Shedding Question

My son's ball python has a horrible time shedding - he has had maybe two successful entire sheds in one and half year. The others I have had to "help". This time he shed back half and not head nor front end. I've let him have a go at it and now appears ready to do a full shed again - but he still has a lot on head that has not come off and it appears to be too much to shed. Eyes look bad ... worried and don't have a vet to treat here, although not sure that is what we need. Any help/advise?

Hi and welcome to our forums! You're sure to get the help you need here, but you'll probably get asked a ton of questions...so brace yourself. ;)


First off...what kind of set-up do you have for the snake? Do you measure the temps and humidity levels in the cage with an accurate digital meter? How old and how big is the snake?

Proper humidity is essential for a ball python to shed easily. They should be kept in around 50%-60% humidity on average, daily...and then when they go into their shed cycle, this should be bumped up to about 70% for the duration of the cycle...usually a few days to a week.

We'll help you get through this shed and then fix things up so this doesn't happen again. :)

36" tank - repti bark on cool end with hide. water in middle and paper towel on warm end with under tank heat pad and infrared bulb over climbing thing. Glass top on one side and screen on the other - covered with plastic except where lamp is. Use a pump to try and keep humidity up but hard to get and keep over 60. Temp close to 80 - again hard to keep temp high.

We bought him 14 months ago - I don't know why I say "him" - don't know. IT is 22+ inches long. When he decides to eat.... will eat 2 frozen fuzzies. Been about a month but with shedding problem have tried to leave him alone thinking too much handling or stress .... AAAAAHHHH will appreciate any help.

Ok...what are you using to measure the temperature and humidity? The little stick-on dials or strips from the petstore are virtually useless. If you go to WalMart, you can find a really nice indoor/outdoor digital unit that measures temps in two locations (hot side and cool side of your tank) as well as the overall humidity. And it costs well under $15.


You want your warm side temps to be in the range of 90-94 degrees and the cool side about 10 degrees less.

They also do best with TWO hides in the tank...one on the warm side and one on the cool side...that way they don't have to choose between feeling secure or finding the right temp for their body.

First thing, though...is to get the little guy some help with that shed. Two things to try. ONE: Fill a tub with tepid water (some call it luke warm, but that may be too warm for your snake...to your touch, you don't want the water to feel either warm or cold)...about 1/2 of the height of your snake's body. Let him soak for about an hour and then slither around in a damp towel to see if any of that old shed comes off.

TWO: Make a humid hide: Get a tupperware-type container with a lid that your snake can fit into. (They like 'em snug) Cut a hole that he can crawl through, either in the lid or the container itself. Layer it with damp (NOT dripping wet) paper towels and set it on the warm side of the tank. Hopefully he'll choose to crawl in there and soak up that extra humidity. You can use that for the duration of the shedding process until he's all cleaned up.

I know there are other things to try as well, and I'm sure others will chime in here.

okay - so the whole unit is toooo cold...

I can remedy extra hide on warm side NOW. I can buy new therm - because yes, I have a stick on dial for temp & humidity - in the morning.
Should I put "squeezer" in the sink to soak?
Does it matter if tupperware thingy is opaque or should it be dark in color?

I wouldn't use the sink because there are all sorts of chemical/soap residues in there. ...although folks use bathtubs without ill effects. Trouble with a sink also is its size and lack of a lid. LOL Squeezer (cute name!) may not want to stay in there. A big sterelite tub with a lid would work well. Make sure it can get air and the lid is secure and do not leave unattended!


As for the humid hide...opaque or dark would be best because they'll really feel like they're hiding.

You don't really know for sure if your temps are too cold because those dials just aren't accurate enough to tell. They are frequently as much as 10+ degrees off. :( Plus, they are measuring the part of the tank where they are stuck on...and what you want to know is the temperature of the floor of the tank where the snake is actually laying.

A UTH is usually enough to warm the hot side, and will often get TOO hot if it is not controlled with a thermostat or rheostat (dimmer switch) of some kind. Can you rest your hand on the floor of the tank over the UTH without burning yourself? If so, then I'm sure it's safe enough for now until you can get a real thermometer in there.

Okay Judy - I feel like I have been to the dr with Squeezer - thanks. Right now hubby and I are getting ready to go out - BUT I have fashioned a new hide out of a velveeta plastic container - dark lid, almost not see thru - with warm a little more than damp paper towel. He hasn't gone in yet...

