[juddb]

Thanks for the help, What is y'alls definition for warm? I know my definition for warm is completely different than my g/f's

Luke warm or tepid i guess, No boiling water
Also seriouly give the pillow case method a shot, no real need to let him soak in water at all.

[kira1123]

Won't an UTH eventually melt through the rubber tub if its on all the time?

[JoshJP7]

No it wont melt through if kept between 90-95... thats why you need a thermostat... if you just plug it in the wall and leave it on... some can get up to 120 degrees and burn your snake... You need a thermostat to keep it where it needs to be... It should be 78-83 on the cool side and 90-95 on the hot side.

[kira1123]

ok, thanks. What kind of thermostat would you recommend?