shedding!!

okay i have had my ball python for about a year and half and he always had a ruff time shedding his skin. i been using aspen bedding for the whole time. just recently i changed over to repti bark and covered half of the terranium lid with a damp towel for about a week when he was going threw the shedding process. well i was shocked when i looked in his tank and saw that he completely shed his skin all in one peice and he never did that before and i was wondering if anybody thinks that switching the substrate was what did it or covering of the lid, what do you think? because i dont like the repti bark i like aspen better but if the repti bark is the reason that he shed by himself rather then me helping him and soaking him i will use it for his benefit..

doing what you did ( damp towel ) increased the humidity , aiding with a complete shed...when shedding , you want about 80% humidity in there .. too dry ...well ya get bad sheds

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Originally Posted by Royal Tartan

doing what you did ( damp towel ) increased the humidity , aiding with a complete shed...when shedding , you want about 80% humidity in there .. too dry ...well ya get bad sheds

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you dont think changing the substrate had anything to do wiyh it

I would have to say yes, the bark has more humidity in the first place and combined with the wet towel, WALA perfect shed! Also you can mist the bark without the worry of any mold growing since it is super resistant to it. Also cypress mulch works good for me as well and it has a better look and feel than the bark IMHO. I have been a lil leary about switching to aspen since it seems so dry to me, i know alot of people swear by it so i am sure i will try it at least once.

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Originally Posted by Sparky1

I would have to say yes, the bark has more humidity in the first place and combined with the wet towel, WALA perfect shed! Also you can mist the bark without the worry of any mold growing since it is super resistant to it. Also cypress mulch works good for me as well and it has a better look and feel than the bark IMHO. I have been a lil leary about switching to aspen since it seems so dry to me, i know alot of people swear by it so i am sure i will try it at least once.

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thats where i at right now, lol. i ran out of reptibark so i picked up a bag of aspen to try ( aspen will live on aspen ). i figure if it dosent work i can always go back to the reptibark but it looks nicer to me than the reptibark

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Originally Posted by clockwork

thats where i at right now, lol. i ran out of reptibark so i picked up a bag of aspen to try ( aspen will live on aspen ). i figure if it dosent work i can always go back to the reptibark but it looks nicer to me than the reptibark

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i used the aspen for a year and half and had bad sheds until i switched over to repti bark and used the wet towel on top of tank and for the first time he shed great. dont think i could go back to aspen.

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Originally Posted by surf4life

you dont think changing the substrate had anything to do wiyh it

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My bad , meant to put bark in the brackets as well ( damp towel/bark ) ...speed typing has its problems ! Soz

thanks for everyones help.:)

I use aspen and generally the snakes all shed just fine. It's not as much about your substrate choice as it is about balancing your enclosure so you get that humidity to the levels that allow for proper shedding. We generally sit about 50%, bumped to 60-70% during shedding cycles.

Given proper conditions snakes will shed correctly. Substrate has little to do with it.