BP stopped mid-shed?

Hey, so my BP is going through his first shed with us. He was doing great and managed to peel the skin down off his neck and was working on his nose/face, but then he just went and hid for the rest of the night. Now this morning he hasn't made any more progress and isn't nosing around his rough hides anymore, he's just hiding or exploring a bit.

Humidity is hovering between 65-70%, and I'm misting periodically and placing a hot wet towel over the terrarium to keep the humidity up. I usually keep the humidity at exactly 50% but since he's shedding I know it's better to keep it higher. Temp is 85 at the hot side, ambient temp of 70. This is a bit low I know, and I'm still waiting on the damn bulb to come in the mail so we can improve this.

So my question was if this is okay or normal for BPs to shed rather slowly? Should we assist him with a warm bath? I know that isn't always a good thing and can sap the oils out of their skin that they need for shedding. Thanks!

Some of them are just plain lazy. :P

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...heddingpic.JPG


Or get scared/ distracted and go hide. :rolleyes:

The temps are a bit low as you know, but yeah. Some just require assistance. So me personally, id give it a day or two and if it has stuck shed, I'd just give it a 30 minute soak with a towel in the water (for it to rub on) and it should come right off.

That being said, all my ball pythons are tub snakes and they never ever have an issue with a complete shed. I keep their humidity around 68-70 at all times.


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I got tired of waiting for the bulb so I went out and got a hotter bulb so temps will be perfect. His chin piece came off, and his skin is looking a bit dehydrated(kind of pinched around his sides and such) so I'm doing a quick 10 minute soak in a box with just a wet towel. He hid for several days straight so I think he ended up dehydrated. I'll update on how he does!

Thanks for the suggestions!

If your humidity is good, he's not dehydrated. ;)


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Good to know. I'm a worrier so when I saw his skin get wrinkly I panicked a bit, lol. He's starting to shed off some other pieces slowly. I think he's just a lazy snake and is taking his time. It'll be something to get used to, my corn sheds like lightning so this is a change.

It's not a lazy snake. Raise your humidity and he will shed within the hour I bet. And if he doesn't, just put some wet moss in his hide. And if that doesn't work, soak him. :)


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Did it finish the shed?

If your humidity is really 50% most of the time it should not be having an issue shedding. If it is having trouble Id say there is a good chance the gauge you have is really off.

When you figure out which bulbs you need to keep the temps good make sure you buy two or three to have as back ups. Ive seen several threads over the years of people with no back up and their heat bulb burns out after hours on a holiday weekend. With a few on standby you will never have that problem.

It's very possible my gauge is off. It's reading at 65% today. Every night I cover his tank with a towel sprayed with warm water, after misting the bedding a bit. I'm also using a plastic tub so humidity ideally shouldn't be a problem, but I'll buy another gauge to make sure. I would be surprised if the humidity was much lower than 50%, but you never know. :)

For now he's soaking in room temp water in a sealed plastic box. He's made a bit more progress but not much. He definitely looks dehydrated, his skin is very pinched and wrinkly around the sides, unless that's normal for bps in shed. I'll update with a picture after his soak if the shed doesn't come off after that.

And will do KMG. I have another 100w coming in the mail, and two 60w just in case. I'll make sure to keep a supply!

Oh, and temps are great now. Ambient is about 80, hot spot of 90. :D

A very simple fix I started using years ago is adding moist moss to the hides. This will create higher humidity in the hides which is where the snake usually is. Doing this you do not have to worry about the total humidity of the tub.

Good job stocking up on what you need.