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  1. #1
    Registered User lisalombs's Avatar
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    Shedding or Sick?

    Hey all, I need someone a lil more experienced for a second opinion here. This girl (Honey) is 5 years old and if this is a shed it's a lot different looking than how she normally sheds. Store ran out of medium rats so she's gotten larges the last two times and I'm wondering if maybe I should have skipped a feeding, because she ate another one on the 15th and has been looking a bit off since.

    Normally when she's shedding she goes right for the hide, classic blue phase, will sound like a vicious air leak if bothered, emerges shiny and beautiful a week later. This time she's just got these slightly dull eyes that aren't changing much, skin has dulled but not as much as typical, she's uninterested when I open the glass (but is adjusting her position throughout the day), she's resting her head up against the wall a lot more than usual but I haven't seen any discharge or other signs of RI.

    She ate as enthusiastically as normal, but it was just hours later that she started just seeming a bit off to me. She never sits directly under the heat panel, hell I rarely see more than her head unburied, but that's where she's been since. I pumped the temp up two degrees in case she was cold but that doesn't seem to have made a difference. Checked air temp and humidity, all normal. I just don't know what to make of it.

    https://i.imgur.com/9ewRcwo.jpg

    https://i.imgur.com/bg3bSXv.jpg

  2. #2
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    I suspect she'll just take longer to shed- make sure you keep up her humidity as well as the warmth- both digestion & shedding require GOOD hydration from the snake's body, & it's a challenge for them to do them simultaneously- it often takes much longer as a result. Feeding too close to a shed can cause a mid-shed regurgitation, or a shed in a zillion pieces (or they can get "stuck") when they finally get around to it. So as I said, just monitor warmth & humidity- don't handle her!- & hope she gets both done as planned. I wouldn't feed larges, btw. And especially not "back to back".
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

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    lisalombs (01-18-2022),Malum Argenteum (01-18-2022)

  4. #3
    Registered User lisalombs's Avatar
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    I knew when I was defrosting it that I should have waited. We had supply chain issues and she already missed a feed while I was waiting on more mediums so I felt okay about the first one, but that second one was a bad idea She does normally eat during sheds though so fingers crossed no regurge.

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  6. #4
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    You just should have waited longer for her to completely digest the first large one- I understand "supply issues" & sizes aren't always perfect. Hopefully she'll be fine- but it's just going to take longer.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

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    BPnet Veteran Malum Argenteum's Avatar
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    FWIW, a healthy adult snake of almost any remotely common captive species can easily be withheld a scheduled feeding or six (not exaggerating) without issue.

    If for some reason I ran out of feeders for my adult snakes for two months I'd not worry one little bit about their health (thought it would throw a minor wrench into breeding projects). And mine are mostly colubrids, which process food a lot faster than BPs (though I do have an adult BP, and a small rat carries him about three-four weeks no problem).

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  9. #6
    BPnet Veteran Malum Argenteum's Avatar
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    Re: Shedding or Sick?

    Quote Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum View Post
    which process food a lot faster than BPs (though I do have an adult BP, and a small rat carries him about three-four weeks no problem).
    I misread the post (and didn't look at the photos until just now), not noticing we're talking about a blood python (by 'BP' I meant 'ball python'). Sorry if my comments are now a little less relevant.

    I used to keep a pair of brongersmai (raised from hatchlings, and then I bred them once to experience maternal incubation, which is really really neat) and they could be kind of weird from time to time, in the sort of way you're describing. But mine is a pretty limited experience with the species (less than ten years with only two snakes, and one decent sized clutch of hatchlings that were something of a bucketful of terror), a species that I take to be very behaviorally variable between individuals.

    I did have an RI crop up in one of mine out of the blue, that I didn't notice as early as I perhaps should have. It turned out fine with a vet visit, but if I were to keep the species again I'd likely be in to the vet for relatively minor concerns. Once yours has shed, and you have any suspicions at all, a visit to a qualified and competent herp vet might not be a bad idea if only for the peace of mind.

    I read your old posts; boy, she's tiny -- but pretty.

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