Dehydrated/underweight

[GuardianHunter]

Yes, he may not be drinking when he's laying low for a shed- which is why it's so important to keep the humidity up even before they're in shed- by the time they're in shed, it's a bit late, other than misting & providing him a humid hide. BTW, the way the folds in his skin appear in the last photo is what suggests to me that he's going into shed- it can be very difficult to tell when you have a white or very pale snake- especially if you miss noticing their eyes being cloudy, but in gets easier with practice.

(Re 5* F.- I hope you were referring to the outdoor temperature, not in your house & where the snake is located? It's been a crazy winter for sure- I've seen MINUS 5*F. here- outside, of course. And not counting the wind chill factor.)

good lord no. That’s the outdoor temp. But our house is having a hard time keeping up on the inside, as well as noodles heaters. His mat is set at 92 and is consistently holding at around 90. But yeah he’s been tucked away since his last meal. I got him out to check on him and feed him. Everyone’s been hiding in their warm spots. We live in the southern United States, so there is no part of us or our infrastructure that is used to any of this bitter cold.

[Bogertophis]

good lord no. That’s the outdoor temp. But our house is having a hard time keeping up on the inside, as well as noodles heaters. His mat is set at 92 and is consistently holding at around 90. But yeah he’s been tucked away since his last meal. I got him out to check on him and feed him. Everyone’s been hiding in their warm spots. We live in the southern United States, so there is no part of us or our infrastructure that is used to any of this bitter cold.

That's truly what I assumed. Hang in there- our deep freeze is nearly over for now- I'm looking forward to thawing out too, lol.

[GuardianHunter]

Well I peeked in his tank to check his humidity, and he’s in here shedding. I soaked him yesterday not knowing, and he’s been at 75% after I plastic wrapped his tank. I’m hoping his shed won’t be too rough.

[GuardianHunter]

There it is. Thank you all for commenting on his weight and skin. It’s truly a learning curve for new keepers, and for people who actually care about their pets, it comes with a lot of worry. My son (8) said “wow, our forum sure is helpful. It’s nice of them to do that. They don’t HAVE to. They’re just nice.” We both thank you—y’all are great.

Hopefully any dehydration issues are under control and his weight will plump with the bigger foods. I haven’t found his eye caps yet, as there’s still a piece connected under his chin. I’ll check him in the morning to see if he can get it off and look for retained eye caps. For those of you finding this thread for a similar issue with your snake, his saggy neck wrinkles went away and his side wrinkles are also gone. Looks like it was mostly due to a shed cycle, but he did also need better humidity too.

[Bogertophis]

There it is. Thank you all for commenting on his weight and skin. It’s truly a learning curve for new keepers, and for people who actually care about their pets, it comes with a lot of worry. My son (8) said “wow, our forum sure is helpful. It’s nice of them to do that. They don’t HAVE to. They’re just nice.” We both thank you—y’all are great.

Hopefully any dehydration issues are under control and his weight will plump with the bigger foods. I haven’t found his eye caps yet, as there’s still a piece connected under his chin. I’ll check him in the morning to see if he can get it off and look for retained eye caps. For those of you finding this thread for a similar issue with your snake, his saggy neck wrinkles went away and his side wrinkles are also gone. Looks like it was mostly due to a shed cycle, but he did also need better humidity too.

If you study your pre-shed pics, pay close attention to how the "wrinkles" look for a future heads-up as to when he might be shedding. With experience, it becomes obvious, but until you learn what to look for, it can be stressful & confusing, especially with a white/or pale snake. Fortunately it all gets easier- it's really cool that your son is able to learn right along with you. That's part of why we do what we do here.

Now about that stuck chin: don't wait very long, as it will only get MORE STUCK. Seriously, I'd personally work that off manually, after misting his chin for a while to soften it as much as you can. You have to be very careful, but what I do is carefully loosen it right at the edge of the snake's mouth; it usually helps to work from front to back (because that's the direction the scales overlap). He won't appreciate your help one bit, except in the long run... But if you're gently persistent (with gentle restraint- not a vise-grip), you'll get it done even though you're working right around his mouth- I've never had a snake bite me for helping them shed, but I'm not saying they sit still & cooperate either, nor do they send me a thank you note afterwards...

If he shed the top of his head but the eye caps are "missing", I'd be willing to bet he's still wearing them, so while you're misting his chin, I'd be misting his eyes too. They're miserable to remove if stuck on too long. Did you check the tail tip? Make sure no shed is stuck there also, because that will cause the death of tissue & loss of the tail tip. There's very poor circulation in the tail tip to begin with, so it doesn't take much stuck-shed to cut off blood circulation.

[GuardianHunter]

I was able to help him with his chin. I can’t find the shed to his head at all, but I also don’t see where it would even still be on him. Here’s a few shots of his face. Tell me if you see anything worrisome. I thought maybe his head shed got wadded up in the towels or something he was rubbing on.

[Bogertophis]

He looks fine to me- beautiful too. I agree, the top of head part of the shed is probably lost in substrate somewhere- it can be hard to find all pieces.

[Bogertophis]

Hey everyone- this thread was going way off the topic with a discussion of using predatory mites for snake mite control & eradication, which I felt belonged in thread of it's own.

So that part of this discussion is now here: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...te-eradication

While these topics are related, it's much easier to follow the discussions this way- thanks!

[GuardianHunter]

As kind of the final “wrap up” for this thread I thought I would post one more photo of noodles a couple days post shed so we have a nice comparison for anyone else having the same questions. Here’s our little bit of preciousness this morning. He’s still a little less curious and more grouchy, but he hasn’t been handled as much lately. So. Snakes will be snakes I guess.

[Bogertophis]

He looks GREAT! And good job asking those questions- snakes really do change their appearance a lot before & after shedding- and trust me, everyone new to snakes (& paying attention) is wondering the same things about those "wrinkles" and all. When I got started in snakes, there weren't forums like this anyway- that's why I see this forum as being so valuable- it's a "safe" place to learn what every new keeper needs to know but might be afraid to ask.