I think I need to help my ball...

I think I need to help my ball python with its shed. I noticed it went into shed last Saturday. It started to shed like on Wednesday but it's shedding in pieces. I'm trying to keep the humidity up at 70 but it drops at times to like 50. I spray the tank and bring it up. But I'm not happy with this shedding.

What can I do to help it?

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Originally Posted by Red357

I think I need to help my ball python with its shed. I noticed it went into shed last Saturday. It started to shed like on Wednesday but it's shedding in pieces. I'm trying to keep the humidity up at 70 but it drops at times to like 50. I spray the tank and bring it up. But I'm not happy with this shedding.

What can I do to help it?

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Soak some moss in warm water and place it in his hide. This helps create a humidity box of sorts. Also, if you have a screen top put some plastic wrap or a towel over half of it to lock in humidity. Another thing I’ve found helpful is adding humidifiers in your house. I live in northern Minnesota and it gets really cold and dry in the winter. The humidifiers help me and my pets, win win.


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A neat trick is to get a rough textured bath towel and soak it in warm water , squeeze it out so it’s nice snd damp then wrap the snake up in it .

Just let it slither around inside for 5 minutes or so .. whilst you apply very gentle pressure .. when it’s head pops out just cover it up again with the excess towel and continue.


The dead skin comes off nice and gently on the towel


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

A neat trick is to get a rough textured bath towel and soak it in warm water , squeeze it out so it’s nice snd damp then wrap the snake up in it .

Just let it slither around inside for 5 minutes or so .. whilst you apply very gentle pressure .. when it’s head pops out just cover it up again with the excess towel and continue.


The dead skin comes off nice and gently on the towel


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Soak the rag in warm water like luke warm 80° temp?

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Originally Posted by MarkL1561

Soak some moss in warm water and place it in his hide. This helps create a humidity box of sorts. Also, if you have a screen top put some plastic wrap or a towel over half of it to lock in humidity. Another thing I’ve found helpful is adding humidifiers in your house. I live in northern Minnesota and it gets really cold and dry in the winter. The humidifiers help me and my pets, win win.


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I had thought of a humidity box made out of Tupperware. Does it stay in the tank at all times or only when it goes into shed?

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Originally Posted by Red357

I had thought of a humidity box made out of Tupperware. Does it stay in the tank at all times or only when it goes into shed?

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I only put a humid box in my enclosures when I see the pink belly, which seems to be the first visible sign of going into shed.

I've had my little ball python for three months now and it took until his third shed before it came off right.. I REALLY upped the humidity in his hide. I was determined not to go thru a crappy shed again!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Red357

I had thought of a humidity box made out of Tupperware. Does it stay in the tank at all times or only when it goes into shed?

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I usually only soak moss/substrate when I know he’s going into shed. I keep his humidity around 50-65% most of the time. I keep my boa >70% humidity. Ball pythons don’t require extremely high humidity but keeping it around 50% seems to be sufficient. As soon as he goes into blue up your humidity and he should shed just fine.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Red357

I had thought of a humidity box made out of Tupperware. Does it stay in the tank at all times or only when it goes into shed?

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If you have trouble keeping the humidity up, you can leave a "humid hide" in the cage all the time...it will help & give your snake another option. My Aussie spotted
python is similar to a BP in that she needs a warm cage & more humidity than you'd expect from an Aussie ;) (these are a coastal species), & without a humid hide,
she has trouble shedding. I leave her humid hide in the cage all the time (you have to replenish the moisture every few days to a week) as she likes to use it at will
& she has good sheds this way too. There's no down-side that I can see...just make sure it's "humid" & not a "swamp" inside.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

If you have trouble keeping the humidity up, you can leave a "humid hide" in the cage all the time...it will help & give your snake another option. My Aussie spotted
python is similar to a BP in that she needs a warm cage & more humidity than you'd expect from an Aussie ;) (these are a coastal species), & without a humid hide,
she has trouble shedding. I leave her humid hide in the cage all the time (you have to replenish the moisture every few days to a week) as she likes to use it at will
& she has good sheds this way too. There's no down-side that I can see...just make sure it's "humid" & not a "swamp" inside.

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Yup, I leave mine in all the time. Of course, my "glass box" is a bit more difficult to keep humidity up so the humid hide gives me a sense of peace. Monty has sat in the humid hide for a couple days, at times. Have had two successful sheds, so far. Humidity stays around 50-55% at all times.

I'm a glass-tank fan too, btw...no apology either. To be honest, I don't even measure the humidity- I live in a fairly humid state* (-like you, Shayne) & none of
my (mostly-colubrid) snakes have issues anyway. (full disclosure: *home heating & air conditioning does remove a fair amount of the natural humidity anyway)

Also, what are you using to measure humidity? A digital or analog hygrometer? Analog will show false readings.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I'm a glass-tank fan too, btw...no apology either. To be honest, I don't even measure the humidity- I live in a fairly humid state* (-like you, Shayne) & none of
my (mostly-colubrid) snakes have issues anyway. (full disclosure: *home heating & air conditioning does remove a fair amount of the natural humidity anyway)

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As soon as I get the RB all set up, things should stabilize much more. Although, I only got the RB so I could free up the "glass box" for a new baby come April when we hit the expo in Lake Charles. ;)

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Originally Posted by 55fingers

Also, what are you using to measure humidity? A digital or analog hygrometer? Analog will show false readings.

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At the moment I have an analog. Which I know can be tricky. I haven't gotten around to get a digital one. Usually local stores dont have then in stock. Maybe a Petco will. I usually order my stuff from Amazon.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Red357

At the moment I have an analog. Which I know can be tricky. I haven't gotten around to get a digital one. Usually local stores dont have then in stock. Maybe a Petco will. I usually order my stuff from Amazon.

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https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-00325...43362615&psc=1

These are great. Just don't directly mist them.

Also, you can pick up a product called Shed Ease at most pet stores. It's been very helpful in removing retained shed.