The EPIC fakeout!

[BJJPython]

And no I'm not talking about the Bruce Buffer spin (I hope someone on the forums gets that reference), but either way. My BP a mid-late 08 male who I got about 2 weeks ago, went into shed the other day, on Saturday or Sunday. His eyes clearly got cloudy and his skin began looking very dull, vs his normal vibrant yellow (super pastel). This continued, and he was also pretty grumpy, really didn't want to get picked up, even vocally told me so! Anyway, this morning I go in there, before work, because I just wanna look at him (he hides all the time!!! which I suppose means he's happy). And he looks completely normal, almost as if he had completed his shed. Now the kicker! I can't find any skin, anywhere! So a couple of questions, a) did he totally pull the epic fakeout and not shed at all, just faked it to be left alone in his hut? b) Did he eat his sock of skin? or c) Am I just crazy? I'm pretty sure he was in shed, my GF works at Petco and deals with their snakes all the time and we were both POSTIIVE he was shedding. Do snakes eat their skin similar to shrimp and some inverts? Either way, now that he's back, I'm gonna try feeding again, he refused last week! Hopefully he will be mighty hungry this time around. Thanks for the feedback!

[Wh00h0069]

When they shed, they get cloudy, then clear up, then shed. You should find a shed in a few days.

[RebelYell83]

i've had a boa do this,had me searching his tank for 3 days straight,then he dropped the shed

[ballpythonluvr]

I have an 08 male normal that was in the blue phase over a week ago and he still has not shed. He now looks completely normal. I was told it can sometimes take a week or longer for them to shed after they clear up.

[rabernet]

Completely normal! Here's a link you may find interesting on the shed process.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=28794

[BJJPython]

So the gist of what I'm hearing (and reading thank you for that post, I read it a while back, but must have missed the 7-10day part!) is that he's a ball python, and doing what he's doing! Awesome. I'm excited for that skin to sock off (hopefully he'll have a good shed, but I haven't had him for too long, if not I'll blame the breeder =) One more question though, can I handle him at all? He was really grumpy the other day, but this morning I picked him, up, because I thought he might be done, and he didn't seem bothered by it (versus the hissing the last time)? Thanks for the help again!

[rabernet]

You can, but I tend to leave them alone during shed, simply because it seems like it's an uncomfortable process for the snake.

[BJJPython]

Okay, so he totally didn't fake me out, I was just an idiot. I was totally expecting to see skin everywhere all over the tank. Needless to say, when I looked very carefully underneath the coolside hut, I saw something off, opened it up, and there was a nice sock-o-snake-skin. It was really cool actually, and the tail was actually a whole CONE! (he has a very skinny tale, its cute). I was very proud that he got his perfect shed down pat! Made me feel very good as a snake owner that I'm doing right by my animal! ALSO in a bit of other good news, whilst unsuccessful last week during his first feeding under my care, to switch him over to F/T from live, this week, right after the shed, he snatched it right off the tongs and wrapped it up, and downed it! I was SUPER happy. All in all yesterday was a proud day for me as a snake owner, got the feed and the shed all in one day!

[kc261]

Congrats on the successful shed & feeding.

Now post pics of your handsome guy!