Raw patches after shedding

I have a ball python that was given to me 3 years ago and it is a classroom pet in my high school room. Monty is about 4.5 feet long and about 7 years old. During the summers (I live in Central Indiana) I have been keeping Monty in an outdoor 4ft x 8ft x 6ft outdoor habitat with plenty of water and sand on the bottom, shade and branches to climb and shelves to rest on. Monty is housed with my 3 box turtles and my green iguana during the summer in that habitat and loves it! Monty is housed by itself (I have no idea what its sex is) during the school year. During the school year Monty is in a 40 gal aquarium with wood bark for the substrate and a water bowl and a 1/2 log for privacy. Under the water bowl I have a heater and 2 heat lamps over the water. Monty eats well- 2 mice or Siberian rats/2 weeks. Monty was shedding every 5-6 weeks all last year. Last April Monty started to have bad sheds-- coming off in patches. I increased the humidity by adding another water bowl. The summer shed was fine. When I brought Monty in this fall (mid-September) it's skin was really crinkely (however you spell it:confused:). It started to get that way at the end of August. Monty's belly was pink and the skin was dull so I knew it was about to shed again. I was extrememly concerned about the condition of the skin so I put in damp Eco Earth for the substrate to really increase the humidity. Monty has logs to crawl up on to get away from the moisture-- which it did not do. Monty shed yesterday and it came off in 3 big bunches- much better than the spring, not as good as the summer, but apparently some of the shed stuck to the new skin and pulled off some of the new skin! Monty has about 8 raw, open patches about the size of peas on it's back. Monty still has one patch of shed stuck to his new skin and if I gently pull it it looks like I will cause another wound. I called the exotic vet and she said that since it is not infected to wash it with antibacterial soap and it woud be fine-- WHAT IS CAUSING THIS?? What am I doing wrong? I know that it has to hurt and I do NOT want it to happen again!:mad: As I said I have put Monty outside for 2 years during the summer and it as been really healthy at the end of the summer. HELP:bow::please::upset:.

Hi,

I would have a quick read through the caresheet to get an idea of what we normally recommend.

What are you using to measure your humidity? We normally recommend the acurite digital weatherstation with probe from wallmart for about $12.

It is traditionally a right pain in the situpons to get the temps and humidity right in larger enclosures - and trying to do it in an enclosure also housing a green iguana and box turtles would probably drive me insane.

I would try and keep his enclosure simple and easy to keep spotless until he has recovered - I would recommend newspaper or paper towels as a substrate as they are easiest to see when it needs cleaned and by their very nature demand a total cleanout every time.

They are cheap enough that this is not a problem however.

Make sure anything you apply topically does not contain painkillers as they are known to be toxic to BP's.

Keep to the clean setup untill he has shed at least once and the open wounds are gone - it generally takes a few sheds as the sheddig process itself can sometimes re-open scabbed over wounds.

Look for the post on treating the screen top to see if that is something you can do and think about making a humid hide if there seems to be no other way to get the required levels of both temp and humidity.

I'm sure I have forgotten something but others will chime in to help.

In the meantime I will copy this into a thread of its own to better help you get the replies needed.


dr del

Thank you so very much for helping me out. If it is some big thing that I am doing wrong, I just do not understand how I have been able to do what I have been doing for 2 years before I started having any problems. Luck? I haven't changed a thing that I was doing before when Monty was shedding nicely. What caused the crinkling-- dehydration? How could Monty be dehydrated when it has a pool available and the outside air is so high in humidity all summer? ? BTW it is african rats I have been feeding -- Not SIberian rats! I was so wrong geographically. ANYWAY What should I do about this stuck piece? Soak and use a wash cloth? Will there be scars from these wounds? Monty is such a sweet snake and so pretty. This just makes me sick. I feed live mice-- will they be more aggressive to Monty with the open wounds? You know the smell of blood and all. CAn i use topical antibiotics on the wounds? I need to go and get a humidity sensor and a better temp sensor-- the heated end is at 90 and the cool end is around 80. I have the aquarium covered except where the heat lamps are hanging.

I have not been measuring the humidity, I had been getting along so well for 2 years until this spring. I haven't changed a thing for 3 years and now I am getting in trouble. What caused the crinkly skin- dehydration? How can it be dehydrated with all of the water it could ask for plus normal high outdoor humidity and rain? Does anyone else house their BP outside in the summer?

Just because it was working for you for 2 years doesn't mean it was OK. Dehydration doesn't cause bad sheds, low humidity does. If you do not have a digital humidity than you need to get one.

For a BP to shed properly it needs at least 50% humidity but 70% is recommended during shed cycle.

I would get the snake into a smaller enclosure and keep him there. Don't move him outside in the summer, it is unhealthy. Ball pythons need specific environmental conditions and the outdoor "habitat" that you described sounds rather poor for this species.

