Shedding Question

[L.West]

My girl shed again last night - she is averaging about every 2 months right now.

But my question is: her last two sheds have come off in one piece (yahoo) but this last shed is all in one piece but I can't quite confirm the eyecaps - I had to leave for work so I could examine her but will tonight - what should I do if the eyecaps didn't come off this time???

Also, she doesn't seem to go thru the typical stages that is noted for ball pythons going into shed - all she does is get a little greyish blue tint to her, her eyes never go blue and then she will shed within a couple of days of turning greyish blue - is this normal???

[missi182]

Every ball is different so as long as she is shedding properly, you have nothing to worry about. When my male ball was younger he would turn very milky white, now he just greys up a bit. Ensure that you have proper humidity 50-60% and even up it during shed if you are able to.

Eye caps will not hurt your snake if not corrected immediately, multiple sheds with uncorrected eye caps can. If the eyecaps did not come off, soak her in luke warm water about an inch deep in a tub with a wash cloth. I will search for the sticky on shedding for you and post it.

[missi182]

This is a sticky on correcting a bad shed, the same process will assist with eye cap removal and can be repeated every few days until the eye caps come off. Keep in mind that this process is not helpful PRIOR to a shed as it will drain the natural fluid buildup between the old skin and the new, this process is meant to correct a poor shed after it has not come off entirely.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=43403

[JLC]

If she has had previous successful sheds...and this one looks complete as well, it's unlikely you have any stuck eyecaps to worry about. But if she happens to end up with one...if everything else is fine, the snake will just rub it off herself. It takes an awful lot of neglect for a ball python to have serious issues with stuck eyecaps.

[L.West]

Thanks for your help (missi182)

And JLC, last time she shed I could actually see the outline of the head and eye caps. This time I really couldn't pinpoint the actual eyecaps and was concerned although the shed was soooo tightly balled up when I found it I had to unravel it - maybe I ripped it or something where the eyecaps were - who knows.

I will check her tonight and maybe let her slither thru a warm wet washcloth a few times to help get any left over shed off.

Thanks for your input.

[missi182]

If she has had previous successful sheds...and this one looks complete as well, it's unlikely you have any stuck eyecaps to worry about. But if she happens to end up with one...if everything else is fine, the snake will just rub it off herself. It takes an awful lot of neglect for a ball python to have serious issues with stuck eyecaps.

Agreed