Shedding issue? Please help!

[snakebean]

I've had my BP for around 2 years (I got her from a rescue, she's around 10-15 yrs) and almost every time she's shed since I got her she shed in many pieces and has stuck shed. At first I thought the issue would resolve itself since maybe her previous owner maintained bad husbandry, after that I started worrying she wasn't in the right humidity despite me spraying her enclosure every day. I've had 2 different humidity gauges for the past 2 sheds now and I make sure she stays at least 50% and I increase the humidity when she looks like she's going to shed, but she STILL sheds in many pieces and most of her top half gets stuck shed. She always has clean water and I feed her correctly so I don't think she's dehydrated, and she doesn't show any signs of a parasite from what I've read. What could it possibly be? Should I take her to a vet? In all other aspects she seems totally healthy so I'm not very worried about it, but should I be?

[Bogertophis]

What kind of humidity gauge are you using? Not all created equal (or "accurate"). 50-60% most of the time, but you want 65-70% when she's in shed. What kind of enclosure does she have?

Try offering a "humid hide" either full time, or at LEAST when you see she's clouding up pre-shed. What kind of substrate are you using? Some much better than others- & btw, spraying isn't as effective as you might think- the enclosures for BPs are so warm that it evaporates pretty fast. (what are the cage temps? cool side & warm side max?)

Has she ever eaten "live" prey? If so, it would be a good idea to have her stool checked for parasites, & probably a good idea anyway- it's hard to know her exact history since she's a rescue. Even if she has no parasites, for whatever reason it's possible her digestion isn't what it should be. For example, if she was ever treated with antibiotics, you might try adding reptile probiotics* to her f/t prey to improve her digestion. (*Bene-Bac or other)

Any chance she's a little underfed? I only ask since we aren't seeing her, & I can't assume anything. Good sheds requires good nutrition as well as correct humidity. It's a "package deal". What is your source of feeders? If the feeders are fed poorly (to keep prices at bargain low prices), they might not be supplying the best nutrition for your snake- you've heard the saying "garbage in, garbage out", right?

What about your experience? Is this your first or only snake? I ask because visually assessing a snake's health takes some practice- many signs (of weight, dehydration & overall health) are very subtle.

[Claire&snek]

I had a similar issue with my bel ball python who will be 2 in September...about every time she shed it would stick to her and I would have to give her a bath in order to get it all off until I found out it was the humidity that was causing all the issue. Now I use eco earth and mist daily when she is in shed and now she has perfect sheds...also it helps to feed right before they shed (if the snake will take it) and it will come off easier.
I also agree to what was said above, how often are you feeding, what are you feeding, and can we see a picture of him/her? It could have to do with lack of nutrients to properly shed or being underweight and too skinny can do it too. My freind had that happen to her ball python because he was too skinny he wasn't able to properly shed off everything.

Like what was said above, humidity hides are great or you can just put spagnum moss in your ball python's hide and that can help too. Make sure your humidity is close to 75-80 when shedding and misting can help ONLY if it has something to "sink" into. To clarify what I said earlier about misting; loosely misting the cage will evaporate in minutes but if you have moss, or a substrate that's meant to hold humidity like eco earth, than you can mist daily and it will help with humidity.

Best of luck!

[Claire&snek]

Also make sure the eye caps, nostrils and tip of tail come off or it can cause serious build up and problems.

[Bogertophis]

Also make sure the eye caps, nostrils and tip of tail come off or it can cause serious build up and problems.

Just to clarify- be very gentle with any manual assistance, & only after misting or soaking to soften the old skin/eye caps, so they're easy to remove. If eye caps remain in multiple layers, get the help of an experienced herp vet so as not to permanently injure/damage the snake's eyes. If old skin remains on the tail tip, it can quickly cause the death of the tissue there (it doesn't take much to cut off their limited blood circulation), & it may require amputation- prevention is essential.

Nostrils: Many keepers don't realize that the outer lining of a snake's nostrils gets shed along with the rest of their old skin. Sometimes you'll see a tiny bit of loose skin that you can catch with tweezers (carefully!), or sometimes the snake will exhibit noisy breathing as a result of that bit of skin remaining in their nostrils- fyi.

[Bleh]

Nostrils: Many keepers don't realize that the outer lining of a snake's nostrils gets shed along with the rest of their old skin. Sometimes you'll see a tiny bit of loose skin that you can catch with tweezers (carefully!), or sometimes the snake will exhibit noisy breathing as a result of that bit of skin remaining in their nostrils- fyi.

I've heard the whistling wheeze with one of mine. Was a few days of checking up before I realised the tiniest bit of old skin just over the nostril.

One of mine sometimes has the occasional 'sticky' sheds and always seems to have been this way, whereas the others have perfectly clean sheds every time.

When he's in shed, during the summer months I'll give him a wash quite frequently or a misty spray which some times helps. But on the occasions where his old skin hasn't come off cleanly, he's quite content for me to use warm, wet hands to sort of roll what he hasn't removed himself at that time. No doubt he could use the driftwood to remove it himself, but he appears content with me doing it for him, and I find it quite therapeutic...

[snakebean]

Here are some photos (sorry they're not great):
I feed her 1 medium frozen thawed rat every 1 or 2 weeks(I get them from Rodentpro), the rats I get are about the same size in girth as the largest part of her. She used to only eat live mice as that's what her previous owner fed her but she's been on frozen rats for probably over a year now. She's on coconut husk substrate and used to be on aspen. I'm fairly certain humidity is not the issue as I have two different hygrometers in her enclosure, both of them digital and both different brands, and they usually read around the same level. She also has a water dish large enough she can fit her whole body and she usually soaks herself right before she sheds.