Questions about shed

Okay... So as a lot of you may know I am a noob so I ask a lot of questions... But that's what this site is for right? Anyways so I did some research about shedding and had a few questions

1. Do Ball Pythons eat during shedding? Some sites said they did... some said they do not..

2. How long does the process take? I have seen 7-14 days but Severus is about maybe.. a week and a half in and only the top of his head looks like it's shedding. Does it vary snake to snake? Does it depend on conditions? I was talking to my step dad who's friend used to have a boa and he said the snake took a month to completely shed...

3. I know they become aggressive during shedding and you should not handle them.. but will this make him aggressive in the future? He hasn't tried to bit me yet but I had to fix something in his cage this morning and as soon as I put my hand in there he looked like he was getting into an attack position, watching every move I made carefully.

1. In general, some snakes will eat in shed and others won't. My one bp has eaten and a few colubrids which have eaten while in shed. And others I don't even offer because I know they won't eat. Cupcake eats and sheds seemingly at will, he's an interesting little guy.

2. The shed process takes roughly 7-21 days. Depends on snake and conditions. Sometimes your guy may take a week and sometimes he may take 2-3 weeks. If it starts coming off in pieces, give the tank a good spray down which should help get the rest off in 1-2 days.

3. They are more defensive hence more likely to strike while in shed. They don't see well with cloudy eyes so they want to make sure they don't get attacked/eaten. It won't make him more aggressive personality-wise in the future. Rule of thumb is to kinda treat them like they just came home and settling in. No touching except for water and spot cleaning. Once he gets accustomed to your scent, he may calm down while you are waving your hand around in the tank for small changes.


Do you have a pic of his head for reference. It sounds like he shed but only the skin on his head came off?

I will try and get a picture when I get home today and post it here.
I tried offering food just before I noticed he was going into shed and he didn't take it... should i bother trying to feed him again? It's been a good couple weeks now since he has eaten only because money was tight and I couldn't run to the store and get more mice. When I was able to get mice I got them from petco and they exploded... So it's been a while since he has eaten. He seems alright though..

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Originally Posted by Pyrate81

1. In general, some snakes will eat in shed and others won't. My one bp has eaten and a few colubrids which have eaten while in shed. And others I don't even offer because I know they won't eat. Cupcake eats and sheds seemingly at will, he's an interesting little guy.

2. The shed process takes roughly 7-21 days. Depends on snake and conditions. Sometimes your guy may take a week and sometimes he may take 2-3 weeks. If it starts coming off in pieces, give the tank a good spray down which should help get the rest off in 1-2 days.

3. They are more defensive hence more likely to strike while in shed. They don't see well with cloudy eyes so they want to make sure they don't get attacked/eaten. It won't make him more aggressive personality-wise in the future. Rule of thumb is to kinda treat them like they just came home and settling in. No touching except for water and spot cleaning. Once he gets accustomed to your scent, he may calm down while you are waving your hand around in the tank for small changes.


Do you have a pic of his head for reference. It sounds like he shed but only the skin on his head came off?

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You can wait until after he sheds. He should be super hungry though when you do feed him.

http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/...5/IMG_4155.jpg

To me it just looks like the head is shedding.... Is this normal?

It actually looks like everything's shed except for his head.... The color of his body seems too light to be the color of a snake still with skin over it.....

I just checked the cage to see if I could find any skin... I didn't find any... Could it be possible he is not able to shed?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Inarikins

It actually looks like everything's shed except for his head.... The color of his body seems too light to be the color of a snake still with skin over it.....

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He's just clearing up, you'll find a shed in the next 2-4 days. They go blue, then seem to clear up and look normal again before starting the physical shedding process.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

He's just clearing up, you'll find a shed in the next 2-4 days. They go blue, then seem to clear up and look normal again before starting the physical shedding process.

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This. My snake just finished shedding (as in tonight). She went blue (didn't eat), cleared up (did), then shed.

Then immediately thereafter my other snake went blue. Apparently it's the season.

My experience is it takes 2-4 weeks to shed depending on age, size conditions etc. the only exception is if it is a prelay, then it takes about 2 yrs!!:)


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