He probably has missing scales from trying to rub off the stuck shed. They should heal with the next shed. If you notice its getting infected, neosporin or polysporin WITHOUT pain reliever will work. You might notice the top layer of the scales flaking off though, this is normal with these kinds of creams.

The prey items should not notice that the snake has cuts.


Husbandry Stuff:

I know you aren't asking for help with your setup but it really sounds like you need it. The setup you have described (both summer and during the year) sound like very stressful environments for the snake.

Ball pythons are very secretive animals and actually prefer LESS space to more space. I would recommend moving down to a 20gL tank. Ball pythons are also very shy and need at least two hides. Half logs are not hides. They do not provide any security for the snake. Rock cave hides or an upside-down bowl with a hole cut into it would work much better. They must be tight fitting on all sides (including the top) to the snake. Your BP will thank you for this, trust me.

I am guessing that you are not controlling your under tank heater with a thermostat. Not doing so can cause thermal burns or could cook the animal. The reptitemp 500r is a popular and cheap reptile thermostat that will get the job done. These are hard to find in pet stores and might only be available online in your area.

You need to be constantly measuring your temps with a digital thermometer with a probe. The best single setup unit is actually not for reptiles at all. You can find it at the Home depot in fact! It is called the Accurite Indoor/Outdoor weather station. It costs about $12 and has an "outdoor" thermometer probe, an "indoor" thermometer on the unit, and a hygrometer on the unit. Place the outdoor probe right on the glass where the UTH is and put the rest of the unit on the other side of the tank.

Since the snake will be at a school at night, I assume they turn the temp of the building down considerably at night. For this reason I suggest that you get a red bulb or ceramic heat emitter for the cool side. Just to keep the temps a little higher. With winter coming soon we don't want the little one to freeze! It would be a good idea to get a piggy pack dimmer switch ($11) at the home depot to control the heat output of the CHE (so you could turn it down during the day). That being said, the CHE (and any other heat lamp) will sap out humidity considerably. Not using one will help you with your humidity problem.

I really don't suggest using the coco fiber/eco earth just because there is a risk of scale rot. The substrate retains moisture well but too much moisture can lead to bad things. Ball pythons are terrestrial snakes and will not normally climb to get away from things they don't like. They will usually just...ignore it I guess. Also, you can't see how much they pee with this substrate. I think its just kinda icky... I WOULD suggest aspen or paper towels. They are my two favorites.

This sounds like a pretty old snake. Do you know how much he weighs? In grams? Weight is a very useful tool for calculating meal size and tracking the snakes growth/lack of growth/weight loss. An adult ball python should be eating a small rat once a week or once every 10 days. ~70-100g ish

If the snake has any stuck shed, get a pillowcase damp and put the snake in. Tie off the end and Hang out with the snake close by you for 20min. This will help loosen the stuck shed and allow you to roll it off with the pillowcase. No your snake will not suffocate while in the pillowcase.

Since you mentioned crinkly skin it led me to believe that the animal might be dehydrated. Make sure you are supplying clean water once every other day and washing the water bowl. The water bowl should be deeper rather than shallower. I have 2 inch deep water bowls. Contrary to a lot of information, the bowl does not need to be big enough for the snake to soak in. Soaking is usually an indication of mites, security issue, or humidity issue.


I hope this helps get you on a better track! :) Good luck!

Thank you for all of the great insight. I still do not understand why it would be dehydrated-- it had copious amounts of fresh water all summer as usual. But you are correct-- just becasue I have gotten by with the methods in the past doesn't mean I will continue to get by with it. Monty is about 6 years old and is in the same cage during the winter that is has always been in. The water bowl is a hide box with water in it. I will get another hide box and have changed the substrate since it has shed that horrible skin. I will have to get a humidity and temp thing at Home depot. Monty's raw patches are healing very well, but the one patch that I can not get off-- what will happen if I do not get it off? Do I keep soaking and using the pillow case until it does come off? :confused:

I am not quite sure of the reasons why a snake will stop drinking but I know it happens sometimes.

A hide with water isn't really practical for a ball python. If they sit in water for too long they will get scale rot. Ball pythons don't normally soak. Get some hides without water :)

If it is just a little patch of stuck shed and doesn't go all the way around the snakes body then don't worry about it. It will come off with the next shed.

Thanks again! It is a small patch about the size of a dime. I am on my way to get a new hide and some mice. I wish I could find the african rats again, I hate feeding rats-- I like them too much. I know I could use frozen ones, but I still like the rat that was killed. As long as I feed 2-3 mice at a time is that OK? I put in one at a time and watch so it does not hurt Monty. Someone once mentioned to me that you had to feed large enough prey to stretch their jaws? :confused:

Personally, I would go with the rat. I have fed multiple mice before and many times the snake will only eat one or two of them.

I don't really see why you show sympathy for the rats but not ASFs or mice? That doesn't really make sense.

rats are much more affectionate and trainable.