Juvenile BP Humidity & Shedding?

[CaptainNegatory]

Hey All,
So admittedly I purchase a juvenile BP from Petco and am new to keeping. I'm a bit worried about my bp. His cage humidity has been in the 50-60% range consistently, I looked just now while the heat lamp was off and it's at 70%!!! WHAT?! The 100W bulb is too hot, so I'm headed to petco now to get a 75W. Hot side temps were at 100 degrees and cool side 90. Hoping the lower wattage will resolve this. His tank was custom made for a bearded dragon and is made of wood with a fiberglass front. It has the UVA/UVB bulb built in as well but I had read that bright lights can stress out pythons so I leave that off now, as I had it on a timer for 8AM/8PM with the heat lamp running 24/7. I don't understand the sudden jump in humidity. It holds moisture well since it's wood and I have aspen bedding. He likes to soak occasionally and he has looked like he's about to shed for 5 days now. He cleared his head and his eye caps but hasn't started on the rest. He's got three hides, two on the hot and one on the cool, two waterbowls, one on each side, some vines, and a tree. I feed him one fuzzy each week. We skipped last week since he had eye caps but since those left and he hasn't shed I went ahead and fed him. No problems.

I'm losing my mind worried why he hasn't shed. He's eating and still enjoys running around my room and being held (when I'm warm) so he is doing fine I'm just extremely paranoid. Now I'm worried about the humidity and his skin shedding. I've heard not to play with him while he's in shed, but it has been forever now! Any advise is appreciated. He's getting a bath tonight, hoping that helps.

Best Regards,
C. Negatory

[CaptainNegatory]

Just a bump.

[Willowy]

Did he actually get the shed skin off his head or do you just mean his eyes cleared up? Even though their eyes get cloudy before a shed, they clear up again about a day or 2 before shedding, so it should happen soon. If he actually did remove the skin on his head but not his body, just boost the humidity and wait a few days. It takes them a few sheds to have a good one if they were kept too dry at the pet store.

Personally, I don't worry about the humidity too much as long as it's over 50% and there's no condensation. So far so good . They aren't as picky about humidity as some species.

100/90 is definitely too hot. You should probably get a thermostat (a good cheap beginner model is a Hydrofarm/Jumpstart from Amazon). It's not as important with heat lamps as with heat pads---you could just monitor the temps and turn off the lamp, burns are less likely although overheating is a risk---but it would be a lot more convenient.

Fuzzy mice are too small. Depending on size he should be getting at least hopper mice or rat fuzzies. If he's growing properly he's probably ready for small adult mice or rat pups.

Check out the caresheet, that's better than me just going on and on : http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...03-Ball-Python

[Ax01]

hi Capt Neg,

welcome to BP keeping. i would guess the humidity jumped b/c u turned off the heat lamp (which heats and dries the air/surfaces). also 70% humidity is actually good for shedding. BTW how big is the enclosure? if it was built for a Beardie, i would imagine it could be quite large for a baby BP. anyway your temps are too hot. i would lower it 10degrees on each side. i prefer to use belly heat for my BP's provided by heat tape/heat mat and regulated by a thermostat. lastly i wouldn't bathe a BP to help it shed. u are just washing away its natural oils to that helps it shed and drying it out instead. humidity is key for good sheds.

please read this helpful especially caresheet for your new BP: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

also check out this thread on how to set up an enclosure. it's for a glass tank, but similar principles apply including your heat lamp: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-With-Pictures!