How long to hydrate my snake?

Hi, I'm new. Please don't get mad at me, i did my research but i am young and did not focus on humidity requirements. I got my ball python a year ago and since then his humidity has only been 35-45%. I noticed online that ball pythons don't have wrinkly skin like mine. I thought this might be due to it being skinny, but with research, found that i feed the perfect amount and my snake has never skipped a meal. I thought of dehydration and bingo, that was my answer. The snake also takes a long time to shed, and he sheds very small pieces at a time. This prompted further research and i think everything is ok besides the humidity.

Here are my questions:

1. Tomorrow i will cover the top of the aquarium. I read that seran wrap works or a towel with foil taped to it. What is the best method and how much should i cover, 3/4?

2. I should soak him in lukewarm RO water, right? How deep should the water be, and how long should i leave him in it?

3. Will he be scared of the water or will he enjoy it?

4. Can I mix in coco fiber into the substrate (fir bark) to increase humidity?

4. How long should it be before he is fully hydrated if i soak him, cover the top, and mist him regularly?

again, please dont be mad at me. I would never purposefully hurt an animal, and i have learned better now and am trying to fix my mistake. Thank you!!!

It's good that you are trying to help. He is shedding in pieces because ball pythons need more humidity (50-60 %) during shedding ti shed properly.

1: Covering about 3-4th usually works pretty well. Mist the enclosure everyday. A damp towel will also work but may be more of a hassle for you.

2. Soak him for up to 20 minutes in water that he can lay in without having to strain to keep his head up. So like deep enough for him to be mostly submerged. You only need to do this really when he has stuck shed pieces though. Too much soaking isn't good for them.

3. He shouldn't mind if he can sit comfortably. As you could imagine he would be very scared if he had to swim.

4. Yes.

More info about your setup? What are the temps? How are you measuring them? Pics of him/the enclosure? How often are you feeding him?

Welcome to the site!

First off can we get some baseline information?

• What type/size cage do you have
• What are you using to heat the cage
• What are you using to measure temperatures/humidity
• Do you have anything regulating your heat sources?
• What are your current cage temperatures/humidity & where are these measurements being taken?
• A picture of your setup and BP would be very helpful

How to post pictures: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...with-pictures)


1. Tomorrow i will cover the top of the aquarium. I read that seran wrap works or a towel with foil taped to it. What is the best method and how much should i cover, 3/4?

3/4 sounds about right

2. I should soak him in lukewarm RO water, right? How deep should the water be, and how long should i leave him in it?

It doesn't have to be RO water but it does need to be lukewarm.

3. Will he be scared of the water or will he enjoy it?

Most BP's don't like being soaked. Imagine if a giant picked you up and dropped you in the middle of an ocean...

4. Can I mix in coco fiber into the substrate (fir bark) to increase humidity?

Yes you can

4. How long should it be before he is fully hydrated if i soak him, cover the top, and mist him regularly?

Assuming that your BP is in fact dehydrated you should be able to him back to normal in a few days at the most. A 20 minute soak should do the trick, but I'm not entirely sure your BP is dehydrated. BP's get most of the water they need from eating rodents. A cage that has humidity around 35%-45% shouldn't dehydrate a BP at all.

Are you sure you are feeding your BP enough? (can you tell up what you feed and how often?)
When your BP sheds does it all come off?


Here are 2 threads that I highly recommend that you read through carefully, they cover care and cage heating in detail:

Care: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Cage Heating: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

We're not going to shun you because you "made a mistake." That's not what this site is for. Goodness knows we've all made husbandry mistakes at one point or another. The most important thing is that you're asking for help and that's the first step in making sure your snake is happy and comfortable.

Let's start with the snake. I imagine his skin is pretty bad. Could you post a picture? I'd say soak him in luke warm water for about 30mins. He probably won't like it initially (but who knows, maybe he will) but he'll get used to it. Get a cloth or towel damp & let him slither through it while you're holding him. This will loosen up some of that stuck on skin. I know some places you can actually get some sort of solution to put on the snake or in the soaking water to help loosen it up more. I don't have experiences with it, though. The most important thing is his eye caps. If you're inexperienced, don't try to take them off yourself as you could blind him. If you think he has stuck eye caps, take him to the vet. Try & get all the old skin off his body, though.

Now on to the humidity. PERSONALLY, I found glass aquariums to just be way too hard to keep humidity up. All of my snakes are in plastic Sterilite tubs (you can find them at walmart for cheap) with paper towels, a water bowl & hides. Easy peasy. Plastic keeps humidity up naturally, so all I need to do is keep the water bowl on their hot sides and mist once in a while. I've never once had shedding issues (so all my advice is just from what I've read on this site. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong). All but once, I've had complete sheds and I've been keeping snakes for over a year now. I find the tubs way easier to clean & my snakes feel way more secure in smaller, less high enclosures. If you stick with the glass, yes, I'd suggest tin foiling the lid some. How much exactly, I don't know but 3/4 seems okay to me. I'm sure a towel would work too. As for the substrate, I've HEARD that cypress mulch is really good at holding in moisture & keeping humidity up.

Whichever type of enclosure you decide to go with, I would suggest bumping up humidity to about 60-70% for a while. Though, keep in mind, if you have a lot of substrate & lots of things in the enclosure, you could risk things going moldy, which can cause respiratory infections for your little one. This is also a reason why I love plastic tubs. No mold!

