And by "leave him alone" you mean...?

First of all, I am extremely lucky in that my $40 second-hand normal bp, Nathan Scott Phillips, is totally idiot-proof. He turned out to be a she (though I have not been so kind as to inform the person I got her from) and is older than I was told (180g yearling is my vet's guess). However, she has been extremely good-tempered and has eaten regularly since I got her (for which I am unbelievably thrilled).

Having had her 6 weeks, I've been waiting on her to start shedding. I did not hold her tuesday night as I'd just fed her Sunday, but I looked in on her and saw her in her humidity hide (with wet sphagnum moss). Due to my ceramic heat lamp, I haven't been able to get the overall tank humidity above 35%, so I put in a couple of soaking bowls, mist the tank daily, put in the humid hide, and have soaked her a time or two (because she took longer than usual to poop, which made me think she was constipated and dehydrated even though her skin didn't indicate that). So anyway, last night I go to pick her up. She was in a ball, so I didn't see her head until she was in my hand, and then I saw that her eyes were clouded. It startled me to the point that I nearly jumped. I put her back in her hide, sprayed the moss, and left her be. My question is this... I know that they shouldn't be handled while their eyes are cloudy. I don't want to stress her out, but with my humidity only being 35% ambiant, I want to spray the moss at least once a day. How much is that going to stress her to pick up her hide box? Is there a better way? Also, I plan to soak her when her eyes clear, but should it be a soak or would a wet pillowcase be better? It's our first shed... I'm so proud and totally have no idea what I am doing.

Any help is appreciated.

Rachel

just spray the interior of the cage. that raises the ambient humidity.

What kind of enclosure do you have? if you've got something with a screen top, then try putting a damp towel on top of the screen...that works awesome for raising and maintaining humidity.

35% is pretty low ambient humidity. Even with the humid hide, I'd try spritzing the cage once or twice a day to at least try and bump it up some. Maybe put a clean, damp sponge on the warm side of the enclosure and change it out each time it dries.


As for moistening the moss in the humid hide, I guess you'll have to play that by ear a bit. Since I don't know the setup, its hard to say how much you'd have to bother the snake in order to take care of it. Maybe you could make a second, identical hide and put it in the cage as well...and then just check and moisten whichever one the snake isn't in.

Whatever you end up doing though, there's no need to soak the snake BEFORE a shed. Doing so can actually end up making the shed more difficult, rather than helping. Wait and see how things go first. Just provide as much humidity as you can, and make sure there is plenty of fresh water for proper hydration.

(We should probably address that humidity issue, but that can wait until after the shed, and for a new thread, if you like. ;) )

It is a 30gallon glass enclosure with a partially tinfoil/duct-taped top, so I can't do the towel bit though I will spray the tank itself. Before the duct-tape, the ambiant humidity was 23%, misting twice a day. In the plastic sweater box I had him in, the humidity was almost 80% and the temps weren't warm enough because the UTH couldn't get enough heat through the plastic. Damn logistics.

180 gram yearling? I'm sorry I sound a bit surprised by that seems awfully small for a snake of a year old. We have four 06 hatchlings here from four different sources...one May 06, two June 06's and an August 06 and every one of them is heavier than that. Are you sure your vet said this was a healthy yearling?

As long as humidity levels are up in the optimum range you shouldn't need a damp pillowcase or the soaking but they do help in having a complete 1 peice shed. Both great options if there is a retaining of shed as well. I have screen top tanks/aquariums myself and i use used aluminum foil and plastic wrap to cover half or more of the tank to see the humidity level increase to where it should be. Just make sure the humidity levels are where they should be and keep handling time low and you she should shed just fine.


my :2cent:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

180 gram yearling? Are you sure your vet said this was a healthy yearling?

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Are you sure this vet is a qualified reptile vet and not just a Dog/cat vet?
That would be the question that comes to my attention...

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Originally Posted by JLC

(We should probably address that humidity issue, but that can wait until after the shed, and for a new thread, if you like. ;) )

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Yeah, I have no idea what to do about the humidity issue. I would try to make a humidifier if I could, but I am absolutely certain that I would hydro-electrocute myself in the process. I've tried putting water bowls on the UTH to cause humidity. I have water bowls on the warm and cool side. My temps are 82-84 and 92-94 and stable with my Helix, ceramic heat lamp, and flexwatt tape. I spritz daily. I have the tank somewhat insulated (towel draped over and around so that if my cat happened to break into that room during the day, he wouldn't stare at the poor snake all day as he wont to do). Can I buy a humidifier that is pre-rigged to work in my set-up? Can I bribe someone here to make it for me?

Thanks for the info on the soak though; anapsid.org recommended that I do it, but I think I should wait and see how she does.

what purpose does the tin foil and duct tape serve?

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Originally Posted by JLC

there's no need to soak the snake BEFORE a shed. Doing so can actually end up making the shed more difficult, rather than helping. )

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]

Some snakes may soak themselves if the water bowl is big enough. I've had snakes that did from time to time... As far as making it more difficult...short periods of soaking will actually make their skin drier...

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Originally Posted by nathanledet

what purpose does the tin foil and duct tape serve?

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IF your asking me? The same reason as the damp towel...
I put the water on the other end of the tank...opposite of the heat lamp...and cover up that side of the tank. I actually started doing it after trying using the towel. THe towel option worked as far as keeping things optimum but I ended up needing it...so...I said screw it and put aluminum foil on one of the screen lids (55gal)...works great though! it works and that's all that matters..

nevermind my bad...you weren't talking to me...but i think I answered what you were asking tho..

