shedding

how often do balls usually shed? ive had mine for two months and it hasnt shed. It now four months old. Is this bad? What would make them not shed?

Thanks

My younger bps usually shed every 6 weeks. What are you feeding her? Are you measuring her weight?

my ball usually only shed about every two months.

thanks, i looked at him today and his eyes are grey, and he is really dull, do i need to do anything to help him?

Make sure the humidity is in the 60-70% range...and leave him alone for a few days...probably the best thing you can do for him. :)

Keep your humidity at 60%. If you don't have a way to measure humidity, Target carries an indoor/outdoor thermometer that measures relative humidity as well. Its about $9.

More info on your setup would allow us to help you more. What kind of enclosure is it? How do you heat it?

I have it in a 30 gallon aquarium, i use an under tank heater and i forgot what they are called but a heat lamp that doesnt give off light. Right now it has vinyl on the bottom, two hides, three sticks, and a fake vine. And a huge water dish. Someone asked what i fed it. I feed it live rats. Every Friday. Anything else?

Just mist down the enclosure a couple times per day to keep the humidity up. The overhead lamp you have is probably a ceramic heater- those really dry out the air. Just make up for it in spraying.

Just pop up your humidity until he's shed and basically leave him to it, provide his fresh water, remove any wastes and let him "git r done" so to speak LOL. Most snakes don't like being fussed with during this time and may refuse to eat the week they are in shed. Don't be surprised if he appears to have shed (looks normal again) but you don't find the shed. They do this about 48 hours or so before the actual shedding occurs. Some also leave a poop wrapped up inside the shed (lovely surprise when you are trying to unwrap a really nice shed and find that! LOL).

Once he's shed just give him a good look over, especially his eyes and the very tip of his tail, to make sure he's not retained any bits of old skin.

~~Jo~~

Thanks for the help. I was wondering how long does it usually take for them to shed? And if i do find bits of skin after he sheds, do i try and pull it off or take it to the vet?

Usually you'll see a pinkish belly, then the dulling of their colors and those telltale blue eyes...after a few days of this the snake will appear to have gone back to normal. About 48 hours or so after that...you should find a shed...whole cycle takes about a week give or take. Just check the snake afterwards to make sure all the old skin is off especially the eyecaps and the tail tip.

If there is retained eyecaps or retained shed you can soak the snake and then let it slither through a warmish, wet face cloth to help the rest slip off. To soak just put the snake into a small margarine container with just enough tepid water to come partway up the snake's body but not enough that it has to swim at all. Pop the lid on the container, put the whole thing, container and snake back into the tank on the warm side and leave for an hour. Remove snake, let it slither through the facecloth and most of the time whatever was stuck comes off pretty easily. Some people like to put a facecloth in the margarine container with the water and the snake to help it rub against while soaking.

~~Jo~~