handling ball python post shed?

Hello!

Again I am a new ball python owner. My black pastel is in the clearing up stage of shedding, so the old skin should be coming off any day now! This may be a dumb question, I know you generally shouldn't handle BP's during the shed cycle for numerous reasons, but how about immediately after? Is there a rule of thumb saying wait a day or something or is it okay to handle them the same day. (I haven't handled my BP in like a week and a half and he's been hiding alot lately so I guess I just miss him :p) THANKS!

I mean its all just "this could" i often will handle some, if in shed, if i need to change bedding/water, obviously with numerous snakes i have more of a choice, But handling him as soon as his shed is gone will be fine, even while in shed, just may have to be careful for a defensive strike when deep in blue

I can handle my BP during shed the only thing thy can happen is you get bit and if your BP is going to bite you during shed than you will stress it out an it may die.
If your BP doesn't bite during shed you should be good mine will hiss sometimes if I wake her up and she's shedding.

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Originally Posted by cdoak1017

I can handle my BP during shed the only thing thy can happen is you get bit and if your BP is going to bite you during shed than you will stress it out an it may die.
If your BP doesn't bite during shed you should be good mine will hiss sometimes if I wake her up and she's shedding.

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It may die...? From biting you? :confusd:

@OP I handle my girl all through shed. It really depends on the snake. If one is more defensive then it might get you bit while in blue when vision is not the best. And the only thing I would say is be gentle. Like new people skin, their new skin after shed can be a bit more sensitive...

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Originally Posted by anicatgirl

It may die...? From biting you? :confusd:

@OP I handle my girl all through shed. It really depends on the snake. If one is more defensive then it might get you bit while in blue when vision is not the best. And the only thing I would say is be gentle. Like new people skin, their new skin after shed can be a bit more sensitive...

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It can die from stress is what I heard idk I only have 1 BP and I can handle her during shed but I don't hold her very long 5 mins tops. But that's just me

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Originally Posted by cdoak1017

I can handle my BP during shed the only thing thy can happen is you get bit and if your BP is going to bite you during shed than you will stress it out an it may die.
If your BP doesn't bite during shed you should be good mine will hiss sometimes if I wake her up and she's shedding.

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I'm going to put this as nicely as I can .... Your post is RIDICULOUS! ........ Handling a snake in shed will not stress it enough to kill it .... Please learn and educate yourself some more before posting advice that is nonsense and worrying other new bp owner .... :colbert:

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Originally Posted by T_Sauer

I'm going to put this as nicely as I can .... Your post is RIDICULOUS! ........ Handling a snake in shed will not stress it enough to kill it .... Please learn and educate yourself some more before posting advice that is nonsense and worrying other new bp owner .... :colbert:

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Ima put this nicely. I said from what I heard. Now answer this for me hot shot yes or no will a snake not be stressed if it's eyes are blue and it's about to shed and your handling it yes it will be stressed (some might some might not) yes is the answer.
Now will a stressed snake that keeps trying to bite you, because you are stressing it out and it refuses to eat an may not eat until it dies and not everyone knows how to tube/force feed(anyways it may just puke it up) so back up

So is it possible that a snake may die from stress I believe so

Never put much thought into handling directly after a shed. People help snakes with bad sheds all the time (I've done this too) and the snakes don't seem to act any different than any other time.

As for handling during a shed cycle, most snakes will make it pretty clear to you that they would really rather not be handled. I generally don't unless it's for cleaning.

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Originally Posted by cdoak1017

Ima put this nicely. I said from what I heard. Now answer this for me hot shot yes or no will a snake not be stressed if it's eyes are blue and it's about to shed and your handling it yes it will be stressed (some might some might not) yes is the answer.
Now will a stressed snake that keeps trying to bite you, because you are stressing it out and it refuses to eat an may not eat until it dies and not everyone knows how to tube/force feed(anyways it may just puke it up) so back up

So is it possible that a snake may die from stress I believe so

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This post just proved that you are a newbie and probably 12 years old .... I'm going to extract myself from this unintelligent conversation now .... Brush your teeth and go to bed kid ... :8:

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Originally Posted by T_Sauer

This post just proved that you are a newbie and probably 12 years old .... I'm going to extract myself from this unintelligent conversation now .... Brush your teeth and go to bed kid ... :8:

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Haha newbie maybe,
But all I said was I heard it may stress it out, there are other people who maybe will reply an be if further help. If you'd go back to school they would teach you how to read.
As for the kid thing and telling me to brush my teeth and go to bed. We'll I can tell you I'm way over 12, I am not going to tell you my age because it's my right as I was born in the us, I will say I am 18+
But you are a rude person if you can find a way to put that nicely go ahead. I'm done with this. Free county and freedom of speech i can say my 2 cents to try to help someone out and can also learn. So please just leave me alone

Cdoak, you need to get a lot more experience and do a lot more research before giving advice on a forum, you are going to worry/scare new BP keepers for absolutely no reason. The likely hood of a BP getting so stressed out from being in shed and biting that it dies is 0%, that's the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard.

Also, acting like a 2 year old is going to get you no where in this hobby.

OP, it is okay to handle your BP for short periods of time while in shed, your snake may be slightly uncomfortable, as well as much more temperamental which is why most keepers tend to leave their snakes be during shed. It won't kill your snake, i promise.

