BP Shed gone Bad!!!! Any help appreciated!

[reptilelove18]

so the last week i recongized the signs of my BP beginning to shed, the first time since i brought her home, and i began to bump up her humidity as i was told would help with the shed. i also gave her warm baths several times since i saw that her eyes had cleared up. today i get home and i see some shed peeking out of her hide so i removed the hide to see it and found several pieces of shed and the rest was stuck on her. i know this is not normal and i pannicked. she's my first ball python and ive done a lot of research and talked to my local reptile expert and was told it should come off all as one piece like my boa's sheds. the eye pieces had come off completely by the way, on one of the pieces of shed i found in the tank. so i pulled her out and started soaking her in warm water. after she sat and soaked for bout 10 minutes i began to do the only thing i could think to do, slowly massage the shed where it appeared to be stuck and try to work it down. i did not squeeze her at all, just rubbed with my fingers, working it down her body. she sat almost completely still while i did this and at the point when i had gotten it about halfway down her body she pooped and peed.. i dont know if this was because i was rubbing her or just because it was her time to do that she ate bout a week ago and had already taken a small poop but i know she hadn't gotten all of the mouse out of her system yet. so that freaked me out of course but i didnt give up i was able to get the rest of the shed off without problem and promptly put her back in her terrarium where she has been basking since... i am concerned about why she didnt shed in one piece, and i almost forgot to tell you, she has mites.. i discovered the day after i brought her home that she did and just got a dust that my reptile expert said she has used when she rescued snakes that had mites. any kind of thoughts on this would be so appreciated, im still worried about her!!!
by the way, I'm Jasmine and tonight is my first night on the forum.

[reptilelove18]

so the last week i recongized the signs of my BP beginning to shed, the first time since i brought her home, and i began to bump up her humidity as i was told would help with the shed. i also gave her warm baths several times since i saw that her eyes had cleared up. today i get home and i see some shed peeking out of her hide so i removed the hide to see it and found several pieces of shed and the rest was stuck on her. i know this is not normal and i pannicked. she's my first ball python and ive done a lot of research and talked to my local reptile expert and was told it should come off all as one piece like my boa's sheds. the eye pieces had come off completely by the way, on one of the pieces of shed i found in the tank. so i pulled her out and started soaking her in warm water. after she sat and soaked for bout 10 minutes i began to do the only thing i could think to do, slowly massage the shed where it appeared to be stuck and try to work it down. i did not squeeze her at all, just rubbed with my fingers, working it down her body. she sat almost completely still while i did this and at the point when i had gotten it about halfway down her body she pooped and peed.. i dont know if this was because i was rubbing her or just because it was her time to do that she ate bout a week ago and had already taken a small poop but i know she hadn't gotten all of the mouse out of her system yet. so that freaked me out of course but i didnt give up i was able to get the rest of the shed off without problem and promptly put her back in her terrarium where she has been basking since... i am concerned about why she didnt shed in one piece, and i almost forgot to tell you, she has mites.. i discovered the day after i brought her home that she did and just got a dust that my reptile expert said she has used when she rescued snakes that had mites. any kind of thoughts on this would be so appreciated, im still worried about her!!!
by the way, I'm Jasmine and tonight is my first night on the forum.

[OsirisRa32]

if it comes off in pieces there is a very good chance your humidity is too low.

dont rub it off to the point of irritation....give her a chance to get it off herself once you raise the humidity.

mites ill leave a mite expert to answer...

[reptilelove18]

well i did get all the shed off, she didnt appear irrated she didnt hiss or strike, just laid in my hands and moved around occasionally like she does when i pull her out and she's asleep..
she appears to be okay as of now, just basking under her night light like she does normally..

[reptilelove18]

how high should her humidity be when shedding? ive been doing my best to keep it at 70 because thats what i read when i did my research. i had been gone for several hours tho and came home and found her to have shed some off. before i left i has wet down the bark in the bottom of the terrarium really well but the humidity was down to 50 when i got back

[mercerasian]

Bathing her before she actually shed was where you went wrong if your humidity was correct. Snakes produce natural oils that help them shed and when you bathed her, you effectively washed them away. The only time you should bathe a ball python is AFTER a bad shed. The proper humidity level at shed time is 60% or higher. You shouldn't be soaking substrate to keep humidity up, misting is okay though. Try cover most of the tank with aluminum foil to trap the humidity in if you can't seem to keep it high enough.

[interloc]

Mites can cause bad shed


Also no need to soak before shedding. As long as the humidity is fine, the shed should be good. Soaking before shedding can wash away some helpful oils and can actually lead to bad sheds. I feel like the mites + the soaking before shed is why she had a bad shed.


Finally, no need to post the same thread in 19 different areas. Once is fine.

[reptilelove18]

Bathing her before she actually shed was where you went wrong if your humidity was correct. Snakes produce natural oils that help them shed and when you bathed her, you effectively washed them away. The only time you should bathe a ball python is AFTER a bad shed. The proper humidity level at shed time is 60% or higher. You shouldn't be soaking substrate to keep humidity up, misting is okay though. Try cover most of the tank with aluminum foil to trap the humidity in if you can't seem to keep it high enough.

alright thank you for the help! i mist the substrate to keep humidity up and i will try the aluminum foil to keep the humidity in. i will not be bathing her before her shed again, thanks for letting me know

[The Serpent Merchant]

Soaking a BP dries out their skin, and can lead to a bad shed. you should only soak a BP if the snake has already had a bad shed and you need to get the pieces off.

That said a bad shed was probably unavoidable since your BP has mites. Stress can also lead to a bad shed, and mites will certainly stress a BP out.

Can you give us more details on what you are doing to treat the mites?

[RoseyReps]

Humidity should be around 70% for shedding. More than likely the issue was caused by bathing her prior to a shed. Soaking before a shed removes the naturally ooccurring oils that helps the snake shed (so I have read).

The only time (pertaining to shedding) you should soak a bp is after they have a bad shed, to help soften the remaining stuck shed.

I'm sure the deification and urination was due to a warm bath and massage.

Welcome to bp.net!


Edit: evidently I type slow on my phone! Ooh well