HELP!!! Ball Python's skin cracked, folded, looks shredded?!

so, i feel like an awful python parent right now. I've only had two snakes in my whole life and this is my first ball python.

my little guy, named pretzel, was doing absolutely great for the first year, but all of a sudden, THIS happened :O:O (pictures below)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx...09kdmU4Zm5TT2c

I can't remember this slowly coming on, i can really just remember seeing him one day and feeling shocked at how he suddenly looked! :(

I try to give him water bi-daily (sometimes I'll be so busy I forget, but I never leave him too long without fresh spring water in his bowl), I just recently put in a hiding rock for him (thinking he could rub off the skin on it possibly), he eats once a week and I have a red heating bulb on 24 hours a day.

these are things that petsmart told me to do when i got him, and i've been strictly following along to the T.

I called petsmart back because he had stopped eating for a few months, and they said he had probably had some kind of "snake flu" and said he'd be alright. he started eating again, but his skin didn't get any better!

this has been steady for about 5 months now, as I was told it might just go away on it's own. I don't want to lose my little guy, please help! I can't afford to take him to the vet anytime soon. I just need to know if he'll be okay!

responses ASAP would be appreciated. hopefully pretzel will make it through his bad skin days :(

He has stuck shed. I would soak him in a little plastic tub with a lid. Put lukewarm water(barely warm to your touch) deep enough to cover half his body. Then put in some paper towels so he can have something to grip. leave him in there for about 30 mins. Then let him crawl through a wet washcloth or paper towel to get the shed off. Try and make his head push through too so it removes his eye caps.

Then you need to raise his cage humidity. he should be around 60-70% 24/7 with a hot spot of 90F and a cool side of 79-80F.

If he is eating, that is at least a good sign. Do the above and raise the cage humidity to what I said and he should be fine. If the eye caps don't come off, then watch for them the next shed as they must come off then or you could have problems.

I would stop calling petsmart for advice... do research online on snake communities like this forum. The reason he had stopped eating before has a few possible reasons common with new owners, but "snake flu" isn't one of them lol.

It's good you're on this forum now! You can read through the stickied threads in the Husbandry section, and also the care sheet.

He's also quite skinny, tiny, and dehydrated looking, on top of his stuck shed, for being over a year old. The size indicates he's being underfed.

I'm sure there are some improvements to be made to his enclosure and bunping humidity to 60%~70% to prevent this from happening again.

get a digital hygrometer like an Acurite to monitor humidity. The round analog ones from persmart don't work.

Looks like stuck shed to me, I suggest a lukewarm bath about 1/2 his body height and a towel added. It can be done in a plastic box with air vents. Leave the snake there for 10-15min and replace the water while getting the reptile to climb through the towel. This has worked if I get bad shed.

Ugh I know I am double posting, but.... "SNAKE FLU"!!! The bogus that petsmart employees can come up with is beyond words. :bow:

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

He has stuck shed. I would soak him in a little plastic tub with a lid. Put lukewarm water(barely warm to your touch) deep enough to cover half his body. Then put in some paper towels so he can have something to grip. leave him in there for about 30 mins. Then let him crawl through a wet washcloth or paper towel to get the shed off. Try and make his head push through too so it removes his eye caps.

Then you need to raise his cage humidity. he should be around 60-70% 24/7 with a hot spot of 90F and a cool side of 79-80F.

If he is eating, that is at least a good sign. Do the above and raise the cage humidity to what I said and he should be fine. If the eye caps don't come off, then watch for them the next shed as they must come off then or you could have problems.

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I will do this tomorrow afternoon! thank you so much!!! I was afraid somebody would break it to me that my baby was slowly dying or something ;;;

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

He's also quite skinny, tiny, and dehydrated looking, on top of his stuck shed, for being over a year old. The size indicates he's being underfed.

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Can you possibly tell me what I can do to help him gain weight? feed him two mice at once? feed him twice a week? bigger mice? I want my little guy to be in tip-top shape asap!

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Originally Posted by Vipera Berus

Looks like stuck shed to me, I suggest a lukewarm bath about 1/2 his body height and a towel added. It can be done in a plastic box with air vents. Leave the snake there for 10-15min and replace the water while getting the reptile to climb through the towel. This has worked if I get bad shed.

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doing this tomorrow! thank you so much!!

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Originally Posted by pythondad

Can you possibly tell me what I can do to help him gain weight? feed him two mice at once? feed him twice a week? bigger mice? I want my little guy to be in tip-top shape asap!

