First shed, new snake owner

Hello all,

Our 9 week old ball python is going through his first shed he has had with us, and things are looking decently OK considering. He has some sheds hanging off of him but he also has the shed ring visible a few inches from his head.

We have been having problems with humidity, so I have been spraying frequently to make sure it is between 70-85%.

Our house is not climate controlled and temeratures have been unseasonably cool, so the cool side temperatures are getting too cold (upper 60s and lower 70s). I'm going to run in and get another UTH and thermostat for the cold side, but I don't want to install it yet if it means I'm stressing him out during shed.

He seems to be doing normal shed behavior.

I think there is a way I can move his enclosure so just enough is hanging off for me to be able to get the UTH on without having to move him.

Thoughts?

Hey, you're going to need an additional heat source. Not another UTH. Heat mats are designed solely to provide a hot spot to aid in digestion. They're not made to raise ambient temps. So you'll need a heat lamp with either a bulb or CHE (ceramic heat emitter). Or you'll need a RHP (radiant heat panel).

Bulbs are the cheapest, but last the least amount of time. CHEs are a little more money but last MUCH longer and don't shine any actual light. RHPs are definitely the most expensive, but definitely the best option.

Another heat mat simply won't do the trick.

We already have a bulb. Doesnt do enough for cold side before hot side gets too hot.

10g long

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ranulf

We already have a bulb. Doesnt do enough for cold side before hot side gets too hot.

10g long

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Is the bulbon a thermostat?

Its on the same thermostat as the hotside.

I put aluminum foil on about 1/3 of the screen on each side, leaving the middle 1/3 open. The bulb is sitting incthe middle section now, haven't been home to see if its helped much yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ranulf

Its on the same thermostat as the hotside.

I put aluminum foil on about 1/3 of the screen on each side, leaving the middle 1/3 open. The bulb is sitting incthe middle section now, haven't been home to see if its helped much yet.

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Ok. It's tough to keep a temp gradient in such I small enclosure. I struggle with that with my little Hognose enclosure.
It's just a matter of finding the right bulb and right location and dialing it in. It takes a little time and patience, but you'll get it. It gets easier once the enclosures are bigger.

Should I get a 40g now and just subdivide it?

You certainly could. I've never divided a tank but know of plenty of people doing it. Just be very careful what you use for adhesive.

If you choose to go that route I'd suggest starting a new thread and getting advice from people who've done that.

Good luck! I hope I helped. And I'm sure others will be chiming in too..

Thanks. Got home and the humidity levels are looking good still. Air temp in the tank is about what it is outside today, around 75° (house temp about 68°-70° atm). Hopefully these temperatures stick around this time, as we should be warm for at least the next ten days. I also took out the half-log cold hide he never used (though he did like using the outside of it for shedding) and replaced it with a small zilla humidity hide.

I squeezed out the spanghum moss like I would squeeze out a sponge. Hopefully thats the right way to do it.

If he still isn't done shedding by tomorrow morning, should we follow bad shed procedure?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ranulf

Thanks. Got home and the humidity levels are looking good still. Air temp in the tank is about what it is outside today, around 75° (house temp about 68°-70° atm). Hopefully these temperatures stick around this time, as we should be warm for at least the next ten days. I also took out the half-log cold hide he never used (though he did like using the outside of it for shedding) and replaced it with a small zilla humidity hide.

I squeezed out the spanghum moss like I would squeeze out a sponge. Hopefully thats the right way to do it.

If he still isn't done shedding by tomorrow morning, should we follow bad shed procedure?

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Yes, squeezing out the sphagnum moss is the right way to do it :) I would say that if he still has stuck shed tomorrow yes it's a good idea to give him some help. We have some great threads on this forum showing how to do it if you need any guidance.

I used to have a similar problem with the cool side of my enclosure. I have a 30g Sterilite tub and the ambient temp in my house in the winter is around 70F. My hot spot was at 90F with a UTH but the surface of the substrate on the cool side would fall to 73F. I ended up fixing the problem by installing a CHE on a separate thermostat on the cool side and setting it to 80F. The ambient temp is now 80F on the cool side and 79F on the warm side. That's a solution you could consider if you're having trouble with ambient temps and the cool side being too cold.

I'll try that out once I get another thermostat.

