help fast

Hello, iv had my ball python for over a month now and hes been shedding for about 3 weeks now and got it all off exept the around the head and 2-3 inches down. What do I do about this?

just give'em a warm soak and it will come off automatically

I'd use a wet cloth and start to whipe it off slowly. Don't try and hold the head or neck down when doing this, just do what you can and maybe give it a bath. then check your humidity levals because there are way off to the point of unhealthy. If you can get your humidity levals correct then the next shed should take care of this.

How long do i soak him for

Soak him in a plastic tub for about a half hour... a sterilite/rubbermade tub works best. Fill it with enough water to come halfway up his side, put him in, put the lid on, and leave him. Then use the warm, wet wash cloth to try and take the shed off him.

Should I be expecting to get bit to??? like after he soaks?

I don't know why he'd bite you, unless he's completely stressed out. If he starts striking after his soak, don't worry about rubbing him down... just put him back in his cage, and soak again tomorrow.

The soaking with hydrate him, moisten his skin up, and allow him to get it off himself.

Important!! When you soak him make sure you put the container back into the cage. You don't want him getting too cold. That just leads to RI infections. I've done the soaking for an hour, then used a wash cloth to let mine slither through after the soak. After two soakings, all the shed was off. Just make sure that the eyecaps come off, and that no remaining shed completely encircles the snake.

I feel like an idiot asking all this. "Just make sure that the eyecaps come off"??? whats that? And thank you all for this and I did my first soak already and he tryed taging me but didnt get me so I went ahead and quit with the wash cloth.

The eyecap is the scale that covers the eye. You want eyes that are clear and bright, not cloudy and dull. Don't worry about asking questions, if you don't ask you don't learn!! :D

Did you get the majority of the shed off?

Need to get your temps and humidity right. Warm end should be 92 deg F, cool end about 80 - 82 deg F. My BPs humidity is usually around 50 - 55% when they're not in shed. As soon as I see them going into shed I whack the humidity up which is easy to do. I put an extra water dish in the warm end right under the ceramic heat lamp and spray the inside of the viv about 3 or 4 times a day with a plant mister (cheap and cheerful and works well). Apart from my adopted rescue BP, Bobby who was in a bit of a state when I first got him and I had to help him with his shed the first time he shed with us, I don't have any problems with either BP. The last shed Bobby had, he managed himself - all off in one piece, eyecaps included. As soon as they've shed, I allow the humidity to come back down to 50 - 55%. A lot of it also depends on your climate. Over here in the UK it can vary from day to day and even hour to hour! If you haven't got one, get a humidity gauge. They're fairly cheap to buy. I think you can get them at Walmart over there for under £5 ($9 ?).


Hope this helps.

Yes iv got most off but will try and do the rest tomarrow. He tryed biting me but didnt so I thought I would leave him alone for the night even though I was trying again about 5 minutes ago. One more question... maybe. The vetrenerians office that we take our dogs to has a vetrenarian there thats experienced with snakes. Should I take him there and get him checked out?

If you've never had him checked out, it's not a bad idea. It's always good to know that your snake is parasite free, but it's not necessary to take him to the vet because he has a small amount of retained shed.