Will see when we come home. Tomorrow, I will soak him, get the right thermometer and check back in with you. My 17 year old daughter saw what I was doing and said MOM, he can't take the lid off. I did cut a hole for him! Children.
I feel as though I have found a "snake home" for myself. Remember it was the 7 yr old that wanted him. Ugh.
Check in tomorrow.
Shawne

LOL...isn't it always this way when we buy pets for the kids?


Sounds like you're off to a good start. We'll take it one step at a time.

Once again, welcome aboard!

Welcome to the forum Shawne, glad you've joined us! Here's a picture of what Judy was describing. This is the Acu-Rite from WalMart (generally found in the outdoor thermeter/hygrometer area/weather stations). You can also find something similar at Lowe's and Home Depot though under other brand names. It runs off one AAA battery. It will default to time, temp, humidity but with a few pushes of the buttons you get an IN temp (the actual unit reads this), and OUT temp (what the probe reads) and a general humidity for the enclosure. You simply pop the unit itself into the cool end of the enclosure (I velcro mine to the side) then feed the long thin probe cord over to the warm side and either read the temps at substrate level there or tuck the probe right into the warm hide. Bingo....for less than $15.00 you now have a very accurate digital read of the cool side and warm side temps at substrate level where your ball python spends it's life and the overall enclosure humidity. It's a gem! LOL

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../Accu-Rite.jpg

You may have to do a lot of tweakin and fiddling around to get your temps and humidity stable and whatever other husbandry things need a bit of adjustment, and it does take time for the snake to adjust to any changes even good ones, but it will pay off many times over.

Please feel free to ask any questions that come up, search our BP forums, read our BP caresheet and enjoy the site and the wonderful folks that regularily come here. We're pleased you've found us!


~~Joanna~~

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JLC

Fill a tub with tepid water (some call it luke warm, but that may be too warm for your snake...to your touch, you don't want the water to feel either warm or cold)...about 1/2 of the height of your snake's body. Let him soak for about an hour and then slither around in a damp towel to see if any of that old shed comes off.

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Adding to this Judy. Put the tub(sealed with lid) inside his enclosure and let him soak for an hour before you let him run through your hand or towel. Placing the tub inside keeps the water temps where you wan't it to be and creates a sauna like effect that helps in getting the stuck shed off. Good luck.

Good Sunday morning to you all. Squeezer never got in the hide box on the warm side...

He is now taking a soak. Doesn't seem to love it - very slithery. Enclosure too big to put in cage so he is by the door - semi sun - on floor 1/2 covered with dark towel. Don't ask why, just seemed like the right thing to do. Hoping he doesn't ATTACK me when I take him out! Although he is a very docile snake as far as I know....
Will see if he sloughs himself - going to clean out cage while he is out and make hide on both sides.
Will report later. Thanks for all the help.

Thanks for the update! Keep working at it and pretty soon everything will be peachy-keen.


I think we should coin a new saying: "You can lead a bp to humid hide, but you can't make him enter!" LOL

OMGosh - He will either love me or hate me. Brophy (the 7yr old owner) and I took Squeezer out of the soak, dampened the dark towel and went outside. It is about 85 today.... I commenced to getting him to slither through the towel and bits began coming off. Kinda like a kid (well we are kids) we were obliged to pick a little. The kid thought that was really cool. I could not get any of the skin off his head - and I wish I had taken a picture - it and his eyes looked HORRIBLE. So I forced him to push his head through my hand holding the damp towel. Ahhh a little progress, and 15 minutes later we had achieved a TOTAL shed. At least a couple layers on his head and upper body and then the new shed the rest of the body. Truly it was incrediblel and I have to think he will thank me. I did have to pull the skin (2 layers) off of his head, it just would not slough off. I didn't realize that the skin was over his eyes too. WOW a snake experience that we will never forget and I assume not the last!
Now, next question - how long should I wait to feed him? I know he has to be hungry but don't want to put him in total overload!
Thanks all - what a great site. Shawne

Well, hopefully you won't ever have to go to such heroic efforts to help with a shed. Maintaining 50%-60% daily should help temendously for the next one. In the right environment, a snake should be able to shed entirely on its own without any intervention on our part.


If I were in your shoes, I'd wait a few more days to feed him...let him get settled and "relaxed" again. I'm sure he's feeling MUCH better now, though, having gotten all that stuck skin off.

How are the eyes looking now?

His eyes look much better - like 200% better. He has not come out of his cool side hide at all yet the rest of the day. Got the new thermometer - Temp is 75 cool side - 85 wrm side and 64% humidity.

The air conditioner had to be turned on today - bet it was 90 out. That will keep me on my toes trying to regulate temp. But feel much more comfortable with digital read. Thanks!

