Baby ball stuck in shed

Hi everybody I’m new to the forum....
I recently acquired a baby ball Python. The day after I bought him he went into shed. I know his humidity wasn’t good prior to that(was at an expo) and he was a little dehydrated.

I attempted to help him shed, I soaked him and did the usual recommendations. He shed is still “stuck” Is there an amount if time you should wait before assisting them shed? He started Monday it’s now Friday.... humidity in the tank is around 70 consistently.

Try putting a moist, rough rag/cloth on your hand and let him/her pass through it, thid method seems to work for nost if the people on this forum.

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Originally Posted by Tonald Drump

Try putting a moist, rough rag/cloth on your hand and let him/her pass through it, thid method seems to work for nost if the people on this forum.

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I did. It seems really stuck in some places. Don’t want to injure him either. That’s why I asked if there was a certain amount of time to wait before assisting. Maybe its “not readyl yet to come off. I don’t know

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Originally Posted by Nickd191

I did. It seems really stuck in some places. Don’t want to injure him either. That’s why I asked if there was a certain amount of time to wait before assisting. Maybe its “not readyl yet to come off. I don’t know

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To be honest, I'm not sure. My BP has obly shed twice and they were both perfect and fully intact. Maybe ask a veteran like SDA, Godzilla78, Sauzo, and others.

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What do you mean stuck in shed? As in there are pieces of shed stuck to him or he has not completed shedding yet? The answer to that will help determine if you should assist or not and just instead wait for hi to actually finish shedding.

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Originally Posted by SDA

What do you mean stuck in shed? As in there are pieces of shed stuck to him or he has not completed shedding yet? The answer to that will help determine if you should assist or not and just instead wait for hi to actually finish shedding.

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It was in pieces. Good news the second try soaking and assisting worked great. The first try it seemed like it was glued to him even after soaking. Gave him another day and it worked on the second try. 😁

Good to hear! Just remember, as soon as they start to go into shed (their bellies turn pink usually) that's the time to either get he humidity up to 60-70% or put in a humid hide box to help shed.

Boosting humidity sky high worked for me when I got my first dehydrated snake. Wet paper towels, misting the substrate, moisture in hides.

Humidity is less important with getting a snake to shed properly than hydration. Make sure you do your daily water changes (in the evening if you can). The snake will drink the water when it's fresh, snakes are kind of like us in that they don't care for stale water unless they are dying. Just because you don't see them drinking doesn't mean it's not. Check your temps as well. In some locales the 90 recommended hotspot can be dropped down a few degrees as long as it doesn't affect your ambients too much and this will allow the snake to metabolize water more slowly meaning it's more hydrated.

Secondly, in regards to stuck sheds. Its happened to the best/pretty much most of us when we were starting out. I've found the best method is to take a hand towel and get it wet with warm water. Wring it out a bit, then put the towel and your snake into either a pillow case or perhaps an extra small tub/critter keeper. This forces the snake to crawl through the wet towel which is rough and grips the dry shed skin very well. Leave it in the pillow case or tub for about 20 minutes or so, you can repeat this once a day for a few days.

Pulling shed skin off of a snake is incredibly stressful and can actually cause scale damage if you don't do it right or if it isn't loosened enough.

Anyways, congratulations on your new snake and good luck!