WTF happened? Bad Shed...

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Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

I have never found it necessary to intervene before a specimen has attempted to shed, but I am also fortunate to live in an area with decent humidity and am pretty good at keeping my cage humidity up so yes I can see why someone would intervene in that time frame. Thanks for going into more detail, I wanted to keep it simple since Pythonminion nailed it down pretty good, but further clarification is always good.

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Originally Posted by Badgemash

Very close, but your timeline is slightly off. "Blue" refers to the period when fluid builds up beneath the currently exposed eye scale, and the fresh one beneath it making the eye appear cloudy or bluish. The fluid build up is thought to help loosen the skin prior to shedding. After going "blue" (which is usually 5-7 days after the first signs of pink on the belly) the fluid recedes and the eye will appear normal again, in fact the whole animal looks pretty normal, it may be slightly dull or dark, and feel a bit rougher to the touch, but generally normal. 2-4 days AFTER coming out of blue is when you would expect to see the actual sloughing off of the skin. If they pass that time frame without shedding, that is when you want to start thinking of intervening. If they manage a partial shed (like you say with small bits) then it can safely be left until the next shed. If there is a complete circle of retained skin skin around the neck it has to be addressed before then as this could interfere with feeding, or retained eye caps since they won't be able to see very well.

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Just for clarification in my response...I should really be more detailed with quotes...

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Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

Just for clarification in my response...I should really be more detailed with quotes...

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You guys are awesome thanks. don't worry he's never tried to shed in blue. thanks again guys I think it's time for me to start a new thread

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Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

Just for clarification in my response...I should really be more detailed with quotes...

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WHOA! The bold bits you posted in post #101 are WAY off base! First of all, adding your own opinion in the middle of a quote from another member is a REALLY bad idea! Someone reading YOUR addition to a quote could very easily attribute YOUR opinion to the quoted member. Don't EVER "intervene" with an animal who has not already shed! NEVER!

Seriously man...I'm not trying to be a jerk, and I mean this in the most polite way possible, but maybe you should consider not giving advice for a while? I know you're just trying to help, and I think that's awesome, but I won't lie to you. You're starting to scare me a little. You've had a few posts lately that were downright dangerous. Again, I'm not trying to bust your chops. I'm just looking out for these animals, AND their keepers.
You have to understand, not everyone here has a huge collection of breeding stock. The majority of the members here have one or two animals, and we get almost ridiculously attached to them. They're family. If one of those snakes dies it's going yo be devastating. Plus, you obviously care about the wellbeing of all of our little monsters. If one of them was harmed, it would be pretty rough on you too, right?

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If a snake sheds poorly, that's a sign that the humidity is too low no matter what the hygrometer says.

I'll be honest, I've quit using hygrometers years ago. I've learned to adjust my humidity based on how well my snakes' shed. I haven't had a single shedding issue since.

Ghana's average humidity is in the 90s. So don't be afraid to give your snake a lot of humidity. Just make sure you have good airflow because stagnant air and high humidity are not a good combo.

If your snake has a poor shed, put it in a warm damp pillow case. The movement of slithering through the case will remove whatever shed he has left. Its a lot less stressful on the snake than giving it a bath since ball pythons are not fond of water.



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Originally Posted by satomi325

If a snake sheds poorly, that's a sign that the humidity is too low no matter what the hygrometer says.

I'll be honest, I've quit using hygrometers years ago. I've learned to adjust my humidity based on how well my snakes' shed. I haven't had a single shedding issue since.

Ghana's average humidity is in the 90s. So don't be afraid to give your snake a lot of humidity. Just make sure you have good airflow because stagnant air and high humidity are not a good combo.

If your snake has a poor shed, put it in a warm damp pillow case. The movement of slithering through the case will remove whatever shed he has left. Its a lot less stressful on the snake than giving it a bath since ball pythons are not fond of water.



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I prefer a warm damp towel. Slightly more abrasive. You could put the towel IN the pillow case.

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Originally Posted by patientz3ro

I prefer a warm damp towel. Slightly more abrasive. You could put the towel IN the pillow case.

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That works as well. I've always prefer either instead of a soak. The snakes seem more calm and less stressed.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

That works as well. I've always prefer either instead of a soak. The snakes seem more calm and less stressed.

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Ajja's first shed after I got her was a little, um... Less than perfect. I had read that soaking was helpful, and that the water should be slightly warm to the touch and only about halfway up the side of her body. I decided to err on the side of caution, and only make it 1/4 of the way up. Clearly she knew I was a nervous new parent, and decided to have some fun at my expense. No matter what I did, she managed to get her nostrils under water. I don't know if you've ever seen a hatchling python blow bubbles out of her nose, but I can assure you it's not NEARLY as amusing as it sounds.

It didn't seem to bother HER, but it stressed ME out enough to keep me from ever trying it again. Now she has a fogger and a hygrostat, and I have normal blood pressure again.

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Originally Posted by patientz3ro

No matter what I did, she managed to get her nostrils under water. I don't know if you've ever seen a hatchling python blow bubbles out of her nose, but I can assure you it's not NEARLY as amusing as it sounds.

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My snake has done this to me as well. I freaked out a bit. Still hesitant to stick him in any sort of pool of water that he can't get out of easily.

EDIT: This was more of an afterthought, but do BP's know how to swim instinctively? Or do they need to learn like some humans?

