New BP owner blues

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Originally Posted by Quahog

Ah cool! Thanks again for the great suggestion :)!

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No prob! Let us know how it works out!

Okie doke, so I went and got a better infrared thermometer and some small furniture sliders to get better clearance for the bottom of the tub, and so I could attach the UTH underside of the tub. Used handy foil tape and got the UTH onto the tub so now we wait to see if there's improvement in her temps. I also noticed a minor curve to the bottom of her tub when I flipped it. Not sure if it's heat warping or a detail I didn't notice on the RUBS (really useful bin).

There was about a 2 degree different between the New Thermometer (Klein Tools) and the old Ryobi thermometer, so I'm going with the Klein reading. Tub was reading 84-88 on the tub base before I made any changes.

Took out Coco, since I figured flipping over her tub with her in it was a horrible idea. She didn't hiss or strike, though she wrapped around my arm / watch, most likely to get warm. She did a little exploring and some tongue flicking, though still sure she wasn't a happy hatchling.

I placed her hides and water back in, then put her back. She went back behind her cold hide again, so she was not happy...at least I know what scared Coco looks like.

Tonight I'll power down my computer so the lights aren't blasting into her tub and take the towel off.

Fingers crossed that I'm making proper adjustments! Thanks for your help everyone!

Small update on Coco. I kept the hand towel over her tub last night, and I set my lights to Red (Let's here it for Hue lights!) so I could see what she was up to. She was doing some exploring, and then the other times I checked, she had gone from her hot to cold hide and vise versa. Temps are at a steady 88-92 on the hot side, ambient steady at 78-80.

She had a poo and a wee last night, so I put fresh paper towel in. Sidenote: She looks SUPER wrinkly this morning, this look normal? Her skin feels very dry, and so I'm assuming the next day or so she'll shed? her eyes were a bit cloudy earlier in the week and they were clear last night and this morning. It's been very humid this week, and her tub is at 70% humidity now.

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

Umm...I don't own a BP, but I've never seen a snake, even a hatchling, pictured with that much loose skin. She looks dehydrated to me. If no one else chimes in on this thread, because husbandry problems look solved, please post again about this snake's condition. Not an expert, but it doesn't look right to me.

Yeah I figured I'd ask... she didn't feel dry last night, and it's my first shed with a hatchling :(

I gotta run so I'm hoping someone can go into more detail for you, but that looks like a possible stuck shed to me. You may need to set up a sauna for her. Here are links I hope will help in the mean time.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...hed-No-problem
http://wheremyscalesslither.tumblr.c...edding-process
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...edding-Process

When did she last shed? Has her sheds been in one piece? That looks to me like a shed that has not come off yet. I could be wrong but dehydration doesn't really look like that alone. It could be a combination of factors but I think the primary and maybe only reason your ball looks like an old man is because one, she is about to shed or has not had a successful shed and two, she is white and it shows it off more predominantly in that picture.

I just hope this isn't looking at a stuck shed (I am not thinking so). What is the humidity at?

Thanks @MissterDog!

@SDA, I just got her a week ago and noticed her eyes were a bit cloudy earlier this week. She's about a month and half old at this point and this is my first shed with her. I have a reptile basics hydrometer, 70-72% and has been reading this for a couple days. She had a wee and a poo this morning in her hot side, away from the hydro probe.
I contacted the breeder and he mentioned she looked dry, so I'm a bit perplexed on what happened :(. His diagnosis was she's stuck, and that I need to give her a nice soak to help her out.

I have an Accurite thermostat and hydrometer with a wireless probe, so I dropped that into her tub and I'll see if the readings are similar. I've had it in there for about 10 minutes and it says 63%-64%, I'll see what the levels are in a few hours. If the reptile basics one is broken, that could give insight into why she's so dry...poor thing :(.

Thanks for the helpful feedback, much appreciate to help me get these issues fixed!

Make sure when you put her in a tub to soak that you monitor it at all time. Don't walk away as you never know what might happen.

I have had my share of stuck sheds over the years and what always works is luke warm water (80 degrees is a good number giver or take a few) with paper towels on the bottom. Don't fill it more than half way to 2/3 the height of the snake's body. Let them soak for 20-30 minutes and if the shed isn't off by then you can start assisting gently.

In the future a wet/humid hide box solves all these issues.

Snake Discovery has a great video on how to make a humid hide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjBFKkbJrRE

The reptile basics hydrometer is for sure inaccurate, Acurite is reading 60% and the Basics is still at 72%. Earlier in the week it was reading 55%...so that means it was 45%, YIKES! No wonder she's stuck!

Thank you soooooooo much @SDA :)! I'm going to get supplies to make her a wet hide box :)