Shedding question

[jotay]

Greetings everyone,
I have had my BP since Dec.13 he has eaten 4 times but no shed.
How will I know when he is getting ready to shed before I see the skin coming off??

Also an extra question
He has two hides, one on the warm side ( 89-93) which is the far end of tank and one sort of to the left of the middle of the tank where the temp stays about 77-83. He never goes in the warm hide. He spends about 98% of his time in the cool side and never comes out except his head.
Is this normal???

Also I have a huge dog bowl in his cage for water does he need that big of one, seems to be taking up a lot of room

Thanks everyone, I dont know how I would have made it thru this month with out you guys and this site

[emroul]

Hey there,

You will know when he is going to shed, because his eyes will turn "frosty" or "blue", and his skin may look flaky. He will also stay hiding for about a week or so, don't disturb him during this time. They can get pretty PO'ed, since their eyes are frosted over, they can't see very well, so they may get defensive. Also, when you see his eyes turn blue, bump the humidity up to about 70% or alittle more until the day he sheds. I do this for my ball pythons, and I have yet to have an incomplete, perfect shed.

As for the water bowl, it only needs to be big enough for him to fit in all the way in case he wants to soak. (And you'd be suprised what they can fit in!)

Now, as for him being on the cool side all the time, he knows what temperature he wants to be, and he knows he has the option of being warm. I wouldn't worry about it unless you start seeing him wheez (since being too cold MAY lead to an RI). Other than that, I really wouldn't worry. Your temps sound fine. I was almost going to suggest raising the cool side temps a couple degrees; but he seems to enjoy it that cool.

Hope that helped some.
Jennifer

[RPlank]

Jotay,

Here is a pic of the eyes of a BP while "blue."



A few days after this stage, he should shed.

[jotay]

Thanks that picture really helped.
Do you really think his cool side temps are to low????
They average about 80 degrees and he never goes on the warm side except when he gets active and hungry he will stick that long neck into the hide and look around. His warm side hide is a different type of hide.
The cool side is the type of hide he had from the start, an old black take out food bowl which I then cut out a 3"x3" hole on the side. The warm hide I got at the pet shop looks like a rock and is made of terra cotta.
I assume since is cool side hide is plastic it holds heat and humidity so I havent had a chance to temp probe his hide lately because he is always in it and I have grown to know him well enough if anything goes in front of that hide he will strike out at it so next time my son is playing with him I will probe temp it to just be sure
BP's are soooo very different, but loveable
Thanks !