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What size mice is he on right now? If he is not already on jumbo mice, you can bump him up to that size. If you currently can't get ahold of larger mice, feeding two mice within one feeding will also work! Don't spread it out within a week, it is best to feed one full meal (total of whatever you wanted to feed). Try to feed once every 7 days for now.

As a general rule for his size, the width of the prey's body should be the same~slightly wider than the widest part of his body. (This is assuming you are feeding one prey item)

I'd start this maybe 4~5 days after he gets his stuck shed off.

Start with reading the care sheet and fix all of your husbandry.
A wet pillow case would do this one a lot of good.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

I would stop calling petsmart for advice... do research online on snake communities like this forum. The reason he had stopped eating before has a few possible reasons common with new owners, but "snake flu" isn't one of them lol.

It's good you're on this forum now! You can read through the stickied threads in the Husbandry section, and also the care sheet.

He's also quite skinny, tiny, and dehydrated looking, on top of his stuck shed, for being over a year old. The size indicates he's being underfed.

I'm sure there are some improvements to be made to his enclosure and bunping humidity to 60%~70% to prevent this from happening again.

get a digital hygrometer like an Acurite to monitor humidity. The round analog ones from persmart don't work.

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I can't see the photos on my mobile but going off your observations I'd say the soak is a must - it will certainly help instantly with the dehydration and if they let the snake wriggle continuously through a wet , rough textured bath towel , applying very gentle pressure - the skin or most of it will come off easily

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Originally Posted by pythondad

I will do this tomorrow afternoon! thank you so much!!! I was afraid somebody would break it to me that my baby was slowly dying or something ;;;

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Nah, it's nothing as bad as that. Snakes have bad sheds, it happens. Not the end of the world. Just get the old shed off and get his humidity in the cage squared away and you will be fine.

What kind of substrate to you have? And what is your humidity? I like coconut husk substrate because it holds a lot of water and doesn't mold. I'm guessing the stuck shed is from the heating lamp, that will dry things out in a hurry. Personally I'd bump up your room temp to 80F and switch to an under tank heater thermostat controlled set to 88F and ditch the lamp.

My SD retic was like that when I got him, he was on aspen with a heat bulb. Takes awhile to get rid of a stuck shed like that, you'll probably have to soak multiple times, I'd probably feed, wait a couple days, then soak at least once a week. I have another ball python that suddenly had a stuck shed and it took a long time to unstick that one LOL. Not sure what caused that one, he was on damp coconut husk substrate the whole time. If your snake has the wobbles, usually from genetics (certain morphs) you'll have to make sure to watch or assist during soaking so they don't drown.

I swear by orchid bark / reptibark as a substrate . Looks fabulous and natural , makes your snakes look great by enhancing their colours and I can hold as much or as little humidity as is needed .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

I'm sure there are some improvements to be made to his enclosure and bunping humidity to 60%~70% to prevent this from happening again.

get a digital hygrometer like an Acurite to monitor humidity. The round analog ones from persmart don't work.

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makes sense, the only things i've ever had are from petsmart.

how do I even control humidity? they never said anything about that when I bought him. ;;

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Originally Posted by pythondad

makes sense, the only things i've ever had are from petsmart.

how do I even control humidity? they never said anything about that when I bought him. ;;

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Here's the care sheet, btw: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ius)-Caresheet

I'd give it a serious read through and honestly alter your enclosure based on the requirements in the caresheet.

Here's a step by step tub setup, which will make maintaining humidity and heat A LOT easier, and you don't have to use the heat bulb: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...e-Basics-*DUW*

Once you get your Acurite hygrometer, you'll find what the humidity of your house is... And depending on that, you might need to go with a different enclosure (a tub or pvc setup), if the humidity is just super low.

For your glass/screen top setup for now, you can soak a big towel, fold it a few times and lay it over 90% of your screen top. And then use foil as a cover and wrap it down. That will help increase humidity.

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Originally Posted by pythondad

Can you possibly tell me what I can do to help him gain weight? feed him two mice at once? feed him twice a week? bigger mice? I want my little guy to be in tip-top shape asap!

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For him to gain weight you need to feed him approprietly see here https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines , if you do that and it is still not getting weight, make an appointment with a vet for a fecal.

You also need to make sure that you provide proper husbandry, obviously there are issue based on the pictures of your BP, husbandry issues will lead to various problem from bad shed to fast to more serious health issues, time to refresh your knowledge and go over the caresheet available on this forum and also go over how to properly setup a BP based.

You said he's looked like this for 5 months? May be multiple full body stuck sheds. TBH that's one of the worst stuck sheds I've ever seen and he does look a bit skinny and dehydrated, but he should be fine with a good ole dose of TLC :)

Just make sure you make the necessary changes to his enclosure and this shouldn't happen again.

