Ball Python Super wrinkly before shed

I'm fairly new to ball pythons, I've had my normal female for about 8 months now, and when she goes into shed she normally gets a little wrinkly, but this time it's gotten pretty bad. Her humidity is at 50-60 and then bumped up to 70-75 during a shed.

Is this normal?
She also has little dents on her eyes, which is weird cause she hasn't shed yet to have retained eye caps, and she has plenty of water.
http://i58.tinypic.com/2j4u254.jpg
Also for the heck of it, here she is playing cards with the family.
http://i57.tinypic.com/29zrjn.jpg

Id give her a mist or 2, little dents meant lack of humidity, its not damaging, and goes away with a few squirts or a small sit in water, but your humidty gauge has to be wrong. Aswell they all go "wrinkly" prior to shed.

Okay! Thank you, I'll mist her terrarium.

If its a stick on analog 1, Scrap it and either get a Acu-rite, or well youll eventually learn for your snake, itll be hard to keep 60+ with just paper substrate if you dont mist daily.

so the BP has a nice water bowl with fresh water.

then i dont know. it looks like there is a really big shed coming. and it also looks like the BP recently deflated and/or diminished in size.

what is the feeding situation? how do you feed it?

EDIT: depending on the feeding, if its not just underfeeding, maybe a fecal exam to check for internal parasites is a good idea.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

so the BP has a nice water bowl with fresh water.

then i dont know. it looks like there is a really big shed coming. and it also looks like the BP recently deflated and/or diminished in size.

what is the feeding situation? how do you feed it?

EDIT: depending on the feeding, if its not just underfeeding, maybe a fecal exam to check for internal parasites is a good idea.

---

I feed her one rat pup, every 7 days. And she has never ever refused a meal. She doesn't seem to be losing weight.
Ill monitor her closely and see if once she sheds she goes back to normal.
ill also look into a better humidity gauge for sure

If you've had her 8 months, she should probably be on something bigger than rat pups by now. Do you know how much she weighs? Ideally you want to feed about 10-15% of her body weight every 5-7 days until she's 500 grams. You can also go by width - you want the rat to be the same width or girth as the thickest part of her body.

In the second picture, she looks pretty good, if a bit small for 8 months, but the first picture looks a bit concerning to me. One of ours had two times when he was about to shed when a bit of him was wrinkly, but it wasn't nearly that wrinkly. If she's in a glass enclosure and on paper towels, it's pretty unlikely that the humidity is actually 50-60%. How are you measuring humidity? A stick-on won't be very accurate. As already suggested, I would get a digital Acurite thermometer/hygrometer from Walmart - they're about $12, and well worth it! The one with a probe will measure the temps on the cool side and the warm side, as well as the humidity.

I would definitely get a better hygrometer, and spray the enclosure several times a day until she sheds. You can also switch out the paper towels for a substrate that holds humidity better like cypress mulch or coconut coir/Eco earth, give her a larger water bowl, and if the tank has a screen top, cover part of it with a damp towel.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bumblebee1028

If you've had her 8 months, she should probably be on something bigger than rat pups by now. Do you know how much she weighs? Ideally you want to feed about 10-15% of her body weight every 5-7 days until she's 500 grams. You can also go by width - you want the rat to be the same width or girth as the thickest part of her body.

In the second picture, she looks pretty good, if a bit small for 8 months, but the first picture looks a bit concerning to me. One of ours had two times when he was about to shed when a bit of him was wrinkly, but it wasn't nearly that wrinkly. If she's in a glass enclosure and on paper towels, it's pretty unlikely that the humidity is actually 50-60%. How are you measuring humidity? A stick-on won't be very accurate. As already suggested, I would get a digital Acurite thermometer/hygrometer from Walmart - they're about $12, and well worth it! The one with a probe will measure the temps on the cool side and the warm side, as well as the humidity.

I would definitely get a better hygrometer, and spray the enclosure several times a day until she sheds. You can also switch out the paper towels for a substrate that holds humidity better like cypress mulch or coconut coir/Eco earth, give her a larger water bowl, and if the tank has a screen top, cover part of it with a damp towel.

---

Im not sure how much she weighs, but the rat pups/small rats I feed her once a week as about as thick as her girth. Should they be bigger?
i will invest in a better thermometer and I can switch her substrate out.
Right now she has a wet hand towel over her terrarium. I hope she's okay! I'm a little worried.

Just looks dehydrated to me. Give her a bath in de-chlorinated lukewarm water for about 10 mind. Let her drink her fill, try not to dry off the feeders too much. Shell be fine

Okay thank you!

I've heard that you shouldn't bathe them before a shed, because it will take away some of the oils in their skin that help them shed. I would just get the digital thermometer/hygrometer and up the humidity - the towel and changing the substrate should do the trick - and make sure that she has access to fresh water. Only give her a bath after she sheds, and only if she doesn't shed completely. Or if she has a bad shed, you can put her in a wet pillowcase for a bit instead of a bath.

As for the rats, if they're as thick as she is, then that should be fine. There should be a slight lump right after she eats. Rat pups are typically 21-30 grams, weaned rats are 31-45 grams, and small rats are about 46-80 grams. Our boys were on small rats by the time they were 8 months, which is why I was confused when you said rat pups.

Oh, I guess I mean weaned rats-small rats. I kind of just eyeball it. But I've never had any problems.

She shed last night! It all came off in one piece, and she's not wrinkly anymore. Thanks everyone!

That's great! I'm glad she's better!