Baby BP Wrinkly & Dry.

I don't know what to do.


I've had my baby BP for less than two weeks. When I got him, I thought he was a bit thin for his size and he had slight wrinkles. He is 3 months old and about 90g (he was 82g when I first got him) so he's a gained a little bit of weight. He is on a 5 day schedule so I've fed him twice (both times mice hoppers). He only eats mice. I've tried larger prey and rats, which frightened him. I've also tried doubling the hoppers but he is not interested in seconds. I'm going to try an adult mouse for the next feeding and see how things go. Anyway since two weeks ago:


Sunday: I noticed he had mites!! I was slightly panicked but I followed some steps: Soaked him in warm water then washed his tub in soap and water, rinsed, soaked his tub in bleach solution, then rinsed again. I'm going to do another tub cleaning this coming Sunday when I pick up some Nix or Provent-A-Mite. At this point, he is going into shed as his eyes were getting cloudy.


Tuesday: Fed him even though he was in shed because I figured he needs to gain some weight.


Today: I figured I'd check up on him since it's been almost two days since he ate so I could handle him. When I took him out of his hide, he felt very dry (almost crispy feeling?), his scales looked raised, and he was so wrinkly. :( I haven't seen him out of his hide for a while because I thought he was in shed but he looked dehydrated. I held him over the water bowl and he dipped in to drink some water. He also made a slight wheezing sound. I know he is about to shed because he kept rubbing his head on everything but he can't seem to really get anything to flake off?


His enclosure: 15qt Sterilite tub with UTH and Hydrofarm t-stat. Hot spot 88-92, Cool side 77, Humidity varies from High 70s-High 80s. (Normally around 60%) He is on paper towel substrate, has two identical RBI hides and a water bowl.


Questions:


Is he dehydrated, malnourished, or just shedding?


Is the the wrinkly and dry skin and wheezing normal for a BP about to shed?


He was rubbing his head on everything when I took him out but he hasn't gotten any skin to flake off yet. Is this normal? How long does it take a baby BP to shed? Should I give him something to rub his head against?


Just everything from his weight and the mites and now this shedding thing is really stressing me out. I handle him very minimally but when I'm home, I check his temperatures/humidity just about every half hour. Am I doing something wrong? I feel so worried and stressed and I concentrate on my studies! Can someone give me some advice on what I should do? :tears:

Thank you everyone!

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What are you using to measure the humidity? What type of hygrometer?

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Originally Posted by 200xth

What are you using to measure the humidity? What type of hygrometer?

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A digital hygrometer I bought from Petsmart. The two thermometers were also purchased there. Do you think the hygrometer is off?

If it's a digital one it's probably okay.

Might be the mites. They can cause issues with shedding and dry, flaky skin. Get the Provent A Mite as soon as you can.

Until I saw the mites part I was thinking get some moss and put in his warm hide. Now don't do it till you get rid of the mites. Also get a piece of wood again after you get rid of he mites for him to rub against. Wash everything really well then spray with the PAM after you get it. Let the PAM dry before putting him back in. Otherwise you can kill him from the chemicals. You can soak him in warm water with a towel in the bin. Good luck. Mites are a headache.

Wrinkly dry skin is typical of a animal about to shed. Keep the humidity up. Continue to treat mites as planned and keep an eye on his face and tail area when he does shed.

Thank you guys for the advice that you've given me. My baby just had a perfect shed. The dryness and wrinkles was, in fact, a symptom of my BP about to shed. His skin is all smooth- no dryness, crazy wrinkles, or raised scales.


Something else happened: right after he shed, he defecated and a huge white pink-ish bubble came out. I started panicking and looked it up and it seems like his rectum prolapsed. A lot of it has retracted back inside by itself but a tiny bubble remains. I'm hoping by morning it will all go back inside. I have an exam tomorrow morning and I'm going to the vet right afterwards to get him checked out. I'm so sad that this is happening. What am I doing wrong… :(

Things happen. The vet is a good call. Hopefully a visit will get you ok the right track to fixing any health issues

Get the proventamite stat and the wheezing could mean that he has an RTI. the vet will tell you if he does or not.

I live in Canada so none of the stores stock Provent-a-mite here. My best bet is probably the reptile expo coming up in a few days as someone told me that someone sells it there. :(

The wheezing has stopped. It was just from this morning because of the dry skin he was about to shed. Regardless, still going to bring him to the vet tomorrow for the prolapse. :tears: I mixed some sugar solution to put on it for now. 90% of it has retracted back inside (thank goodness) but some of it is still hanging out.