Stuck Shed, freaking out now

[MsPrada]

So my little guy finished shedding sometime last night. I took him out today to clean his cage and noticed he had some shed left on a nostril. My questions are:

He was making a bit of a strange sound from that nostril. I opened his mouth and didn't see mucous. Im going to keep at eye on him but could he have been making this sound when he breathed out because of the stuck shed on his nose?

Also, I removed the shed with a wet q-tip (only a small piece) and put him back in his tank. He's extremely upset. How long should I leave him alone before I handle him (I'm going to let him de-stres but I'd like to get him used to handling) and when I handle him next time, will be "remember" what I did and thus try to eat me everytime I handle him?

[unrezt]

So my little guy finished shedding sometime last night. I took him out today to clean his cage and noticed he had some shed left on a nostril. My questions are:

He was making a bit of a strange sound from that nostril. I opened his mouth and didn't see mucous. Im going to keep at eye on him but could he have been making this sound when he breathed out because of the stuck shed on his nose?

Also, I removed the shed with a wet q-tip (only a small piece) and put him back in his tank. He's extremely upset. How long should I leave him alone before I handle him (I'm going to let him de-stres but I'd like to get him used to handling) and when I handle him next time, will be "remember" what I did and thus try to eat me everytime I handle him?

Ball pythons don't like q tips, mine wouldn't let it anywhere near him.

But you gotta realize, he can't eat you, even if he tries, lol.

[MsPrada]

I don't think anything will like something coming at their face. Especially not a snake that small, 109 grams. He's still a baby and probably scared. I used the q-tip to get a hold of it because I was afraid if I used tweezers I might poke him and I didnt use my finger because the shed was too small.

[rabernet]

First, calm down.

You have 30 years to get him used to being handled, so it's not going to be any detriment to just let the little guy chill out for today.

I don't really know the history of how long you've had him, and if he's even eaten for you or not - but I don't even handle any new additions until after they've successfully had 1 meal, sometimes 2 with me, because I like to just let them have a nice long acclimation period.

I've not had any negative effect in how they responded to me by not handling them frequently. In fact, because I have ~40 ball pythons, each one individually does not get a lot of handling (I do take out random snakes in the evening for short handling sessions, because it de-stresses me at the end of a long day, but not the same one each evening). All of mine, with the exception of new hatchlings, who fear being eaten by the big predator (me) are pretty placid.

[FatBoy]

He will bit your arm off next time you hold him!!! Happened to me!! LOL He will be fine, you can hold him now if you want. If it makes you more comfortable then give it a day. We have shedding challanged snakes, we shed what they leave and hold them for a while afterwards. Eyecaps are worse to me than the nostrils...Would almost guarantee the sound was from the shed.

[MsPrada]

Phew!

I've had him since the 6th of Sept. Got him at the show. I haven't handled him but twice so far, once to weigh him and once to clean his cage. I wanted to wait the whole 30 QT days before I even started holding him. He's eat for me twice now, I didn't feed this last time because he was in blue and wouldn't take. Hopefully this Friday he'll eat.

Thanks guys. I feel better now. I guess its just because he's such a little guy. I don't want to hurt him and I don't want him trying to eat me everytime I get near him. Not that im scared of it, but I'd rather not have one that strikes at my face every day, haha. He's back in his hide. I'll probably check later today to see if there are any bubbles and strange sounds coming from him. His humidity has been a constant 60% except for this past week when he was in shed and it was at 65%-68%.

Oh, while I'm at it...how do you wash a bp? He smells like a rat died on him and I've washed his tank but I think he needs a little help. I know I should wait so he's not too stressed, but I'm not sure how to go about it?


Yay for 30 years of snakehood

[FatBoy]

Phew!

I've had him since the 6th of Sept. Got him at the show. I haven't handled him but twice so far, once to weigh him and once to clean his cage. I wanted to wait the whole 30 QT days before I even started holding him. He's eat for me twice now, I didn't feed this last time because he was in blue and wouldn't take. Hopefully this Friday he'll eat.

Thanks guys. I feel better now. I guess its just because he's such a little guy. I don't want to hurt him and I don't want him trying to eat me everytime I get near him. Not that im scared of it, but I'd rather not have one that strikes at my face every day, haha. He's back in his hide. I'll probably check later today to see if there are any bubbles and strange sounds coming from him. His humidity has been a constant 60% except for this past week when he was in shed and it was at 65%-68%.

Oh, while I'm at it...how do you wash a bp? He smells like a rat died on him and I've washed his tank but I think he needs a little help. I know I should wait so he's not too stressed, but I'm not sure how to go about it?


Yay for 30 years of snakehood

Sink, tub, pan, just make sure the water is luke warm and don't have the water running. The vibrations from running water seems to really aggrivate them. On a side note...I VERY seldom rinse my snakes off.

[MsPrada]

I've just read on another thread here that him smelling bad might be the reason for his tank smelling horrid. However, the cool thing is that since he shed...he doesnt smell bad! I think the stench came off with the skin...I need to get some vines and things for his tank so he's more comfy because right now if he pees he lays in it so he doesnt have to come out from his hide. I just didn't want to get anything until after QT because I knew if he was sick I'd have a lot of disinfecting to do. Fortunately, QT is coming to an end