Shedding concern

I bought my first ever BP recently from a pet store that I feel (after going there rather often recently) is not the most suitable snake vendor around, but not terrible or negligent. I was sold a "male" (vet appt to determine everything for me since I am newbie).

I have had him since about mid June and he has been an AWESOME feeder - eatting every time without problem and feeding on fuzzies well.

I noticed all of a sudden that he started to get "wrinkly" almost as if there was too much skin for his body. About a week ago I woke up to find that he had spent the evening in his tree shedding. The shedding was partial and coming off in small bits and pieces. I left him alone and have not fed him during this time. He has been very very active - more so than normal.

Today I did some research (how I ended up here) and gave him a luke warm bath and made sure there were no shed scales or anything else in his tank (I usually clean his living area bi-weekly). He seems fine but still has the skin on the upper part of his body refusing to come off and one of his eyes has scale still over it.

Should I be doing something else to help this?

Why did he not shed in one whole piece?

Sorry to be longwinded but I am uncertain of the correct terms, vocab etc.

I appreciate your time and patience with a new snake owner.

Kind regards,

Phillip

what is the humidity at in there? also the temps.

It sounds like your humidity is too low. You need to get the humidity between 50-60%, and you need to be accurately measuring it. Go to Walmart or other such store and go to the outdoor thermometer section and pickup a thermometer/hygrometer. Get one that measures two temps (inside and outside = hot and cool side of tank) and humidity. Do NOT use those dial and strip things, they stink. Yes you need to try and get the retained shed off. Put about an inch of water (luke warm) in a shoebox rubbermaid, put snake in and put top on. Then place the container on the warm side (make sure your warm side temps do not exceed 94 degrees) and leave for one hour. Then gently wipe off shed, and if it doesn't all come off repeat the next day. If you have any other questions or if I missed one just ask!

I bought one of those terrarium humidity guages and temp gauges - as of right now the temp is 83F and the humidity is 50.

I went to a more specialized dealer tonight and he recommnded a heat lamp on top of terrarium sitting on the mesh top - he gave me a Sun Glo Neodymium Daylight
lamp at 100W. IT is incredibly hot and seems to hot (I have a 30g Long tank). PLacing it on top pushes the temp up to 95F and pushes the humidity down to where it is now at 50.

I have the hide and the heat lamp at the left end of the tank with a tree to the right of it and at the far other end I have a wide water dish. The floor is astro turn type material for reptile tanks.

I fed him tonight and he ate well. I read somewhere that covering half the tank top with something increases the humidity also.

1. What is best way to increase humidity?
2. Should I use the 100W broad spectrum daylight spot lamp?
3. If yes to 2 is 95F too hot?
4. Have you heard of all natural snake oil by Benson and Sons and is it wise to use?

Sorry for all the questions, but I continue to research.

Thanks so much.

Phillip

I think if you invest in one of those digital therm/hygrometers that was mentioned above, you'll find those guages are not very accurate. When in shed, you want to bump your humidity up to about 70% (more experienced ball keepers, correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, here's a picture of the one you can get at WalMart in the hardware department for $15. And that bulb is just going to suck more humidity out of the enclosure.


https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...esAccuRite.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Phillip

1. What is best way to increase humidity?
2. Should I use the 100W broad spectrum daylight spot lamp?
3. If yes to 2 is 95F too hot?
4. Have you heard of all natural snake oil by Benson and Sons and is it wise to use?

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1. Ditch the lamp as that actually dries out the enclosure. Most people use an UTH (under tank heater) to keep the hot side temps around 92 and the cool side temp around 82. UTHs also don't reduce humidity as much as a lamp. You can mist to up the humidity also I've known people who cover part of the tank to keep moisture in as well. Normal humidity should be 50 - 60% but during shed should be upped to 70%.
2. Probably not
3. Better to drop your warm side to 92
4. Nope, sorry no help here...

Go ahead and check out the caresheet on the forum. It will answer a lot of questions. Good luck!

The way I increase humidity for great sheds is to put the water dish over the heat source (Under tank heat) right as the snake goes blue and then leave it there until it sheds. Wendy is dead on, ditch the overhead bulb heating. Creates an extremely dry environment. 92-95 is fine. I have never heard of snake oil, but would never trust something that has the same name as is given to magic potions that do nothing.

Jamie

I appreciate your replies. The "snake oil" was recommnded by the pet store "snake guy" as something he has used in the past to treat snakes he receives from individuals as unwanted and which are haing shedding problems as a result of poor past care. It is a combination of: Safflower oil, sweet almond oil, wheat germ oil, avocado oil, tea tree oil, and neem oil. It says, "for skin problems from cuts, scrapes - mites - bites" and is reommended for healthy reptiles and snakes.

I am doubtful of is usefulness myself, but am not aware of the "do's" and "dont's" in this regard and have always found all natural treatments beneficial in general.

I am for certain going to walmart tomorrow to get on of those digi temp/humi readers - looks awesome - thanks for the pic.

I am also putting in coconut husk substrate tomorrow. At the moment I also have one of those peel and stick heat pads under the hide at the warm end.

What is good to use to clean the tank and its contents?

Any other thoughts for a novice (I did read the care sheet a few mins ago) - I am really taken and excited by my new BP and want to make sure I get things right.

