Any pics of Bad or stuck Shed? plus couple other concerns

[Lisn123]

Hi ~

First i was wondering if anyone had pics of a bad or stuck shed? I dont think Medusa is going through this right now, but just would like to see one for future reference.

Next- Im a bit concerned. We've had Medusa for 6 weeks (today) Im starting to believe she was very underfed from the pet store we got her from. (This is the place that said they fed her ever 2 weeks, because she was so small- Dont even ask me to try to explain that logic)
So we upped her to feeding her once a week, since she's been home. We've only fed her fuzzies- and yes, I KNOW this is probably still to little for her, but she's a very small snake and some of these "fuzzies" were pretty large- seem like she was having trouble getting them down. We just gave her the last one we had in the freezer last night. And planning to move to full size mice for next feeding. Which I plan to do in 5 days, oppose to a week, to try to get some weight on her. (and YES, I know i REALLY need a scale, to accurately monitor her wt & prey size. Im going this week- Its just i've had some of my own health issues, that haven't made it possible)

Since we've had her, we waited one week to feed her then:
First feed- ate right away
2nd- ate right away
3rd.- Hovered over it most of the night- then ate it in morning
4th- ate right away
5th (last night) - hovered over it again and ate it sometime in the night.

Her temps & humidity all appear perfect. I gave her a new Reptile basics hide, and she doesn't seem too crazy about it. The only hide she really seems to like, is this small plastic fish bowl, with moss in it. And pretty much stays only on the cold side, no matter where i put that hide.

Oh, and after she eats, she usually goes in the hide for Days--morning, noon, & night. She'll peek out, but I dont think she ever really comes out fully. Is that normal?

sooo... after that "history" of Medusa, my concern is, that In six weeks we've had her, she has not pooped or shed?!?! She is producing urates. but only about 1 a week. Is this at all normal? Im fearing that she was so underfed, that she's using all she gets to "bulk up?""

As I said, our plan is to up the feedings now, to every 5 days and larger prey. Any other suggestions, comments, advice would be appreciated!
thanks!
Lisa

[MrLang]

Sounds like the feeding is under control. I'd bump the prey size up soon, but that's dependent on her weight (you already plan to get a scale).

She doesn't like your RBI hide because humid hides are wildly secure and BPs love it. I have to take my humid hides out after my snakes shed and not give them back until they go pink, to avoid them sitting in it all day and getting scale rot.

HOWEVER, if your snake is going into shed/shedding, then keep the humid hide there. Give 2 identical hides so the snake doesn't have to choose between temps and security.

The snake is digesting after it eats. It's normal and you'd only have cause for concern if it wasn't hiding after eating for a few days.

As for the stuck shed - you'll know... unless you've got a situation like I had where the entire snake's body is 1 piece of stuck shed. We need pics of YOUR snake to determine if that's the case, but mine looked like deathly prune when it was having a full body stuck shed. It was very obvious.

Read this: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...edding-Process

and figure out if you're just mistaking one of the stages for a stuck shed. If there is visible skin hanging off the snake and coming off in small pieces, give her a few days with that humid hide on her own and if it's still there, read this: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hed-No-problem.

Sounds like you're doing just fine.

[Slim]

Lisa, MrLang gave you an excellent run down, but I would like to add that young BPs, especially ones that are eating undersized prey, put the vast majority of what they eat into growth.

When you bump your snake up to the appropriate sized prey, you'll soon see both growth and poop

[Lisn123]

Yeah, Im not really "missing" the poop, but will be happy to know she's healthy and food is moving through

Her moss hide is actually "dry"- Originally it was for humidity, but after trying a number of hides and she had no interest in any of them, but the moss, I stopped making it a "moist hide" for fear of her laying in there too much & "rot". Not sure if that's a good thing or not. But for the first week we had her, she wouldn't go in any hide- just under the "greens"/decor in the tank, etc. I was happy that she finally seem to settle down. She loves to burrow in & under the moss. I figured it was security for her, since she's still so young.

We will up the prey size and feed more often and see what we can "produce" over the next couple weeks

THANKS for the feedback!
Lisa