Teenage Newbie

Hello fellow reptile-lovers~ I received my first snake (a female BP) about four months ago and since then I've been Googling just about everything I have observed. Most of what I found was from this site and after a long time of thinking I've decided to join this site because I know I could use some pointers.

"Rarity," is around 18 inches now and around 7-8 months old. She is fed a single mouse (don't know the term for the mouse she eats, have a bad picture of one) about every six days or so. Her tank contains three hides (warm side, cool side, and middle) as well as a 12 inch water bowl that is held slightly around the area of her heat lamp. Her humidity has been kept at a constant 52% and her temperature on the warm side hovers around 90F.
I have noticed something about her shedding though, it doesn't come off in one solid piece like it should. Instead it comes off in bits and pieces. She just came out of a shed a few days ago and from what it looks like she is going into shed again already (?).





http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...81951856_n.jpg

Welcome! If you bump the humidity a bit it should help with the shedding issue. Aim for ~60% ambient humidity and having an even more humid hide(damp paper towels or sphagnum moss) isn't a bad idea.

Welcome to the site. I agree that you should bump up your humidity to at least 60% during shed (I shoot for 70% myself)

Check out these 2 threads:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...04#post1845904

You should be feeding your BP a rodent that is about the same size as the widest part of your BP every 4-7 days. Having a set feeding schedule is a very good idea.

You can also determine rodent size based on weight. A young ball Python should eat rodents that weigh 15% of the snakes body weight

So a 100 gram BP should eat a 15 gram rodent (100 grams x 0.15 = 15 grams)

Thanks to the both of you~. I have tried doing some of the suggested things for humidity (covering the screen of the tank 3/4 of the way and upped my water bowl's size) and it does little to nothing for it. Should I downsize her tank size just for shedding? I can try to mist it often, but it will fail when school starts again in September seeing as I am the only one to take care of her.

I don't know if your picture is just distorted or what but your snake looks really too thin to me. She should not have that pointed triangular look to her.

You definitely want to feed her a larger prey item.

Yeah that picture is a bit too old now (around a month). Since then I have fed her 2 of the mice a week because she wouldn't show interest in the larger prey.

She looks like she could take down a rat fuzzy.

Another suggestion that I didn't see up there was giving a "humid hide" similar to what leopard gecko keepers like to add.

Just get some sphagnum moss from Petco or some other pet store, and a large plastic container with a lid. Make sure it's big enough for the snake to go inside. Stuff it with damp sphagnum moss and leave it there during a shed cycle. That helped me when I was using a 40 gallon tank....

Alternately, I would definitely look into some of the tub setups that we have on this forum :gj:.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...e-Basics-*DUW*

You said you feel it may be going into shed again a few days after finishing one. Can you explain why you think that a bit more?

Are the eyes cloudy? Is the belly pink? Is the body 'blue'?

All of these?

They can all be indications of other problems - not to freak you out - just curious what leads you to believe it's entering a shed a few days after another. They don't really do that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by L.West

I don't know if your picture is just distorted or what but your snake looks really too thin to me. She should not have that pointed triangular look to her.
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Actually, that pointed triangular look is what a normal wild ball python looks like. This is their natural shape. The ones that we have in captivity tend to look round because they are fed very well. Maybe a little too well sometimes.

For shedding issues, I've found that a humid hide (the one on the warm side) works well. Just a plastic box, (shoe box, sweater box, whatever is the appropriate size) half filled with damp (but not soaking wet) sphagnum moss will pretty much take care of shedding issues. You really don't have to worry about the percentage of humidity.

@MrLang- What I meant was that her skin is coming off again. I didn't see "blue" eyes nor the pink belly, the only sign that showed was the dulling of her skin. After the shed she stayed her normal bright-ish color, but about four days after this started happening. I'll try to get a picture of it today since she struck at me last night (probably because it was kind of dark in the room).

I noticed it around the tail area where BPs normally start shedding. Could she be shedding again because her eye-caps hadn't come off? The day I had chosen to assist in taking them off she "decided" to shed again.

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And about the tub ideas, I think I might actually take what money I have saved up and go out to buy the needed materials. The most expensive thing will be the heat pads since I already have a thermostat.

Try Glad Press N Seal on the screen top cages. Works better than absorbant towels, in my opinion

How long did the process of skin coming off did the previous shed take?

They start shedding from the tip of their snout, by the way, by rubbing their lip until that skin breaks free first. For a 'good shed' the entire process from the first scale on their lip lifting up to the last scale coming off the tip of the tail only takes about an hour. With a bad shed, one of the problem areas you want to look at is whether or not all of the skin between the vent and the tip of the tail is removed. If left too long, it can shrink and 'choke' the tail.

I would not advise attempting to remove eye caps unless you are certain that there are more than 1 or 2 there, at which point a vet visit is much more appropriate that removing them yourself.

I support the humid hide idea. I had perfect sheds all winter at 40% ambient humidity simply by adding a tupperware full of sphagnum moss with a hole in it to the enclosure half way over the heat pad when their belly turned pink and removing it when the shed was done.

@MrLang- I think the shed took around five days give or take a day. Her vent has never had skin left around the area since her shed has been starting at the tail and not the head (?). I have seen her rubbing the tip of her lip/nose area against her substrate occasionally and on this climbing tree.

Also, I accidentally missed her last feeding day (was out camping) so should I feed her two mice instead of one the next time she feeds?

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Originally Posted by Jordan Liz Harwood

Also, I accidentally missed her last feeding day (was out camping) so should I feed her two mice instead of one the next time she feeds?

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Hello, and :welcome: to BP.net. If you missed a feeding day, just wait until the next scheduled feeding day, and feed a regular prey. Don't try to make up for a missed meal, just continue on with the schedule...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jordan Liz Harwood

Her vent has never had skin left around the area since her shed has been starting at the tail and not the head (?)

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Sheds start at the head as stated; if your BP is shedding tail first then you have the world's first!

Congrats on the BP and I hope you have a lot of luck with her.