Thanks,

Phillip

I wouldn't bother with that oil stuff. It sounds like a way to suck more money out of your wallet. A good soap and water bath work good for a general clean, and then I disinfect with chlorhexadine spary. It's awesome stuff! No worries with chlorine fumes and pretty cheap. Here's a link to it.

http://www.mgreptiles.com/VIROSAN.html

92-94 is a good range for your hot side, and 82-84 is good for the cool side. You can use plexiglass or plastic wrap to cover up part of the screen to keep in humidity. And don't worry about the all in one piece sheds. If it all comes off then your doing great, and if it doesn't then just do the soaks. It's important to get the eyecaps off and make sure that there is no shed encircling the body. This is a great community and very friendly and helpful. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Our first ball didn't shed well the first time up Phillip but with the advice of these great people we were able to soak it off and adjust our husbandry. Since then both our snakes are shedding completely and unassisted. Sometimes it comes off in one piece or a big shed ball, sometimes in a few pieces but the important thing to me is that it all comes off cleanly.

We push our humidity to around 70% (from 50-60%) when we first notice an impending shed (pinkish belly, then dull looking scales & the classic blue eyes) and leave the humidity high until the shed is finished which can take a good week. Their eyes will clear up and they look almost back to normal, then about 48 hours later or so, off comes the old skin and out comes a pretty, shiney snake.

We usually move their water dishes over to the warm side to help boost the humidity and add in a damp hide to the warm side as well. It's just a big margarine container with it's lid on, flipped over and a hole cut in it for an entrance, lined with damp (not wet) papertowels or spagnum moss. One of our snakes will use a humid hide, the other won't.


~~Jo~~

Ok, I feel somewhat silly asking this but - do I need to be concerned about drowning my snake if I sock him or suffocating him. The advice seems to concur that a rubbermaid with water about half the depth of his height and sealed tightly closed and I recall no air holes being desired to create a suana effect. The box then being placed on the warm side for an hour or so at first.

Is this accruate and are my fears possibilities etc?

Thanks again.

Phillip

I'm not sure about the sock himn reference, but you should be fine. You can have a couple little air holes, and that would be fine. You'll get the sauna effect either way. Sounds like you got the idea! It's really not too difficult. The gentle wiping after the bath is sometimes a little difficult if you have a jumpy snake, but mine just seemed happy to get the shed off. (of course she was a rescue so who knows how long that shed was there) GOOD LUCK!! :D

hehe sorry I meant "soak" not "sock" lol.

I was worried he would not be able to hold his head out of the water and drown - probably silly but you know - i'm new at this.

Phillip it's never "silly" to double check and show concern for your snake's wellfare when you are trying something new. Good for you!

I had the same concerns the first time (and only time) I had to soak our first b.p. but as long as the water is not too high, that the snake might have to swim or struggle to keep it's head above the water it is truely fine. I did put a couple of small air holes in but actually if there is sufficient air space above the water and you are only soaking for an hour, I probably could have skipped that bit.

It does work a charm! Baby's skin slipped off easy as anything after the soak and a wiggle through the facecloth (she was a tad ticked off I might say LOL). Since then we've worked on the higher humidity as soon as we see a shed approaching and haven't had to soak either of our snakes lately.

One of ours is in blue right now and moody as heck, the other one just shed last week LOL.

Let us know how things work out.

~~Jo~~

I have to concur, there are no stupid questions, and this is hands down my favorite forum out there, simply because everyone here is so helpful and willing to give advice to those of us who are new to BP keeping. You sound like you are gonna be a great BP owner! By the way, did you say what your little guy's name is?

Have not decided on a name yet - I went to the store today and checked out their full grown albino Boa and their full grown female carpet python - very intimidating.

I am chaning a few things right now - aspen substrate, temp/humi gauges, adding a cold side hide and plexi glassing the mesh over about 3/4 of the top to gain extra humidity. I will let you know what he thinks and how it effects the environemntals.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Phillip

I just put him in a deepish (about 4 inches) tupperware container with a face cloth in the bottom with about 1 inch luke warm water and cut a couple small holes in top and placed it over the UTH on the warm side of the tank.

Dang this is freaking me out lol. I feel evil for putting him in there - he is going to be so mad.

:)

But he's going to be so much happier when he's completely shed! You're being a good BP owner!

Deep breaths! Robin's right, and you'll have a much happier and healthier snake when you're done. It's nerve wracking to leave them their for an hour, but it works.

Yep he might not like you when he comes out and you have to do the face cloth thingy either but remember you are doing it for all the right reasons and his "own good" (remember our moms doing this to us over immunizations and horrid tasting cough meds....same deal LOL).

The one I had to soak wasn't in a great mood afterwards but hey it's a snake....next feeding day came around....I offered her a yummy mouse....all was forgiven!

:D


~~Jo~~

Just for clarification you should raise the humidity to 60 when in shed. Also what are other rules of thumb for sheding as in feeding ,how long it takes and other stuff

I just took him out of the soak and was able to rub off most of the unshedded skin from his tail to the thin part of his neck. As i got closer to his head he got pretty mad and seemed quite stressed so I am going to leave him alone for a few hours to get familiar with some of the new additions to his tank. I think I will use a luke warm face cloth to try and wipe his head tonight.

I am now working with digital thermometers - one in each side of the tank. It seems to cold withut the lamp above the warm side - so for now I am trying it on - at 94.1 right now and 58%$ humidity, so I am going to turn it off for a while. Not sure how to regulate temp on the warm side.

The colder side is at 80.4 and 56% humidity and I added an upturned clay flower pot with the bottom bored out with damp paper towels in the bottom.

Can anyone explain to me in more detail how to heat the warm side better? Right now I have an under tank Flukers heat mat tapped under his ihde area and another smaller one a bit above the substrate level on the side of the tank making an L-Shape heat mat area more or less. What is a more optimal solution - someone previously mentioned Flexwatt (I think).

Again, you folks are making a great difference in helping me get started properly.

Thanks so much.

Phillip