Is ball python shedding

[grace2003]

Hi, I think my boy is shedding, but I am not sure. His eyes are cloudy and he will not come out of his enclosure. I am concerned that he is not drinking. Should I place a bowl of water withing his enclosure or hiding place?

[bigSAK]

No, he's probably in a shed. Just make sure you bump up the humidity in the enclosure to 70-80% and leave him be for a few days. When BP's are in their hide that means they're happy.

Shedding process can be identified by a slightly pink belly to start, dulled colors of the body, cloudy eyes (in blue) then a few day (2-5) days of looking kind of cleared up eyes then they'll shed. Just let him do his thing and make sure you keep humidity up.

[Reinz]

Welcome to the forum grace.

Yes he is in the prephase of shedding called "in the blue". They appear miserable at this state and just want to be left alone. The belly gets pinkish as well. He will stay this way for 5-7 days generally. Some of my adult snakes go 10-14 days. This is time to up the humidity to 70 as a guideline.

Next, the eyes �� will clear up and they appear normal. They look this way until shedding the next day or two. Then they look purdy as ever!

Some snakes will eat while in the blue, some will not. Some will get irritable, so best not to handle during this time.

For now, just leave your snake alone until after the shed. If he wants water, he knows where to find it.

[Eric Alan]

If you haven't read this already, here's a great write-up on this topic: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...edding-Process.

[paulh]

Welcome to the forums!

Cloudy eyes are what I look for when the shedding process is starting. The actual shed will probably occur in a week or ten days from now.

Here is a good web page on shedding: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=813

[Calider]

Snakes are also a little sensitive immediately after shedding, enough so that you can't even spray them with mite-off. Kind of like when some of your skin peels off and the skin underneath is sensitive to soap or hand sanitizer etc. I give mine a couple days to acclimate even after shedding, just for that reason.

[cletus]

Mine stays in her hide pretty much the entire time she is in shed. She doesn't come out for anything other than feeding time. Usually a day or so after she sheds she will start to come out at night. I always find the shed in her hide rolled up in a ball with a big turd in the middle.

[grace2003]

okay thank you!

[OneEyedFox]

Just shed. My baby Calliope actually is shedding as I'm typing this haha. He'll shed about once a month or so. Just give him some time. I had taken Calliope out of her tank so I could spot clean her coconut fiber substrate, and when I was holding her she started butting her nose against my hand trying to get it started. It was so cute, but I instantly put her up so she could get it started and she'd be all smooth and my beautiful baby.

[Merriah]

It's difficult to watch them shed! I've had mine for 2 years, and I still hate it! I upped my humidifier this winter (I'm in Minnesota), and I do soak them every other day for 30 minutes or so at 82 degrees in the water to help them with the dry conditions here. That helps, but I still can't imagine having all of my skin fall off at the same time! It's all I can do to keep the skin on my face from getting too dry!