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Originally Posted by ViperSRT3g

My snake has done this to me as well. I freaked out a bit. Still hesitant to stick him in any sort of pool of water that he can't get out of easily.

EDIT: This was more of an afterthought, but do BP's know how to swim instinctively? Or do they need to learn like some humans?

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I've never tested the theory, but ALLEGEDLY they're excellent swimmers. As heavy-bodied as they are, though, I'm not testing that claim. I can't recommend anyone else try it either. Either way, I'm not 100% sure, so maybe someone else can weigh in?

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I'm tempted to fill the bath tub with a little bit of water and see if he can navigate properly haha. That way at least it's shallow enough that he can't drown and I can still save him in case he flounders.

Yes, they can swim.

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Originally Posted by brettliff

Yeah he never shed in blue. But I had clearly dried his tail out

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Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

Then I would give that tail a heavy misting and see how it goes.

What Pythonminion is saying, correct me if I am misinterpreting you man, is that "blue" is the snake's natural physiology designed to aid the shedding process....do not fix what is not broken...intervention is only needed when you observe retained skin post blue, which is the case here with the tail. It's the reason why many people will let small bits of retained skin stay on until next shed simply because in the end, nature knows best. If it ends up being stubborn, just let it go and focus on your humidity like we discussed earlier

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This is what is referred to as 'going into blue' and is the part of the shed cycle where a milky fluid builds up in between the old layer of skin and the new, developing area. (ᴘɪᴄ ɴᴏᴛ ᴍɪɴᴇ.) Any old skin that is removed during this time will lead to an injury, and some ignorant people who peel it off because they were impatient had ended up essentially skinning their snakes, or so horror stories have been told. I can confirm it though, because my Boots has somehow shed a small piece off and it did bleed before healing up into scale-less skin. I do not recommend tampering with snakes during this time, and I've personally had my best sheds occur when the snake is left alone, the substrate saturated, and the tank/container set up to retain humidity. (Tubs naturally retain moisture but screen lids of vivs should be covered with foil.)
If you want a snake to remove stuck shed, you can do one of two things, or both:
1. Raise the humidity, such as described above.
2. Carefully remove it yourself. (this should be considered an art within itself, as it's a lot of trial and error on your part.)

Edit: This:

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Originally Posted by satomi325

If a snake sheds poorly, that's a sign that the humidity is too low no matter what the hygrometer says.

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Originally Posted by patientz3ro

I've never tested the theory, but ALLEGEDLY they're excellent swimmers. As heavy-bodied as they are, though, I'm not testing that claim. I can't recommend anyone else try it either. Either way, I'm not 100% sure, so maybe omeone else can weigh in?

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Dude Steve swims. Really well and seems to love it, despite their weight they are still less dense than water so they can rise to the surface with minimal effort

They can swim!!! Steve is a young Michael Phelps

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Originally Posted by brettliff

Dude Steve swims. Really well and seems to love it, despite their weight they are still less dense than water so they can rise to the surface with minimal effort

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I may be wrong about the density but a glass of water is heavier than a glass of Steve. Lol

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Originally Posted by brettliff

I may be wrong about the density but a glass of water is heavier than a glass of Steve. Lol

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I don't have any glasses of Steve at the moment to verify, but you're spot on about the density. For the most part, anyway. Bone is denser, and most of a glass of Steve actually IS water. When you factor in lung and other organs, it averages out to less density.

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Originally Posted by pythonminion

This is what is referred to as 'going into blue' and is the part of the shed cycle where a milky fluid builds up in between the old layer of skin and the new, developing area. (ᴘɪᴄ ɴᴏᴛ ᴍɪɴᴇ.) Any old skin that is removed during this time will lead to an injury, and some ignorant people who peel it off because they were impatient had ended up essentially skinning their snakes, or so horror stories have been told. I can confirm it though, because my Boots has somehow shed a small piece off and it did bleed before healing up into scale-less skin. I do not recommend tampering with snakes during this time, and I've personally had my best sheds occur when the snake is left alone, the substrate saturated, and the tank/container set up to retain humidity. (Tubs naturally retain moisture but screen lids of vivs should be covered with foil.)
If you want a snake to remove stuck shed, you can do one of two things, or both:
1. Raise the humidity, such as described above.
2. Carefully remove it yourself. (this should be considered an art within itself, as it's a lot of trial and error on your part.)

Edit: This:

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I certainly appreciate the time your taking to respond buy I hope you realize I'm fully aware of what blue Is, ball-python.net's care sheet is the one I use and plus all the separate reading I've done on specific subjects of his care and tReatment.
But I have his water bowl sitting on top of a ten gallon uth. The uth isnot in th cage with him though obviously. Patient zero has sent me a thermostat! Everyone give him some rep for real.

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Originally Posted by patientz3ro

I don't have any glasses of Steve at the moment to verify, but you're spot on about the density. For the most part, anyway. Bone is denser, and most of a glass of Steve actually IS water. When you factor in lung and other organs, it averages out to less density.

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Perfect! But yeah I rarely draw him a bath deeper than him but occasionally I will (with a super sharp eye on him of course) and he will slowly make laps around the tub. But I wouldn't leave him to long because if he doesn realize he can rest on his coil and relax then he might become fatigued and then you know what can happen next

Hfhhhh