First Shed?

Hey! Well my snake looks like he's getting paler all over and I'm assuming it means he's about to start shedding. I assume I shouldn't be handling him but I just want to make sure I have everything covered, so I'm coming to all of you. Please give me a steps to making sure my snake has a good shed, thank you :D

smack that humidity up to around 75%!

and DO NOT soak him at all, only soak him if he has a bad shed and you can find instructions how to do that here: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hed-No-problem

But lets hope it doesn't get to that.

You will know when he is going to shed if you see his eyes clearing up.

Yep humidty is his friend right now until he sheds. I put a damp cloth in top of my BPs hide to get humidty up during shed times since they stay hidden and don't move very much during the shed cycle.

Alright, so on top of having plastic wrap covering half the screen on top of his cage, I also have a damp towel covering 2/3 of the rest of the opening, leaving a slight gap so air flow is allowed still, but I also have a damp wash cloth over his hide AND I misted the inside of his cage. Any other tips?

Just let him be chilled, stress free i suppose :) make sure that the cage is well ventilated though otherwise it can cause mould etc...

I keep my cage pretty well vented. and it looks like the humidity stopped at 62%, so what else can I do?

Continue to mist until it reaches 70-75 try misting the sides also,

when my ball is in shed I do this:

1. Put Luke warm water in the mist bottle (seems to keep the humidity up for longer)
2. Luke warm damp towel covering half of the tank

and that is it and he has perfect sheds.

or you can even add a spare water bowel and put it on top of the substrate where the hot spot is.

his water dish is always over the heat pad (I have a UTH and a thermostat) and he normally stays on the cooler side, except today he was in his warm hide and when I went to go pick him up for today, his eyes were all glazed with paleness and his scales are a lot paler. So I'm 95% sure he's getting ready to shed, now the humidity is up to 75%, how long can it take for him to shed? and should I not feed him till he has shed? because I fed him on monday and he's normally fed every 4-5 days, which means tommorow XD.

You can feed him almost straight after shed if he will eat, and when my ball shed on the night his eyes cleared up on the day and he shed his skin while I was asleep so basically if his eyes have cleared up he can shed any time soon, but ye humidity is the most important part at the moment.

Don't worry so much about the feeding schedule. Many BPs won't feed during a shed, though some will. Feel free to try. It may be a few days before the shed is complete, it's usually a few days after their eyes clear up. My normal completed her shed last night, 2 days or so after her eyes cleared up. Just keep the humidity up.

So should I try to feed him, or just leave him alone, because feeding without stressing would probably require just doing it in his tank wrather then in his plastic feeding tank I use.

You should really always feed your snake in his cage, cage aggression is just a myth and switching him to a different tub for feeding will be twice as stressful.

But feeding him will be completely your decision :)

Is that true? I've been told both and I have no idea who's right, so is there any accuracy in this 'tank aggression' thing or is it just a myth?

Tank aggression is just a myth. Im telling you that and im 100% confident that im right. Snakes are a bit smarter than most give them credit for and they can certainly tell the difference between a rat and your hand.

Also when you are transferring them to and from a seperate feeding tub you have a better chance of being bit. The snake just finishes eating and is still in feeding mode so when you go to grab him he may think its another rat.

EDIT: im am only speaking from experience with my bps. I know that other species, retics come to mind lol, can be very cage aggressive. Like you slide out the tub and they come flying out ready to pound the first living thing they see lol.

Cage agression is a myth, both of mine are fed in the cages and they're fine. I have two water bowls in my tank and I cover with two towels in case some humidity get's through the first layer.

Ye as above cage aggression is a myth!

when I first got my ball I believed in cage aggression but I joined up on this site and found out it wasn't :)

Ok, so it's been about a week since I noticed my BPs eyes foggy or cloudy, w/e lol. He still hasnt shed so how long can it take? And do I just not handle him? Because I've been leaving him alone so he could do his thing.

Can take up to 12 days:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...edding-Process

So it's safe to handle them? Cuz I was trying to hold him every day to get him used to it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Miles

So it's safe to handle them? Cuz I was trying to hold him every day to get him used to it.

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it is but he might be a little grumpy especially if his eyes are still clouded.

I don't like to mess with any of my snakes that are in shed. He will have plenty of time to "get used to you" when he is not shedding.

Do not mess with him when he is shedding, that is only likely to tick him off. Definately feed him in his enclosure. You also can offer food when shedding. Many of mine will eat in shed, just not blue. My little piggy bee though, will eat in deep blue. She has never missed a meal. It can't hurt to offer.

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