Shedding questions

Howdy,

My ball python is 4.5ft 7 years old, but I just got him recently. His eyes are clouded and his skin is dull so I know he is about to shed.

My question is, is it safe to take him out of his cage to soak him in the tub? The only reason I taking soaking as an option is because I have a tank setup and I've been misting it daily to try and maintain at least 60% humidity, but overnight his cage drys up and it drops to about 50%.

What steps should I take to ensure a successful shed?

i deffinatly wouldnt soak him if im not mistaken that makes it worse because it was th oils off of the snake tht help it shed its skin

try covering the top of his tank with a towel or something that will keep more humidity in

I have my heat lamp and stuff sitting on top of the cage do I just lay to towel around those?

Don't want to start a fire lol

what substrate are you using?
tom

eco earth coconut husk or w/e

When I had mine in a tank I put the towel around the light. Its not hot enough to start a fire, if it was your snake would be in trouble already...as for the coconut husk it absorbs moisture a lot but also absorbs moisture from your snake makine it hsrder to shed as well...try reptile bark or regular Eco earth

Or if you keep the coconut husk you have to spray it ALOT

This is a really good guide for fashioning the tank's lid so that it holds in humidity more efficiently: http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ass-tank-setup

the weird thing is though that my tank was remaining at a constant 60% humidity, and now all of the sudden it drops daily to 50 sometimes 40%. I placed tinfoil about 3 layers of it around the top of the lid (leaving space around the lights for air travel). You recommend getting a completely new substrate? or misting the crap outta this one?