possible shedding, won't leave hide

Okay i have had my ball now for 2 months, he is extremely friendly and I have done all the proper things to keep him happy. temp between 79 and 82 humidity between 50 and 55 . He has not left his hide (half cork log ) for about 5 days. his eyes are what appear to be in shedding phase, but for the life of me I have not seen him leave his hide once and I am up late at night and check on him regularly through out the day . Is this a common thing.oh also he was on his feeding schedule and I did not feed him since last monday (august 28th today) since his eyes looked the way they do.. I can get a picture if need to see for yourselves

82 is way too low for a hot spot....

To answer your question, yes. It's actually normal for ball pythons to hide 90% of the time anyways, but even moreso during the shedding process.

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Originally Posted by Frank A Tambone Jr

Okay i have had my ball now for 2 months, he is extremely friendly and I have done all the proper things to keep him happy. temp between 79 and 82 humidity between 50 and 55 . He has not left his hide (half cork log ) for about 5 days. his eyes are what appear to be in shedding phase, but for the life of me I have not seen him leave his hide once and I am up late at night and check on him regularly through out the day . Is this a common thing.oh also he was on his feeding schedule and I did not feed him since last monday (august 28th today) since his eyes looked the way they do.. I can get a picture if need to see for yourselves

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Your cool side should be around 82 with a hot spot of 88-90.

Your humidity sounds fine, but I'd probably mist and get it up to 60-70 while he sheds.

Ball pythons are not display animals. They hide most of the time. A hiding ball python is a happy ball python. I sometimes catch my Bp wandering around his cage at night but not all the time.

Also, you could offer food. Some bps will eat during shed, while some won't.

I know they are most active at night and mine was active every night ...plus believe it or not he likes to come out often and loves to crawl around the bed and couch. I also have a heating pad under his enclosure that is under his hide. so as far as the hot side temp it is fine. and I mist every day twice a day

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the gauges are on the cool side, so I regulate by that

Is your heating pad regulated with a thermostat? What's the direct hot spots temps on the hot side?

The analog gauges have been very inaccurate for me in the past, I recommend getting a digital Accurite thermometer.

They are digital and pad is regulated between low and medium ...believe me this isn't my first time to the rodeo with reps and amphibs..lol

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just my first time with a ball, had a retic before and he didn't act like this... he died a couple years ago..old age. 11ft

How is it regulated between low and medium? Do you mean by a rheostat/dimmer over a thermostat?

no i mean the heating pad is set between low and medium constant.. the inside surrounding temp in the enclosure is at night 79/81 during day because i have the heating pad always on and a heating light located above his shelter the hottest I have recorded the temp at is 88

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Originally Posted by Frank A Tambone Jr

no i mean the heating pad is set between low and medium constant.. the inside surrounding temp in the enclosure is at night 79/81 during day because i have the heating pad always on and a heating light located above his shelter the hottest I have recorded the temp at is 88

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I mean how is the heat pad set to low/medium? :) Does it have a rheostat/dimmer on it that's controlling the temps of the heat pad? What brand/make of UTH are you using? I'm sorry if I'm being confusing: my point is that sometimes UTHs, when not regulated - or not regulated closely, can get hot enough to burn your snake. I ask the direct hot spot temps on the hot side over the UTH because sometimes it doesn't seem that hot to us but can be possible burn-hot to a snake. I use a temp gun to show my direct hot side temps, though some use a digital thermometer with a probe over the hot side (which you might have).

Here's a good example of how you should set up your hot side. On top in a thermometer probe to tell me the temp for the heating pad directly, then right under it, on the other side of the glass is the thermostat probe, which controls the heating pad and should be located in the center of the pad!!!! I ended up hot gluing the thermometer probe to the glass because as some warned me, they burrow here and tend to move it so the glue holds her in place!!!!

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