First Timer, needs advice on behavior!

Hey guys! so this is my first time using a forum for anything! i just want to make sure i get all the help i can for my first baby ball. His name is charlie and i got him about 4 weeks ago. He is pretty large for a baby, so i just went for the 40 gallon tank. He seems to love it. i have two hides, a water bowl and a large branch thing for him to climb on. He was all over the cage the second i put him in it. He ate the second week after i brought him home with no problems at all. I am feeding him small frozen fuzzies still.

So we are on week 4 now and he has yet to eat anything. I was told that when they are young, they should eat once a week. He started to shed about 3 days ago and still isnt done. I guess i am worried about how long it is taking him. He also seems to be loosing weight. All of the posts seem to say that ball pythons usually wont eat until they are done shedding, but i am scared that something isnt right.

I have tried running him through a damp towl to help with the shedding, but he was scared of the towel so it did not help.
I tried placing him in a shallow container of water to help hydrate him but he just kept crawling out of it.

Any advice? Or am i overthinking it?

First off: Welcome to BP.net! :welcome:

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He started to shed about 3 days ago and still isnt done. I guess i am worried about how long it is taking him. He also seems to be loosing weight. All of the posts seem to say that ball pythons usually wont eat until they are done shedding, but i am scared that something isnt right.

I have tried running him through a damp towl to help with the shedding, but he was scared of the towel so it did not help.
I tried placing him in a shallow container of water to help hydrate him but he just kept crawling out of it.

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You should never try to soak a Ball Python before he is about to shed. It strips oils from their skin that they need in order to shed properly.

All you need to do to assist him with his shed is to monitor the humidity in his enclosure and make sure it stays above 50%. He will do the rest.

Other than that just double check all husbandry (the most important thing is proper surface temperature on the warm and cool side, you can read about proper husbandry on the BP.net Caresheet) and then just leave him alone and let him shed on his own.

Welcome to BP.net :colbert2:

Do not soak him anymore, soaking should only be done after a bad shed,by soaking him now you are leaching away the natural oils needed for a proper shed.

How much does he weigh?

Do you have a gram scale to weigh him?

Take a few minutes to look over the BP care sheets in the BP forum.

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Originally Posted by sunshine11

He started to shed about 3 days ago and still isnt done.

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Do you mean he started his shed cycle 3 days ago (eyes turned blue) or he tried to shed his skin 3 days ago but there are still patches of old skin left on him (incomplete/bad shed)?

If I read your post right, he ate on week 2 and 3 with you but hasn't eaten on week 4 yet. Missing one week isn't the end of the world, but depending on how big he is I would certainly feed him something bigger than a fuzzy. I started feeding my tiny bee rat pups when she was only about 90-100g. Fuzzies seem to small just from your general description. Aim for something that is about as wide as he is.

As for the shed, is he still blue? Or is the shed actually coming off? If the shed is coming off and it's stuck I would try placing him inside a damp pillow case for about 45 minutes since he doesn't like the towel. Make sure the pillow case is secure so he can't get out of it. If you want to try soaking him again get a container with air holes and put a lid on it so he can't get out.

To modify your setup to help with future sheds, cover most of the top with plastic, foil or a wet towel. This will help bump up your humidity. You can also create a humid hide which will help with shedding. 40 seems huge for a baby but if he's eating I don't really see a problem with it.

Good luck! :)

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Originally Posted by sunshine11

He is pretty large for a baby, so i just went for the 40 gallon tank. He seems to love it.

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I am feeding him small frozen fuzzies still.

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If he's eating fuzzies he's probably still too small to be in a 40 gal tank. They're nervous animals and need to feel secure. Big open spaces stress them out. What are the behaviors that make you think he loves it? You probably want to get him a smaller cage or fill this one with balls of newspaper to clutter it up for him.

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He started to shed about 3 days ago and still isnt done. I guess i am worried about how long it is taking him.

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Have his eyes already turned blue? What stage of shedding is he on?

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I have tried running him through a damp towl to help with the shedding, but he was scared of the towel so it did not help.
I tried placing him in a shallow container of water to help hydrate him but he just kept crawling out of it.

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This will be good to do if he's having a bad shed and the skin is coming off in pieces. You can put a lid on the container to keep him in there. Like Adam Chandler said you shouldn't soak them before they start shedding but this is a good remedy for a bad shed.

thanks for the speedy response!!

so the humidity is good in his husbandry. never below 50%.
i am not sure how much he weighs, i do not have anything to weigh him though.
Thanks for the heads up about soaking! ...petsmart needs to get their facts straight...
He ate on week two, but not three or four.

He started shedding, like smalle pieces started flaking off, about 3 days ago, but there is still skin stuck on him. He is is still blue with foggy eye caps. Last night he was rubbing his head on the top of the cage. Almost like he was trying to scrape it off.
I will definitely try the pillow case idea!

thanks guys!

He will shed his skin with a week of his eyes clearing up, after that if he has any stuck skin, you can soak.

oh ok! thanks a ton!!

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Originally Posted by sunshine11

Almost like he was trying to scrape it off.

thanks guys!

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Not almost, that's EXACTLY what he is doing... sounds like u are doing fine... try misting the cage a little.. if you are using a stick-on humidity gauge... they are mostly useless.
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