Aquired 2 new beauties from...you guessed it...Craigslist (Questions/Concerns)

So, this woman has had these two ball pythons on craigslist now for what seems to be I don't know....weeks. She basically had these two dropped on her by her roommate and he ditched on her not long after. Now she's had these two for about a year now, why she is just now getting rid of them? A baby on the way, but just from speaking to her - she's no fan to begin with.

Cage set up is a large tank, two lights, a heating pad, a small hide, a watering dish and a log and substrate. Now we get there to pick these guys up (60 bucks by the way - well spent) and come to find out - they're both in shed. There's no temp. or humidity gauge at all, nothing for the larger BP to hide in and the shed is just a messy subject besides the tank being a mess.

Now for the questions;

I suck at sheds. I know my weak point and that is JUST it. I have a rough time helping a snake through a bad shed (mostly because I've rarely had that issue)...any suggestions?

Also, they're feeding once a month, that sounds off to me. Really off....I'd like to feed them once their shed is complete...good idea?


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Get them into separate and correct habitats.

Let them settle in for a week, then try to feed.

For the sheds, give them each a nice soak and let them crawl through a wet towel, if they don't shed it off themselves.

It's good that you rescued them, but there is a lot wrong with their setup that needs to be corrected ASAP. I highly recommend reading the caresheet here as that will tell you what you need to properly house them. As for the shed, there's a sticky at the top of this forum that's a good source for info to help with the bad shed.

I would mist them with water every once in a while. That will help the stuck shed come off. Once their shed is wet from a little while, you can let them run through a wet cloth and that should get off any remaining shed. I would feed them weekly. You need to get them in seperate enclosures with a heat pad, water dish, substrate, two hides in each and a digital thermostat with humidity! Follow this caresheet: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Thanks guys, we do have a BP (2010 female) that's doing wonderfully and I've owned two prior to these guys years ago I just figured I'd ask..just to double check. Will have update pictures once I get them all set in their new enclosures.

the tank looks big enough where you can put a glass divider in the middle and split it into 2 for the time being.

Cover the screen lid about 90% with aluminum foil to hold heat and humidity in. Id also suggest papertowels for bedding for now till you get everything in order.

Getting sheds off is not hard at all. Toss the snake in a wet pillow case and tie it off. Put back in the cage on warm side for 45 mins and the snake will get most if not all off. Keep doing this once a day till its off.


Be sure you dont have the heat sources plugged directly into an outlet on full power. This will cook them slowly. Get something to control it as soon as you can.

So the one (who everyone has dubbed a girl even though we're bringing her to get her probed by our snake's vet) is about 3 ft (give or take) and I'm not sure on the other one. They fed both of them 1 time a month so both look hungry and ready to go, giving them time to settle and then going to try them on food. New pictures later.

I find it amazing how many people are misleaded into bad snake husbandry. I see this all the time dealing with large fish on Craigslist.

Kevin Bullis