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Originally Posted by PassionFruitReptiles

Cdoak, you need to get a lot more experience and do a lot more research before giving advice on a forum, you are going to worry/scare new BP keepers for absolutely no reason. The likely hood of a BP getting so stressed out from being in shed and biting that it dies is 0%, that's the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard.

Also, acting like a 2 year old is going to get you no where in this hobby.

OP, it is okay to handle your BP for short periods of time while in shed, your snake may be slightly uncomfortable, as well as much more temperamental which is why most keepers tend to leave their snakes be during shed. It won't kill your snake, i promise.

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I said from what I heard get off your high horse

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Originally Posted by cdoak1017

Ima put this nicely. I said from what I heard. Now answer this for me hot shot yes or no will a snake not be stressed if it's eyes are blue and it's about to shed and your handling it yes it will be stressed (some might some might not) yes is the answer.
Now will a stressed snake that keeps trying to bite you, because you are stressing it out and it refuses to eat an may not eat until it dies and not everyone knows how to tube/force feed(anyways it may just puke it up) so back up

So is it possible that a snake may die from stress I believe so

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Calm down cookie.... Yes it may stress out the snake to be handled. However it would take a long pattern of stress and not feeding and such before death would occur. They're not just going to have a heart attack :P. Hopefully during such period of time the keeper would realize the issue and correct it. And IMO it really depends on the snake. Some are OK with handling during shed, some aren't.

@OP This will sound hokey but "Listen to the snake, Luke!" it will tell you how it feels about handling. Just watch for signs of stress.

Sometimes a day or two after shed, I'll gently wipe down my snake with wet paper towels then dry him off. He seems to like it.

I think there are 2 types of stress.
Python regius - royal aka ball pythons - get their name from the habit of African rulers 'wearing' them around arms as jewelry. So the short-term 'stress' of being handled for a short period of time isn't going to harm them.
A much bigger concern is long-term stress due to poor husbandry and caging, because a negligent owner might not realize (or care) about the poor conditions which over time will be a serious detriment to its health.

cdoak1017, let me explain some unwritten rules so to speak about such things.

We have all "heard" things and read things on the Internet, that obviously does not make them true.
For example, if someone asked what is the biggest/largest snake ever found?
Now we all have "heard" of anywhere from 20 - 50ft or more. There are internet stories of a 200 footer.

Now for me to just come out and answer the question on the forum with - "200 ft is the largest snake ever found.", would be irresponsible.

The correct way would be; "fossil records show the longest snake to be 43 ft. And live photographed records show 32ft." (Don't hold me to these figures).

Or if a totally different question were asked about breeding, you would respond by " in my experience......, or my breeding Leopard Pastel female........"

Now going back to your original comment, you stated that death due to stress was fact. You did not say "I heard" until later in the thread when you got all defensive and rude. Had you started out with "I heard...", then that would have changed the tone of your post.

If you still wish to stand by your statement, then the next standard of procedure is to back it up with a reference of a reputable study proving such a statement.

This is the proper way things are done if you wish to be taken seriously.

Best

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Originally Posted by cdoak1017

It can die from stress is what I heard idk I only have 1 BP and I can handle her during shed but I don't hold her very long 5 mins tops. But that's just me

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I wouldnt tell people it MAY DIE.... "If that's what you've heard" I heard if they bite us WE may die? CNN told me this:colbert:

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Originally Posted by tbowman

Never put much thought into handling directly after a shed. People help snakes with bad sheds all the time (I've done this too) and the snakes don't seem to act any different than any other time.

As for handling during a shed cycle, most snakes will make it pretty clear to you that they would really rather not be handled. I generally don't unless it's for cleaning.

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My baby Bp hasn't had a clean shed yet. I have to emmerse him in warm water for an hour each time.

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Originally Posted by T_Sauer

I'm going to put this as nicely as I can .... Your post is RIDICULOUS! ........ Handling a snake in shed will not stress it enough to kill it .... Please learn and educate yourself some more before posting advice that is nonsense and worrying other new bp owner .... :colbert:

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Sounds like to enjoy sticking your nob into your Bp s mouth...??


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Originally Posted by christarr01

Sounds like to enjoy sticking your nob into your Bp s mouth...??


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:confusd:

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Originally Posted by christarr01

My baby Bp hasn't had a clean shed yet. I have to emmerse him in warm water for an hour each time.

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Then something is wrong and needs changing.

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Originally Posted by christarr01

My baby Bp hasn't had a clean shed yet. I have to emmerse him in warm water for an hour each time.

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Humidity is key to proper sheds .... Your ball python should be kept in 50 - 60% humidity on the norm, when you notice the pink belly or blue phase you can bump the humidity up to around 70% and it will do wonders

Well this got out of hand quickly.... I was mainly just wondering if there is anything wrong with handling right after they've shed, maybe their skin is still fragile/sensitive I don't know. Like I said it was probably a dumb question.

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Originally Posted by blackpastelball

Well this got out of hand quickly.... I was mainly just wondering if there is anything wrong with handling right after they've shed, maybe their skin is still fragile/sensitive I don't know. Like I said it was probably a dumb question.

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Not a dumb question. Like I said, they can be more sensitive, but as long as it is just handling and not climbing trees or something (idk that's what I had for rough surface) should be OK just be gentle :D

My albino male doesn't mind being handled during shed one bit. "I've herd :,D" that it sometimes even helps them shed faster, as does feeding while in shed. As far as after, with mine, the scales are much easier to lift so I'm careful about that. But his behavior doesn't change.


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