Odd behavior.

Well, we have had our BP going on the second full week now, and after waiting a few days to handle her after feeding she felt a bit stiff in our hands, not as fluid moving, and her head was moving from side to side rather quickly. She has been spending a lot of time in her hide, temps and humidity are right. So we put her back to let her relax.

After talking to the guy that had her before us, it had been about three weeks since her last shed, and while I did not want to pick her up to check her belly, the sides where the white mixes into her other colors seemed to be a bit pinkish (ive heard that is a sign that they are going into shed). Her eyes are not yet milky.

Does this sound like a shead, or something else?

When her head was moving like that, was she in a striking position? Sometimes when they're really hungry and ready to strike they'll be tense and sway a bit.

No, she wasn't in a striking position. Her neck was straight and her body curved, but not coiled in our hands. She had just eaten two days prior.

Hiya

Pink belly is a sign that your ball is going to shed shortly, my male shed yesterday and his belly was pink about a week ago, so nothing wrong there.

May be that your ball is not too used to being handled, which is why it feels firm. I've got a young female BP that is not used to being held and she also tenses up when I handle her. She tenses and her belly goes concave when I hold her. She is relaxing a bit now though.

That is my prognosis based on my experience...:gj:

Thanks much.

She gets handled a good bit, and has never really gotten this way before. Maybe she is just digesting her last meal a bit slower than the last time, and that mixed with getting ready to shed made her a bit nervous?

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Originally Posted by Typical_08

Thanks much.

She gets handled a good bit, and has never really gotten this way before. Maybe she is just digesting her last meal a bit slower than the last time, and that mixed with getting ready to shed made her a bit nervous?

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If you think about it, a snake generally takes close to a week to digest a meal. Can you still see where the bump is? Mines the same way, think about eating a big meal then bending over to tie a sneaker or something, not very pleasant lol

Also, I would double check the temps on the warm side just to make sure.

Cheers

I will have to check when I get home. I don't think there was much of a bump to begin with because we went with smaller mice to get her used to taking live prey. I will check everything over again when I get home. Thanks.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the various stickies at the top of each forum, you may find this sticky to be helpful in identifying what part of the shed process your snake may be in:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=74289

Yup, it is a shed. I figured it was, but I wasn't sure if her behavior was part of it. I just got home from work and checked her, and she looks to be in day the second part.