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Originally Posted by djslurp1200

Are you sure this vet is a qualified reptile vet and not just a Dog/cat vet?
That would be the question that comes to my attention...

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Actually, the vet tech is the one that described the age. The vet is the only one in my area that specializes in reptiles as far as I can tell. But I am not certain I am totally sold on her and her vet tech, who told me stuff I knew was not a great idea...like feeding the snake every 10 days. My schedule is that I feed her the day after she poops, which ends up being every Sunday. I've considered offering her 2 mice, but I don't know. She is definitely small. I would say 18-20inches max, with width of a hopper mouse (though she never has a bulge from eating). I have a pic of her at home that I can post. The breeder (who did not breed her) guestimated 6months. Maybe he was right? According to the vet, she is healthy and has no parasites. What would you guess her age to be?

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Originally Posted by nathanledet

what purpose does the tin foil and duct tape serve?

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Here's the thread that explains how, but yeah. The why is for humidity and heat reasons. Hopefully this link works.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ght=reflective

I am in no way able to really tell you how old your snake is but I would guess a few months...They all grow differently at differen't speeds from what I have learned and seen. As long as she's eating healthy for you and her conditions are real good I wouldn't be too concerned. Just keep feeding her once a week and best of luck with her. Keep us updated as she gets bigger/older.

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Originally Posted by LostElise

My schedule is that I feed her the day after she poops, which ends up being every Sunday.

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As your snake gets older it might not go as freqently as it does now, so its probably not going to be a reliable way to gauge a feeding schedule. Once a week with the appropriate sized prey is the best way to go IMO.

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Originally Posted by djslurp1200

IF your asking me? The same reason as the damp towel...
I put the water on the other end of the tank...opposite of the heat lamp...and cover up that side of the tank. I actually started doing it after trying using the towel. THe towel option worked as far as keeping things optimum but I ended up needing it...so...I said screw it and put aluminum foil on one of the screen lids (55gal)...works great though! it works and that's all that matters..

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Do you have room to put a second water dish under the heat lamp? This might help to raise the humidity as well.

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Originally Posted by ErikH

Do you have room to put a second water dish under the heat lamp? This might help to raise the humidity as well.

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I actually don't... Not for my 55 gal.
My big girl lives in the 55gal and i had to actually go out and buy her a dog bowl for a water dish so she wouldn't knock it over .99 cents at wal-mart!
:rockon:

however when she finishes up her quarantine and i attempt to breed her I will replace it with a much much smaller water dish...

I don't know that putting a water dish under the heat lamp would help. It just seemed to make the water go low fast. I know it evaporated, but it seemed like it dried the air more than moisten it. I may try it again just in case though. I may start another thread about heat, because I came home to find the hot side at 90.7 degrees. Since I replaced my wal-mart heating pad with the flex-watt, I've had to repeatedly increase the set point on the helix. I am considering just buying a rheostat, putting it on low and hooking it to the flexwatt on the cool side, putting the heating pad back and then having to rely on the heat lamp less and possibly see if that helps the temps and humidity? Sound okay?

The heat lamp is likely your problem. Heat lamps suck the humidity out like a darn sponge so best to avoid their use and choose other heating methods (belly heat is always preferred anyways above overhead lamps).

Hard to say how old the BP is. At that weight though it's unlikely it's a yearling though. Here's my four 06's if that helps for comparison (though with only the snake in each pic I know it's hard to see their actual relative size). They weigh in the range of 195 to 225 and were all hatched this year from four seperate sources from May to August. A run through our BP Pictures forum may help you view lots of other BP's of various sizes and ages and compare that to your BP. All grow at different rates though so two snakes of close age could be significantly different in size.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=38886

The size you mentioned (18-20"?) would also suggest it's one of this year's babies. Mine is just over a year and weighs in at 1025g.

I also tend to suffer slightly low humidity so when shed time is here not only do I add a humid hide (which I put in the middle) but I also shove a bit of sphagnum moss into each of the other two hides also (no escape :D ) as well as spraying a few times a day.

Here's my yearling - with a small rat for size comparison (she's actually wider than it)
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...007_871169.jpg

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Originally Posted by LostElise

Yeah, I have no idea what to do about the humidity issue.

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I've been testing different substrates with each cleaning...what kind are you using right now? Aspen worked well in the summer, but became too dry while we had the heater on, so I've recently moved to the EcoEarth type stuff. That made a HUGE difference in my tank.

[QUOTE=jenakle]I've been testing different substrates with each cleaning...what kind are you using right now? QUOTE]

I am using newspaper right now just because it is easy to see when she poos. I would prefer something that she could burrow in and feel more comfortable with, but I haven't gotten any because I am afraid of lowering the humidity any more than it already is before she sheds.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

The heat lamp is likely your problem. Heat lamps suck the humidity out like a darn sponge so best to avoid their use and choose other heating methods (belly heat is always preferred anyways above overhead lamps).

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In the plastic container it was all belly heat, which i would prefer. The problem is that my flexwatt isn't enough heat. I would love to get rid of the heat lamp. It makes it hot as hell in the room the snakes in, which is also known as my bedroom. And I can't function at 85 degrees when I wake up at 8am. I have a 30gallon critter cage. It's 36x18x12. I have one foot of 11inch flex watt under it, but it doesn't touch the glass itself, about 1/4-1/2 inches below it. That doesn't really work for me. The cheap heating pad on low worked better, but I was too afraid of it shorting out and heating up too high. To achieve humidity, I lose heat. I get the right temp, I lose the humidity. I'm pretty much out of ideas and really frustrated.