Help, ball python with dry snoot

[Nephil]

Hello everyone, i'm here again with another question, just to make sure everything is alright. So not long ago i took my BP out to just handle him a bit, check him out and weigh him (he gone from 56 grams to 180!),and felt something strange when his snout touched my hand.. It was very dry skin, like when i looked at his nose the dark scales looked more clear and on one side he had like a mustache of dry skin sticking out. What's interesting is that he has like a few tiny rough scales along his body and they aren't visible, they just look like normal scales, but his dry snout mustache is clearly visible.. He shed perfectly about 3 weeks ago, and he sheds every month, so might the "mustache" be caused by the fact that he should go into shedding phase soon..? He doesn't look like he's in shed though, he has still fresh looking skin with a gorgeous iridescent light, so i really want to read some of your answers of what this dry nose thing might be..

[303_enfield]

Post a pic. With out a pic I'm guessing stuck shed or nose rub. If your noodle is checking things out an pushing on its cage the nose will get a mark or two.

The "cure" for stuck shed, soak your snake an use a wet towel for him to crawl around while gently rubbing him. This is to remove any stuck shed. You rub in the direction of the scales not against them!

If a nose rub it will be shed off an then the snake will start it again.


Good luck!

[Nephil]

Post a pic. With out a pic I'm guessing stuck shed or nose rub. If your noodle is checking things out an pushing on its cage the nose will get a mark or two.

The "cure" for stuck shed, soak your snake an use a wet towel for him to crawl around while gently rubbing him. This is to remove any stuck shed. You rub in the direction of the scales not against them!

If a nose rub it will be shed off an then the snake will start it again.


Good luck!

I can't take a fresh new pic by taking him out of his hide cause i don't want to stress him out too much, but i'll send a close up of a photo i took earlier today when i was handling him. I know the quality isn't good, but it should be visible enough. Also i am sure it's not stuck shed, cause after his last shed i took him out and checked if he had any stuck skin anywhere, and didn't see anything like that. Though about nose rubbing.. That's really possible, cause he tried to escape for a long time rubbing his nose until i fixed what was bothering him, and i didn't handle him for a couple of weeks already so i didn't check his snout up close..

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[Bogertophis]

I can't take a fresh new pic by taking him out of his hide cause i don't want to stress him out too much, but i'll send a close up of a photo i took earlier today when i was handling him. I know the quality isn't good, but it should be visible enough. Also i am sure it's not stuck shed, cause after his last shed i took him out and checked if he had any stuck skin anywhere, and didn't see anything like that. Though about nose rubbing.. That's really possible, cause he tried to escape for a long time rubbing his nose until i fixed what was bothering him, and i didn't handle him for a couple of weeks already so i didn't check his snout up close..

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Best I can tell, that looks like he failed to shed that part of his face, & it's easy to miss when a snake freshly sheds, BECAUSE their body secretes some moisture (between the old skin & new) to facilitate the shed, and just like you can see thru (or at least part-way) some kinds of paper when it gets wet, the part of the shed he missed was moist & harder to see than it is now.

Maybe the reason he's been rubbing his nose has nothing to do with getting out, but it's for getting the old annoying skin off his nose...ever think of that? Learn to check that snake sheds are truly complete, otherwise someday your snake might have really stuck old eye-caps, or lose his tail tip when the tissue dies from the constriction of just that tiny bit of skin you didn't see for a shed or two. It matters a lot (to pay close attention) when keeping a pet snake.

[303_enfield]

Soak him an use the wet towel for him. The water should be temperate to your touch. So about 80 deg F.

I think it's stuck shed also.

Good luck!

[Bogertophis]

Also, keep in mind that one reason their "snoot" may get stuck is that they're also shedding their heat-sensing pits & outer part of their nostrils- so it's a little bit "complicated"- not just an easier flat area like on their body. This is why they really need that humidity boost for shedding- it's not as easy as it looks, & they haven't any hands* to work with. *except for us/ours.

[Nephil]

Best I can tell, that looks like he failed to shed that part of his face, & it's easy to miss when a snake freshly sheds, BECAUSE their body secretes some moisture (between the old skin & new) to facilitate the shed, and just like you can see thru (or at least part-way) some kinds of paper when it gets wet, the part of the shed he missed was moist & harder to see than it is now.

Maybe the reason he's been rubbing his nose has nothing to do with getting out, but it's for getting the old annoying skin off his nose...ever think of that? Learn to check that snake sheds are truly complete, otherwise someday your snake might have really stuck old eye-caps, or lose his tail tip when the tissue dies from the constriction of just that tiny bit of skin you didn't see for a shed or two. It matters a lot (to pay close attention) when keeping a pet snake.

Ohh, didn't know it's that hard to see stuck shed at times, i'll definitely be more careful next time. Thank you!!!

[Bogertophis]

Ohh, didn't know it's that hard to see stuck shed at times, i'll definitely be more careful next time. Thank you!!!

On that subject- what confuses many new snake owners is that their snakes are in "blue" for a while, & then shortly before they actually shed, they "go clear"- meaning they LOOK as if they already shed, but they didn't. It's just that pesky moisture making the old skin (that's about to come off) look like the new skin.

It's not so hard to see "stuck shed"- that's why you're seeing it now. But it's hard to see when it's freshly left behind because it's still moist & fairly transparent. Right now, it's as if he's wearing a nose-girdle, & he'd appreciate your help.

[plateOfFlan]

On that subject- what confuses many new snake owners is that their snakes are in "blue" for a while, & then shortly before they actually shed, they "go clear"- meaning they LOOK as if they already shed, but they didn't. It's just that pesky moisture making the old skin (that's about to come off) look like the new skin.

This is exactly what happened the first time my snake shed - I thought he looked like he was going into shed, then he looked normal so I figured I was mistaken - *then* I found the shed the next day!

[Bogertophis]

This is exactly what happened the first time my snake shed - I thought he looked like he was going into shed, then he looked normal so I figured I was mistaken - *then* I found the shed the next day!

Snakes just like to "mess" with our minds, eh?