EDIT: my smileys won't work :(

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Originally Posted by Trisnake

You said he's looked like this for 5 months? May be multiple full body stuck sheds. TBH that's one of the worst stuck sheds I've ever seen and he does look a bit skinny and dehydrated, but he should be fine with a good ole dose of TLC :)

Just make sure you make the necessary changes to his enclosure and this shouldn't happen again.

EDIT: my smileys won't work :(

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yeah, all because petsmart told me he was alright, I didn't know any better (as this is my first bp and my only other snake was a cornsnake)

i was also afraid to bring this up on some forums the past two months because i was worried people would say i was abusing him / not taking care of him when in reality i'm really trying, i just never got the proper information from the pet store (which i can see why now, a lot of you say they're completely bogus)

thank you for the help!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Here's the care sheet, btw: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ius)-Caresheet

I'd give it a serious read through and honestly alter your enclosure based on the requirements in the caresheet.

Here's a step by step tub setup, which will make maintaining humidity and heat A LOT easier, and you don't have to use the heat bulb: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...e-Basics-*DUW*

Once you get your Acurite hygrometer, you'll find what the humidity of your house is... And depending on that, you might need to go with a different enclosure (a tub or pvc setup), if the humidity is just super low.

For your glass/screen top setup for now, you can soak a big towel, fold it a few times and lay it over 90% of your screen top. And then use foil as a cover and wrap it down. That will help increase humidity.

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thanks so much!! you guys are so kind here, I was worried someone would have accused me of abusing my little guy. with all this information, he should get better in no time—I gave him a soak today as you all reccomended and a lot of the skin came off! now just a few more soaks, some tank and feeding adjustments, and i'll be posting pictures of my big ol' boy in no time!

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

What kind of substrate to you have? And what is your humidity? I like coconut husk substrate because it holds a lot of water and doesn't mold. I'm guessing the stuck shed is from the heating lamp, that will dry things out in a hurry. Personally I'd bump up your room temp to 80F and switch to an under tank heater thermostat controlled set to 88F and ditch the lamp.

My SD retic was like that when I got him, he was on aspen with a heat bulb. Takes awhile to get rid of a stuck shed like that, you'll probably have to soak multiple times, I'd probably feed, wait a couple days, then soak at least once a week. I have another ball python that suddenly had a stuck shed and it took a long time to unstick that one LOL. Not sure what caused that one, he was on damp coconut husk substrate the whole time. If your snake has the wobbles, usually from genetics (certain morphs) you'll have to make sure to watch or assist during soaking so they don't drown.

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I use aspen bedding on the bottom of his tank—and i've never monitored his humidity at all. I always assumed because it was hot in my room, I wouldn't need to worry about anything, but I think I should start worrying about it!

I'm going to buy an accurite meter this week and i'll keep you guys updated on his humidity then (question: should the accurite be inside of his tank, or outside of his tank?)

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Originally Posted by pythondad

thanks so much!! you guys are so kind here, I was worried someone would have accused me of abusing my little guy. with all this information, he should get better in no time—I gave him a soak today as you all reccomended and a lot of the skin came off! now just a few more soaks, some tank and feeding adjustments, and i'll be posting pictures of my big ol' boy in no time!

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There are some online ball python communities that would get angry and react that way, but I think this forum is really nice- as long as the owner is willing to fix husbandry and help the snake. People here get mad when advice is given and they refuse to take the advice LOL.

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Originally Posted by pythondad

I use aspen bedding on the bottom of his tank—and i've never monitored his humidity at all. I always assumed because it was hot in my room, I wouldn't need to worry about anything, but I think I should start worrying about it!

I'm going to buy an accurite meter this week and i'll keep you guys updated on his humidity then (question: should the accurite be inside of his tank, or outside of his tank?)

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The acurite goes inside his tank. Aspen is a dry substrate, so if the humidity is still hard to get up, I would switch to coco husk or reptibark.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pythondad

thanks so much!! you guys are so kind here, I was worried someone would have accused me of abusing my little guy. with all this information, he should get better in no time—I gave him a soak today as you all reccomended and a lot of the skin came off! now just a few more soaks, some tank and feeding adjustments, and i'll be posting pictures of my big ol' boy in no time!

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Thank you for seeking help for your pet when your gut told you something was wrong. And a huge thank you for being open-minded to the suggestions you've received. The folks on here truly only want the best for the animals. It's pretty clear that Pretzel has a caring owner, and I'm sure that will translate to a healthy scaly friend.


I hope you stick around. I've been on this forum for months, and I swear I learn something new about these critters almost every day.