Shedding concern

I bought my first ever BP recently from a pet store that I feel (after going there rather often recently) is not the most suitable snake vendor around, but not terrible or negligent. I was sold a "male" (vet appt to determine everything for me since I am newbie).

I have had him since about mid June and he has been an AWESOME feeder - eatting every time without problem and feeding on fuzzies well.

I noticed all of a sudden that he started to get "wrinkly" almost as if there was too much skin for his body. About a week ago I woke up to find that he had spent the evening in his tree shedding. The shedding was partial and coming off in small bits and pieces. I left him alone and have not fed him during this time. He has been very very active - more so than normal.

Today I did some research (how I ended up here) and gave him a luke warm bath and made sure there were no shed scales or anything else in his tank (I usually clean his living area bi-weekly). He seems fine but still has the skin on the upper part of his body refusing to come off and one of his eyes has scale still over it.

Should I be doing something else to help this?

Why did he not shed in one whole piece?

Sorry to be longwinded but I am uncertain of the correct terms, vocab etc.

I appreciate your time and patience with a new snake owner.

Kind regards,

Phillip

what is the humidity at in there? also the temps.

It sounds like your humidity is too low. You need to get the humidity between 50-60%, and you need to be accurately measuring it. Go to Walmart or other such store and go to the outdoor thermometer section and pickup a thermometer/hygrometer. Get one that measures two temps (inside and outside = hot and cool side of tank) and humidity. Do NOT use those dial and strip things, they stink. Yes you need to try and get the retained shed off. Put about an inch of water (luke warm) in a shoebox rubbermaid, put snake in and put top on. Then place the container on the warm side (make sure your warm side temps do not exceed 94 degrees) and leave for one hour. Then gently wipe off shed, and if it doesn't all come off repeat the next day. If you have any other questions or if I missed one just ask!

I bought one of those terrarium humidity guages and temp gauges - as of right now the temp is 83F and the humidity is 50.

I went to a more specialized dealer tonight and he recommnded a heat lamp on top of terrarium sitting on the mesh top - he gave me a Sun Glo Neodymium Daylight
lamp at 100W. IT is incredibly hot and seems to hot (I have a 30g Long tank). PLacing it on top pushes the temp up to 95F and pushes the humidity down to where it is now at 50.

I have the hide and the heat lamp at the left end of the tank with a tree to the right of it and at the far other end I have a wide water dish. The floor is astro turn type material for reptile tanks.

I fed him tonight and he ate well. I read somewhere that covering half the tank top with something increases the humidity also.

1. What is best way to increase humidity?
2. Should I use the 100W broad spectrum daylight spot lamp?
3. If yes to 2 is 95F too hot?
4. Have you heard of all natural snake oil by Benson and Sons and is it wise to use?

Sorry for all the questions, but I continue to research.

Thanks so much.

Phillip

I think if you invest in one of those digital therm/hygrometers that was mentioned above, you'll find those guages are not very accurate. When in shed, you want to bump your humidity up to about 70% (more experienced ball keepers, correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, here's a picture of the one you can get at WalMart in the hardware department for $15. And that bulb is just going to suck more humidity out of the enclosure.


https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...esAccuRite.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Phillip

1. What is best way to increase humidity?
2. Should I use the 100W broad spectrum daylight spot lamp?
3. If yes to 2 is 95F too hot?
4. Have you heard of all natural snake oil by Benson and Sons and is it wise to use?

---

1. Ditch the lamp as that actually dries out the enclosure. Most people use an UTH (under tank heater) to keep the hot side temps around 92 and the cool side temp around 82. UTHs also don't reduce humidity as much as a lamp. You can mist to up the humidity also I've known people who cover part of the tank to keep moisture in as well. Normal humidity should be 50 - 60% but during shed should be upped to 70%.
2. Probably not
3. Better to drop your warm side to 92
4. Nope, sorry no help here...

Go ahead and check out the caresheet on the forum. It will answer a lot of questions. Good luck!

The way I increase humidity for great sheds is to put the water dish over the heat source (Under tank heat) right as the snake goes blue and then leave it there until it sheds. Wendy is dead on, ditch the overhead bulb heating. Creates an extremely dry environment. 92-95 is fine. I have never heard of snake oil, but would never trust something that has the same name as is given to magic potions that do nothing.

Jamie

I appreciate your replies. The "snake oil" was recommnded by the pet store "snake guy" as something he has used in the past to treat snakes he receives from individuals as unwanted and which are haing shedding problems as a result of poor past care. It is a combination of: Safflower oil, sweet almond oil, wheat germ oil, avocado oil, tea tree oil, and neem oil. It says, "for skin problems from cuts, scrapes - mites - bites" and is reommended for healthy reptiles and snakes.

I am doubtful of is usefulness myself, but am not aware of the "do's" and "dont's" in this regard and have always found all natural treatments beneficial in general.

I am for certain going to walmart tomorrow to get on of those digi temp/humi readers - looks awesome - thanks for the pic.

I am also putting in coconut husk substrate tomorrow. At the moment I also have one of those peel and stick heat pads under the hide at the warm end.

What is good to use to clean the tank and its contents?

Any other thoughts for a novice (I did read the care sheet a few mins ago) - I am really taken and excited by my new BP and want to make sure I get things right.

Thanks,

Phillip

I wouldn't bother with that oil stuff. It sounds like a way to suck more money out of your wallet. A good soap and water bath work good for a general clean, and then I disinfect with chlorhexadine spary. It's awesome stuff! No worries with chlorine fumes and pretty cheap. Here's a link to it.

http://www.mgreptiles.com/VIROSAN.html

92-94 is a good range for your hot side, and 82-84 is good for the cool side. You can use plexiglass or plastic wrap to cover up part of the screen to keep in humidity. And don't worry about the all in one piece sheds. If it all comes off then your doing great, and if it doesn't then just do the soaks. It's important to get the eyecaps off and make sure that there is no shed encircling the body. This is a great community and very friendly and helpful. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Our first ball didn't shed well the first time up Phillip but with the advice of these great people we were able to soak it off and adjust our husbandry. Since then both our snakes are shedding completely and unassisted. Sometimes it comes off in one piece or a big shed ball, sometimes in a few pieces but the important thing to me is that it all comes off cleanly.

We push our humidity to around 70% (from 50-60%) when we first notice an impending shed (pinkish belly, then dull looking scales & the classic blue eyes) and leave the humidity high until the shed is finished which can take a good week. Their eyes will clear up and they look almost back to normal, then about 48 hours later or so, off comes the old skin and out comes a pretty, shiney snake.

We usually move their water dishes over to the warm side to help boost the humidity and add in a damp hide to the warm side as well. It's just a big margarine container with it's lid on, flipped over and a hole cut in it for an entrance, lined with damp (not wet) papertowels or spagnum moss. One of our snakes will use a humid hide, the other won't.


~~Jo~~