I can't tell you how long it will take for him to get hydrated, but in any case, I think you should probably take him to a vet to make sure he doesn't have any old eye caps stuck on his eyes. And from now on, when he sheds, make sure you inspect his old skin just to double check to see if his eye caps have come off as well as the tail end.

Sounds like you're doing all the right stuff, just be careful not to go too over the top with it - too much humidity could lead to respiritory type problems, I wouldnt have thought you'd need to mist him every day once he's better (though it doesnt hurt when theyre obviously shedding)

sterilite type tub with lid
1 1/2 to 2 inches of 88 degree water
hand towel in the water
soak snake for 30 minutes and replenish with more 88 degree water
soak 30 more minutes

The shed should be off by then or easy to remove with a little assistance.

Okay guys, thank you all. I can't figure out pictures, but i think i overreacted last night. The skin is not that bad, only if he makes a sharp turn are the wrinkles visible, and i think he is going into shed because he is getting duller in color. His eyes are normal, not the milky color of eye caps. His tail also Does not have old skin on it. I have mixed In the Eco earth, and covered the top. He is in a 20L which is large for him right now, but i have two hides, one on either end, a log for him to climb, and a water bowl large enough for him to soak in. I have never seen him soak though. The temps on the warm side are 88* near ground level measured by a digital thermometer. On the cool side they are 81* measured by the same thermometer. there is a heat lamp and a UTH, neither are controlled by a thermostat, but the ground is never hot and the Kaa is normally on the warm side so i am not worried about overheating. The humidity could be totally inaccurate as it is measured with one of those cheap gauges. I think the average humidity is 35%. I will buy a better one next time i go to petco. When i looked up feeding schedules, i got mixed answers. I feed mine a mouse 1.5X his circumference at the thickest part. I feed him every 12 days. The mouse is frozen thawed and it is soaked in water to thaw and then i dry it a little with paper towels. Kaa always eats, although he doesn't always seem to hungry, as in sometimes i have to make the Mouse dance and jump around before he takes it. He seems to be about 2 feet long right now.

Let me know if i am doing anything wrong, or if i forgot information. Unless you guys stop me, i plan on bathing him for 20 minutes tonight.

thank you all!!!

#1 and MOST importantly, you absolutely need a thermostat to regulate the UTH. They are known for overheating, which can cause burns & neurological issues in your snake. There's no leeway with this. Get one ASAP & if you can't, turn the mat off until you can. If you're worried about him being cold, put a space heater in the room and keep it at about 85*.

#2) 35% humidity seems a bit low. I'd bump it up to about 50-55% and definitely get a decent gauge to measure it.

#3) Rats are far more nutritional for them than mice. Unless you've been through the ringer & have concluded that he/she won't eat rats, I'd suggest trying to switch over to frozen-thawed rats. Why are you only feeding every 12 days? Do you have a digital gram-scale that you can put him on to get his weight? Normal schedule should be about every 5 days for babies and then every 7 days once they've reached about 500g. This is my way anyway. Are you thawing the rats out in hot hot water? I take the rats out of the freezer a few hours before I plan to feed them. I leave them in their bags on the counter until I know that they're completely thawed & floppy. When I'm ready to feed them all, I'll put all the bags in a container of hot tap water (not boiling, you don't want to cook the rat) & let it sit for about 10 mins. I'll drain the water & repeat again for about 5 minutes before actually offering the rats to my snakes. I like my meals hot, why wouldn't a snake?! :)

Okay, I will buy a thermostat very soon. I am trying to bump up the humidity and will buy a better gauge as well. About the feeding, i fed him every 12 days because i thought that was the right thing, but i guess I've been starving the poor thing as well. I don't have a scale that would be accurate to grams. How often would you feed a snake about two feet long? Also, i had no idea there was a nutritional difference between rats and mice so i will try to switch over. To thaw the mice i leave them in the bag in room temperature water for a while, then i soak them in hot, but not boiling water for ten minutes out of the bag. Ill do some more research on the feeding.

Well I'm sure you're not starving him! If he eats every 12 days consistently, I'm sure he's fine. Wouldn't be any different than a snake refusing a meal one week & taking one the next. Until yesterday, 2 of my snakes were going on 2.5 MONTHS of not eating. Sometimes they're just stubborn. But yeah, every 5 days for babies & then every 7 days for larger sub-adults/adults is good. Give it a try!

A scale is one of the necessities, I'd say. Though it's not MAJOR. I like having one handy for those weeks/months they decide to not eat so I can keep an eye on their weight and make sure they're not losing much, if any. Are you keeping a record of when he eats/sheds/poops (& how much he weighs when you get a scale)? I find this helpful as well. It might not be too hard to remember if you only have one lil guy, but when you have a collection, it's much easier to have something concrete to look at when you're curious about when they shed last or when they pooped last.

I found that soaking the rats directly in water was something my snakes didn't like. Maybe it was because they lost their smell or maybe because they were just wet, but they wouldn't eat them. I used a blowdryer on them one day and sure enough, they took it, the little buggers (though, it could have just as easily meant that they weren't hot enough). If yours takes it wet, awesome! You're lucky haha.