Try and bump up the cold end to 82-84 and warm side to 92-94. Temps below 82 are undesirable for a bp. Also, see if you can invest in a container that can be fit inside the enclosure. It keeps the temps where your bp needs them to be and takes the guess work out of it.

Glad to hear the old stuck skin finally came off. Been there myself with layers upon layers of old shed and eyecaps and it's never fun. Sometimes you have to soak repeatedly to get it off.


You might want to consider an UTH (under tank heater). Glass tanks are a bit fiddly to get just right as far as heat and humidity but with help you'll get there I'm sure. You do need to bump the temps up a bit and especially with A/C in the house you're going to have even more issues that way. As well the heat lamp isn't going to keep up enough and it tends to dry the tank. So you get lower temps and low humidity....upping your chance for either an ill snake, a snake that can't or won't feed as it can't properly thermoregulate for digestion or a snake that just can't shed properly. Not to scare you at all, just being honest here.

There's lots of options for the UTH, in a variety of price ranges and you'll find your life so much more simple getting rid of the lamp or using it only as a supplimentary heat source. Please don't let the pet store tell you to buy a heat rock...they are bad and known to burn snakes and lizards explosed to them.

I'd definitely give the snake a few days to settle down before offering a feed. Maybe take those days to work on the heating/humidity issues. Even a good change in the tank environment stresses a snake so after any change you need to let the snake adjust for at least a few days or even better up to a week. It won't bother the snake to miss a weekly meal while you get stuff organized, in the wild they certainly don't snarf down a juicy rat or mouse every Thursday LOL.

Best of luck and please feel free to keep asking questions. Our caresheet is here as well as a great search function in Ball Python Husbandry so you can read lots of good common sense advice. Your certainly not the first or last person whose had to tweak a setup so don't feel odd about asking for help there.


~~Jo~~

Thanks Jo - I do have an under the tank heater and the infrared

I fear my challenge is the tall glass aquarium type tank. I think probably a shorter one would have served us better. But ... that is what we have and if at all possible I do want to work with it.
Wondering how to "fiddle" with the temp now - maby a larger uth? - and then perhaps I could do away with the infrared light? But, I thought the light was good for basking.... Different books, different sites, a dumb pet store, no local vet..... I'm glad I found you guys because here you get lots of different advice, but, pretty much all along the same lines - and you guys actually have bps!
So - I am going to wait another to try and feed but would appreciate any help with bringing the temp up in the tank.
Shawne

Try this link. Good information for setting up a tank.

Tank Setup

I keep my BP's in big sterlite/rubbermaid type bins so I'm not the one to give advice about glass environments but we do have a good number of folks here that are very successful and I'm sure they'll chime in with good advice for you. Glass is a challenge but not impossible to get sorted out.


Ball pythons do best with belly heat so the UTH is the way to go. The extra overhead lighting can be used to push up your warm side temp but the downside is it will dry out the enclosure and drop your humidity. Sort of exchanging one problem for another unfortunately.

Here's a wonderful resource a member of this forum (Krynos) recently wrote up as he and Cassandra have both their snakes in lovely glass viv's. Rick (Krynos) will be the first to admit he is very particular about his set-ups and spends a lot of time and money on them so this is the ultimate of glass viv setup. You may wish to adjust this slightly to your particular needs...but it's a very good resource to see what is possible. Cass also does the most beautiful looking yet snake safe glass enclosures.

http://www.onlinethingy.com/files/gr...ges/guide.html

Do a search in the forums (husbandry, caging, etc) using glass or glass viv or the like. You should find a ton of threads there with some stellar advice to start you off.

Not surprising at all that the pet store isn't much help, after all most of them still sell tons of those darned heat rocks. Also not always easy to find a herp vet but again there are resources we can likely help you with that way too as we've all had to do the vet search at some point or other lol. If you want a wonderful brand new book on ball pythons that very well respected try this one....

http://www.newenglandreptile.com/book.html

It's worth every cent so I've been told (and yes I'm hinting about getting it for Mother's Day this year LOL).


~~Jo~~

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

If you want a wonderful brand new book on ball pythons that very well respected try this one....

http://www.newenglandreptile.com/book.html

It's worth every cent so I've been told (and yes I'm hinting about getting it for Mother's Day this year LOL).


~~Jo~~

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Mine's coming in the mail!!!! :banana: :banana: Mine's coming in the mail!!!!:banana: :banana:
I can hardly wait!!!! Should be here some time this week!