Couple of questions.

First of all my ball will not take food from me.He`s on f/t Fuzzies right now.If i leave it in his cage when i come home from work he has eaten it. IS THIS A PROBLEM? Should i even leave it in the cage? I started doing it because he went 3 weeks without eating and i got worried.

Second when he shed about 3 weeks ago everything came off but his head and eye caps.my temps are good and i was misting the tank every day to keep humidity around 60-70%.Now humidity stays around 50%.I`ve tried the damp pillow case and that didn`t work.Should i just leave it and wait on the next shed?It cant be too far off since its`s been almost a month now.

If he's eating, who cares how he takes it? Eating is eating.

I have a ball who will not take her F/T off tongs: I need to leave it in there with her to eat, so she's like your BP.

For the shed I would wait until next shed for the eyecaps (don't mess with his eyes), and you could have him rub through a damp towel to take the head shed off. Giving him a "bath" could work too to get the shed and eye caps off: just don't boil him (luke warm water at the most).

Yes this is fine. Some are shy or will only eat late at night. As long as its f/t you can leave it overnight and check in the morning.

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Originally Posted by Daybreaker

If he's eating, who cares how he takes it? Eating is eating.

I have a ball who will not take her F/T off tongs: I need to leave it in there with her to eat, so she's like your BP.

For the shed I would wait until next shed for the eyecaps (don't mess with his eyes), and you could have him rub through a damp towel to take the head shed off. Giving him a "bath" could work too to get the shed and eye caps off: just don't boil him (luke warm water at the most).

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Thats what i was thinking! just wanted to make sure. i have tried the towel and a bath.The bath freeked me out cause as soon as i put him in the water he took off to the other end of the tub.water was just barely warm to the touch.I don`t think he likes water too much!

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Originally Posted by mpkeelee

Yes this is fine. Some are shy or will only eat late at night. As long as its f/t you can leave it overnight and check in the morning.

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I work 2nd shift so it`s no problem to try n feed. if he don`t take it i leave it in there and check at 12 in the morning to see did he take it.So far he`s taken it every time so i guess he`s just shy.

Agree with the leaving the food in the cage for him to eat. Would feed and night before bed, and make sure to remove any uneaten food the next morning. Don't want it to sit in there too long, as it can get nasty.

As for the shed and eye caps... Damp towel (then soak if that doesn't work) has always worked for me, except once. Had a rescue that came with eyecaps. Days of soaking and they still did not come off. I was told by my vet to try Mineral Oil (very inexpensive at CVS). After gently applying with a Q-tip a couple times a day for 2 days, she got them off herself and was an extremely happy/grateful snake. After pulling them from the enclosure and insecting them... There were 3 layers/sheds worth of eyecaps on each eye... Poor girl :(

I mention this, as IMO I do not believe waiting until the next shed comes to get them off is the right thing to do. Their vision is affected/reduced with them on, and I dont think it will be any easier for them to come off next time.

Best of luck

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Originally Posted by SinCityBPs

Agree with the leaving the food in the cage for him to eat. Would feed and night before bed, and make sure to remove any uneaten food the next morning. Don't want it to sit in there too long, as it can get nasty.

As for the shed and eye caps... Damp towel (then soak if that doesn't work) has always worked for me, except once. Had a rescue that came with eyecaps. Days of soaking and they still did not come off. I was told by my vet to try Mineral Oil (very inexpensive at CVS). After gently applying with a Q-tip a couple times a day for 2 days, she got them off herself and was an extremely happy/grateful snake. After pulling them from the enclosure and insecting them... There were 3 layers/sheds worth of eyecaps on each eye... Poor girl :(

I mention this, as IMO I do not believe waiting until the next shed comes to get them off is the right thing to do. Their vision is affected/reduced with them on, and I dont think it will be any easier for them to come off next time.

Best of luck

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Thanks I will deffinitally try the mineral oil and see will it work. I really dont want to wait on the next shed eather but im also scared to do anything that might hurt him.

Another tip for eyecaps is the finger condoms they use in kitchens or a rubber thimble. Gently rub the side of their eye and it will peel right off

One layer of stuck eye caps will not hurt him. I would just leave it alone and make sure your humidity is nice and high for the next shed. If you mess with his eyes too much you could end up causing a bigger problem.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

One layer of stuck eye caps will not hurt him. I would just leave it alone and make sure your humidity is nice and high for the next shed. If you mess with his eyes too much you could end up causing a bigger problem.

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X2. Be very VERY careful should You ever need to remove the eye caps. Besides stressing the snake, you could blind or even.. eh, I guess mess up the eye? I don't really know how to explain it but one of my friends made his balls eye dent in. If anyone wants to say what that IA and help me it would more helpful.

A note to the other things you said. Again yes, feeding by leaving the F/T prey inside the cage Is fine. just DO NOT do this with live, especially rats..

On his next shed his eye caps should cone off, if not, then you know were to post looking for more advice! Good luck!

What kind of substrate do you use? I have been told that they could accidentally swallow loose substrate with the prey, which is an issue. If I ever have to leave a prey item in over night, I will put towels down first so the substrate can't get in their mouth.

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Originally Posted by OtterGoRun

What kind of substrate do you use? I have been told that they could accidentally swallow loose substrate with the prey, which is an issue. If I ever have to leave a prey item in over night, I will put towels down first so the substrate can't get in their mouth.

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i use aspen bedding but i have a rock that i put the food on.

If it were an older rodent no way would I tell you that it's ok to leave it in there as long as he eats it. Right now it's fine, once they get to be weanling age and older you need to be careful, but fuzzies aren't going to hurt your snake. I would put the rodent in at night, leave the room, turn off the lights and check back in 30-60 minutes.

As for the stuck eye caps, they can be difficult to get off. If I ever have a stuck shed that I'm worried about getting off I just put the snake in a plastic tub with warm water and a towel. I let them soak in 85-90 degree water for 15 minutes then run the wet towel down their body.

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

If it were an older rodent no way would I tell you that it's ok to leave it in there as long as he eats it. Right now it's fine, once they get to be weanling age and older you need to be careful, but fuzzies aren't going to hurt your snake. I would put the rodent in at night, leave the room, turn off the lights and check back in 30-60 minutes.

As for the stuck eye caps, they can be difficult to get off. If I ever have a stuck shed that I'm worried about getting off I just put the snake in a plastic tub with warm water and a towel. I let them soak in 85-90 degree water for 15 minutes then run the wet towel down their body.

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They are f/t fuzzies. He has been taking them really good now that i started doing it this way.I actually just fed him yesterday put it in came back about 5 min later and it was gone.Never seen him eat that fast! Very happy he is eating good.

I think i`m just going to wait on his next shed to see what happens.Then take further action. I`m scared of hurting him and don`t want that to happen.