He is really active right now, moving all over his tank and rubbing wherever he can. Some more shed is coming off but its slow progress. We are going to check him tomorrow morning and see how he did, and do bad shed procedure if he didnt get it all.

He likes the new hide for rubbing against but as far as I can tell, he hasn't even peeked inside. I'm guessing its too late in the shed process for him to want to go in there and perhaps the temps aren't where he wants them.

He also has been checking out the new aluminum on top of his terrarium. He doesn't seem like he is trying to get out. I think he is hungry.

We got him 2 weeks ago yesterday so he was probably getting ready to shed shortly after we got him home, or even before, and we didn't notice because...well we didn't have time to evaluate his normal appearance. We fed him for the first time two weeks ago this wednesday, and he ate fine. Last week wednesday he didn't eat. We put it down as due to the new enclosure and potentially too early in the evening, but now its likely he was pre shed.

We have not handled him at all since we got him, so the first indication we had that he was shedding is when we came home late and saw shed on him when we turned on the lights.

Humidity has been a problem this entire time and I'm not sure how useful bumping humidity up to 70% + is *after* he already starts sloughing. Given the timeline of the shed, we should have probably had him at 70%+ since the day we brought him home.

I guess I can't really complain though, this whole experience has taught me a lot and he doesnt seem too stressed.

I think I am more stressed than he is!

Well, the shed came off this morning just fine after following the procedure laid out here on the forums.

He was a little tense when we first started handling him, but soon he was trying to crawl everywhere as we were running him through the washcloth. He didn't strike at us at all. We put him back in his enclosure, left for a fe whours, and came back to see him still roaming his enclosure and climbing his tree (which he really likes doing).

Ambient cold side temps are right at 78 and hot spot temp is at 90. Humidity is between 70-75 still.

Is he stressed and trying to get out after being handled for the shed, or is he just happy to have his shed off and is having fun exploring during the day?

He also seems hungry, so could this be a sign he wants food? We plan on feeding him tomorrow night since we handled him this morning.

Well, it won't let me edit any more so here are a few more details:

He is on top of the "leaves" of his favorite tree, just sitting there. Tongue not flicking, motionless, doesn't seem to have moved since we got home. Heh. As I am writing this he is starting to move again. I think he reacted to street noise as now he is motionless again.
His tail is below him gripping a protrusion on his tree.

Spanghum moss is scattered throughout his enclosure, and I didn't notice this, but there is a small flake or two of it inside his warm hide. I never saw him go anywhere near the spanghum moss thats in his enclosure before, is it possible he doesn't like it, and now that its everywhere, he is staying as far as he can from it?

We moved his humid hide and bowl to the center of his enclosure. His tree is now the farthest thing over on the cold side. We are trying this because he otherwise would never go in his cold hide. We did this when we put everything back into his enclosure after taking it all out for the assisted shed. Is it possible the change is too much?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ranulf

Well, the shed came off this morning just fine after following the procedure laid out here on the forums.

He was a little tense when we first started handling him, but soon he was trying to crawl everywhere as we were running him through the washcloth. He didn't strike at us at all. We put him back in his enclosure, left for a fe whours, and came back to see him still roaming his enclosure and climbing his tree (which he really likes doing).

Ambient cold side temps are right at 78 and hot spot temp is at 90. Humidity is between 70-75 still.

Is he stressed and trying to get out after being handled for the shed, or is he just happy to have his shed off and is having fun exploring during the day?

He also seems hungry, so could this be a sign he wants food? We plan on feeding him tomorrow night since we handled him this morning.

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Mine will only strike the food from WITHIN their hides ... maybe worth waiting till he’s awake but UNDER a hide then dangle the mouse in front of the hide entrance...


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https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen..._162035350.jpg

Sorry for the grainy image, I don't want to disturb him. Currently he is like this in his tree. He peers around at the ground every now and then, and when the heat lamp comes on, he likes going up and seeing what the hell is going on. Otherwise, he just sits and stares at the ground. As I write this he is clinging to the tree with his aft end and scoping out his enclosure with the rest of himself.

He has been focused on his humidity hide, is it possible he is trying to hunt?

First thing I though was it was too cold, and he was trying to get close to the heat lamp, but the hot spot is on the right side and he is where the coldest temps in the tank are probably. Temp on the hot side is at 90°