Another newbie question

about how long should it take a ball python to shed? his face has started but its going kinda slow. hes started actually shedding about 2 or 3 days ago. so does anyone know if it would be a bad shed or if i could do anything to help him along?

The shedding process usually takes about 5-7 days. The first few days the eyes will be cloudy, after that they clear up for 2-3 days then they shed. If it is a good shed it will shed should be off the snake in a matter of minutes. If it is partially off or completely retained, you may want to introduce a humid hide and try soaking. I use humid hides as soon as my snakes eyes get cloudy and have had perfect sheds every time. Hope that helps.

thanks, i'll give it a try, what kind of things would you recommend for a humid hide?

I use gladware containers with a hole cut in it and paper towels inside. I suggest using some type of hide size plastic container with a lid to keep in the humidity. People either use damp paper towels or damp moss in the hides. I have used both and found that paper towels are cheaper and easier. I also set the humid hide on the warm side of the enclosure, this kinda helps the moisture circulate in the hide.

thank you very much for the info, i will give it a try. thanks again and i'm really enjoying this site

no problem...most of use love to help :) Let me know if it works out well.

will do :)

he went in the humid hide for about 1 minute and came back out. it helped a little bit though he is shedding more than he was. i also heard that you can out him in a sink of warm water and gently wipe him with a washcloth, will that also work?

The best way to soak is to put an inch or two of water in a rubbermaid like container (with ventilation) put snake in and secure lid. Put the entire thing back on the hot side of the cage. Leave for an hour and then gently wipe with a washcloth or other gently but rough surface. I usually throw the washcloth in while soaking and just use it wipe them down. Works great for me. Anyway there's my two cents. :D

Yep that works Christie. We did that when Baby's first shed with us went poorly. An hour of soak in the tub on the warm side and everything that had been stuck slide off like warm butter. Since then we introduce the humid hide as soon as we see a shed coming on and we've had two complete sheds with no help from us. Unfortunately Baby likes to go into her hide and shed by wiggling so her old skin is just left balled up like a woman's discarded pantyhose. She has rough things in her tub but she apparently likes to shed in the full privacy of her hide LOL.


~~Jo~~

Yeah mine do the shed in the hide thing, but I've still managed to save a couple of the sheds tho. Heck Lily even drags her food back in there to eat it, and I haven't figured out how she's accomplishing that. There's barely enough room for her in there anymore. It's actually almost time to upgrade hides for both of the girls.

humid hides are great but i have had several balls that refuse to use them. for these guys i gently spray them down once or twice a day when their eyes turn blue until they shed. i use a house-hold spray bottle with room temperature water. perfect sheds every time.

Yeah, mine won't touch a humid hide either, but has had perfect sheds with just occasional mistings of the tank to keep it above 70% humidity. I put a wet towel over most of the top of my screen tank to help too.

when my snakes go into shed i keep the humidty at around 65% and spray them down in the morning and at night and i have had perfect sheds ever since.

We're probably going to try the daily misting thing as the new snake Punkin apparently thinks humid hides are just stttttttttttttoooooooopid!!!! LOL She's never had access to one and the lovely humid hide I put in has been totally ignored other than her trying to squeeze her body between the roof of the hide and the lid of her Sterlite......silly snake. Her tub humidity is good tho.


~~Jo~~

thanks for the help guys, he still has some shedding over his eyes and on the top of his head, i've tried to wipe it off with a washcloth, but its almost like it superglue to his skin, what exactly should i do to help him out?