Hidding & pink belly

[Tooboot]

Just wondering.... I've had my baby ball for approximately 1 month now, with year of research and studying done before. He/she, unsexed, has eaten twice so far, didn't eat the F/T the first two weeks but loved the live mice.

Anyway, my ball has been in his hide for the past week and I haven't seen him come out too much, could he be going into shed. I did take him out of the tank a couple of days ago and noticed his belly getting a little pink, but I was wondering if the pink belly could be from his burrowing in the substrate and getting to the glass where the UTH is. I do have the UTH on a thermostat set at 88F, with a 50w red light above the tank on the same side. I also keep a blue and day light on the other side that doesn't have a UTH under it, these are on a timer for day and night changes.

Just kind of worried for the snakes health, as this would be the first time he has gone into shed, but I figured since he has eaten twice so far this may be it.

I have a digital thermometer on the cold side reading about 85F on top of the substrate, no UTH on this side, and an analogue on the other side sitting about 89F. I know analogues are not worth it but this side does have the thermostate to control the UTH on the warm side. I also have an infared thermometer I got from the pet store to monitor the overall temps of the tank, which I do on a daily bassis like a paranoid freek. I have not yet tried the infared termometer on the glass under the substrate where he has been hidding but I will be doing this tonight when I take him out for his feeding.

Any help would be apprenciated. I will also post pics of the tank and the snake later.

Thanks

[thefnshow66]

Sounds like your ball is ready to go into shed. Make sure you raise the humidity up to around 70 and your snake will be alright!

[Slim]

Welcome to BP.net!

Sounds like all the signs of a shed cycle. Try to keep handling to a minium and you might want to think about supplying a humid hide with damp moss inside.

[Tooboot]

Thanks, that is what I was thinking based on what I read.

I have some forest moss that I got from the pet store that I mixed in a bit with his substrate, I will add some to one of his hides.

Thanks again