Hi, everyone. I'm rather new here, and new to snakes in general. The only ball python I currently own at the moment is Cinna, my three - four month old Caramel Albino. He's been great. He eats well and he seems to love the habitat I have set up for him. He crashes around like Godzilla every night.
Only thing is.. he isn't being much of a Godzilla monster at the moment. Cinna hasn't moved very much at all these past few days. At first I thought he was going into shed. His colors are darker and he had a blue film over his eyes for a day. I think he's still undergoing the shedding process, but his immobility has me worried. He isn't even hiding. He's out in the open by his water dish all the time, completely unmoving except to shift to the other side of his water dish. He refused the mouse I tried to give him last night. I've left him alone to give him time to adjust to his upcoming shed, but I took him out to examine him earlier and his skin appears loose. Also, the scales on his underbelly are flaky. Is this part of the shedding? He kept opening his mouth a few times for no reason and what really has me worried is that he barely moves even when I'm handling him. His muscles bunch together and it looks like he's trying really hard to push himself forward, but he can't make it very far.
I'm really, really uncomfortable with his behavior. Does he have a respiratory infection? Is this just pre-shedding behavior? The ambient temperature in his terrarium is around 85-87, with a basking temp. of 89 and a cool side of 81-ish. I try to keep the humidity levels up but it's been hard with the aspen bedding I use and the dry winters we have. I've got a humidifier going right by his terrarium, and I have a Repti-Fogger I turn on for an hour or two. With all of that, the humidity levels hang around 40-50%
Am I doing something wrong? Please help me.
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