Help a newbie facing his first shed?

Hello awesome people and fellow snake lovers!

I got my first snake about 10 days ago, fed her her about 5 days ago and for the the last 48 hours she has not moved a single inch. I have been doing a lot of reading on the forums here lately, and coupled with the research I did before getting her, I suspected she was going into shed. Well today while changing the water in her tank and tried to sneak a peek in her hide (without touching or disturbing her of course) and boy are her eyes blue lol!

So as this is the first time I am going through this process, do you have any tips, things I should watch out for or past experiences you are willing to share with this here newbie?

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of snake keeping!!

The best advice I can give you at this point is to bump humidity, make sure there's fresh water available and leave the snake alone while she goes through her shed cycle.

The process can take as little as 5-6 days or as long as 2 weeks +.
Your snake will likely spend the entire time hidden, since their vision is comprised and they feel vulnerable.
All you can really do (aside from providing proper husbandry) is wait it out.

Once her eyes clear she'll appear "normal", as in shiny and new, eyes not clouded, etc... and will likely shed somewhere between 2 and 10 days after the eyes clear.

Hopefully, it's a complete shed (likely accompanied by a poop) and you're good to go. If not, ask questions and well help you out from there.

Good kuck!! Keep us posted.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of snake keeping!!

The best advice I can give you at this point is to bump humidity, make sure there's fresh water available and leave the snake alone while she goes through her shed cycle.

The process can take as little as 5-6 days or as long as 2 weeks +.
Your snake will likely spend the entire time hidden, since their vision is comprised and they feel vulnerable.
All you can really do (aside from providing proper husbandry) is wait it out.

Once her eyes clear she'll appear "normal", as in shiny and new, eyes not clouded, etc... and will likely shed somewhere between 2 and 10 days after the eyes clear.

Hopefully, it's a complete shed (likely accompanied by a poop) and you're good to go. If not, ask questions and well help you out from there.

Good kuck!! Keep us posted.

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Hey Craig! Thanks again for the welcome.

I did bump the humidity up to around 80% following what I read online. For now it's just a waiting game I guess.

As above :)

One thing I do is start spraying two or three times a day as soon as you notice the eyes have cleared up , the colour returns and it starts moving again evenings ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KareemDaDream

Hey Craig! Thanks again for the welcome.

I did bump the humidity up to around 80% following what I read online. For now it's just a waiting game I guess.

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Hahahaha, I realized after I already sent it and it was too late to edit that I've welcomed you already. Hahaha, but welcome again!

You sound like you're all set with your humidity, so yeah, now you play the waiting game.

With my corn snake, I feed him right through shedding and blue because he's never refused a meal. With my BP, should I offer while he's shedding or hold off once I see blue until shed is complete?

Doesn't hurt to offer. I'll usually offer and more than not get a feeding in, sometimes they pass and so be it.
That said being new may not hurt to wait until it's cleared up at least.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ryknoll3

With my corn snake, I feed him right through shedding and blue because he's never refused a meal. With my BP, should I offer while he's shedding or hold off once I see blue until shed is complete?

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How much will it bother you to throw away food? I'd wait until after the shed, personally. They won't starve...it's normal & what they do in the wild.
Some will eat while in shed, many won't. Why bother? Many snakes are over-fed in captivity too, & that can make them fussy eaters (-not fun).

She is done!! Took about a week, during which she did not move an inch from her hiding spot but she is done. The whole shed came off in one piece (picture below) and the minute it was all off she reverted back to her usual exploring self.
The whole thing threw off my feeding schedule though but I think I'll feed her tomorrow.

Full shed picture :
http://imgur.com/a/Hor0w5w

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KareemDaDream

She is done!! Took about a week, during which she did not move an inch from her hiding spot but she is done. The whole shed came off in one piece (picture below) and the minute it was all off she reverted back to her usual exploring self.
The whole thing threw off my feeding schedule though but I think I'll feed her tomorrow.

Full shed picture :
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach....com/a/Hor0w5w

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Ok for some reason the picture did not appear in the previous post so lemme try again.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/sJzl6D0.jpg