Aweseome writeup.
Damian's been chilling in his hide the last couple days and not evening coming out at night since I think Friday. When I checked this AM it appeared his belly had a pink tint to it. I could be in for my first shed with Damain since I got him 1/13/06.
03-08-2006, 07:23 AM
Damian7
Re: The Shedding Process
It's official he's going into shed. I checked on him this morning (he still has not left his hide in 4 days) and his eyes have become cloudy. Thing is today is his feeding day. Should I go ahead and try and feed him?
03-08-2006, 09:45 AM
daniel1983
Re: The Shedding Process
I would not feed live prey when the eyes are blue. If you feed f/t or p/k, go for it. Some ball pythons will eat during shed...some won't. I don't feed during shed....kinda consider it a week off to give the girls a break from digesting constantly....it is not like they are getting 1 rodent a week in the wild :)
03-30-2006, 12:19 AM
4Khan
Re: The Shedding Process
Very informative...
Now do a piece on the not so fun side to your BP shedding process..like how the humidity has to be just right..the no feeding..the wet towel trick, the eye caps all that stuff. My 2 foot ball just shed for me and it took over a week with my help as a final straw, its not only stressfull for your ball but you as an owner..you want nothing more than to have it run smoothly but thats not always the case.
Great article and great pictures!
03-30-2006, 08:01 AM
frankykeno
Re: The Shedding Process
Oh did I miss the part where keeping ball pythons was supposed to be totally easy LOL. I figure though if it was say a dog you'd be dealing with grooming, getting it's shots each year, shovelling up dog crap daily, local leash laws, getting it's tags...yada...yada. Fiddling a bit with a snake's enclosure or just about any husbandry issue with them still seems like a lot less work than one small yappy poodle but maybe that's just me LOL.
03-30-2006, 01:07 PM
daniel1983
Re: The Shedding Process
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4Khan
Very informative...
Now do a piece on the not so fun side to your BP shedding process..like how the humidity has to be just right..the no feeding..the wet towel trick, the eye caps all that stuff. My 2 foot ball just shed for me and it took over a week with my help as a final straw, its not only stressfull for your ball but you as an owner..you want nothing more than to have it run smoothly but thats not always the case.
Great article and great pictures!
Working on it :).....and putting a humid hide in the enclosure will generally make a shed go much better
04-25-2006, 01:14 PM
Cloud7659
Re: The Shedding Process
Great write-up. Im glad its a sticky. Mine shed very quickly after a soak. Really an amazing process to witness.
04-26-2006, 06:30 PM
phoenix-dancing
Re: The Shedding Process
Great write up...my girl has not had any issues since the first shed after I brought her home -- once I did get my AP cage and mist each day, she sheds in one piece usually or sometimes two (head & the body part). I did have to help her the second time just get the tail portion off -- just let her work it off in a wet towel.
I do have a question for you - her shed is whole and seems pretty good. I do remove any leftover 'here and there' scales with a wet towel (if I see any - usually just a few). I do notice that she does at time have blood spots -- usually at the rear. Should I be concerned - does that mean that she is having trouble still (even though it looks good)? This past time - I studied it more and realized that it was at the cloaca area -- probably actually was the cloaca portion where the skin goes in just a bit. So - is there anything I can do to make sure she is not having trouble or should I worry? I do always check to make sure she is not bleeding still. This time there were about 2 dots (bigger than a pinhead but smaller than an eraser on pencil) in her hide where the skin was located and then a little red around the area the cloaca area on the skin. I hope I am using the right anatomy words too...haha. Happened the last two times but also these were the two times that she has shed in one piece.
It was great to log in with this question and see a whole write up going on already!
04-26-2006, 06:51 PM
daniel1983
Re: The Shedding Process
Cloacal bleeding has happened to me several times during sheds and is actually be fairly common. Some ball python are 'rough' with themselves during shedding. Because the skin inside of the vent is rather tender, sometimes bleeding can occur when the skin inside the vent is shed. This is not really anything to be concerned over unless the bleeding does not stop within a few hours. If the bleeding does not stop, I would suggest an immediate vet visit.
