At a loss

[lillyorchid]

I'm not sure what to do at this point. I bought a 09 albino ball about a month ago. He looked healthy and I was told that he was eating hopper mice. I let him settle in for a week and then tried to feed him. He ate and all was good. 4 days later he regurgitated it up. I gave him 10 days all by himself. Took a peek at him on day 10 to see how he was doing. It looked like he was in shed. So I gave him a few more days. He went though the blue and clear stage. All was well till... he didn't shed. I gave him another week and still no shed. I soaked him for a half hour, no shed. I did this again on Friday night. No skin was coming off, but it's clearly there. I did this again Sat and Sun night. I tried rubbing it off and letting him go though a towel. Nope, no skin, but he now looks horrible. Seems like he has lost weight, his belly is a dark color, his skin is rough and totally wrinkly and flaking in pieces, but not coming off. He looks like he may be on deaths door but I'm not sure where this all came from and why he can't seem to shed. I'd hate to loose him because he is beautiful but I'm at a loss what to do or how to help him at this point. I tried feeding him this past Thursday and he refused.

EDIT:

Temps, humidity, tub, and all are spot on. I've never seen this or have had it happen before.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Veterinarian.

[illini4x4]

Veterinarian.

x2

[luna13]

Veterinarian.

x3

[2kdime]

Sorry to hear Allison.

I've found with the Bloods that seem to be taking a while to shed it's usually a humidity issue.

They'll sit and sit and wait seemingly for no reason, despite the humidity being well above acceptable shedding levels. Sometimes they just want it WET.

What has ALWAYS worked for me, is to just SOAK the cage/tub down HARDCORE. Literally 110% humidity.

Leave overnight, and I've usually got a shed the next day.

Give that a shot, I hope everything is all right and he pulls through.

This has worked when regular soaks in attempt to trigger a shed have failed, like in your case.

[PolishPython]

x3........

[dr del]

Hi,

I gotta say vet too.

The fact there was enough of a hopper mouse left to make a recognisable regurge 4 days later would make me worry there was something far amiss with his digestion.

Coupled with the black looking belly that would make me want to have him looked at to the point I would ignore the skin issue or just put it down to stress from whatever else is going on.

Has he been drinking and have you seen any sign of poop or pee?

I would contact the person you bought him from as well, partially to keep them in the loop, but also to find out if they have seen this before and double check they hadn't been treating for mites or any other possible causes so you can pass the info on to the vet.

I hope he is ok for you.


dr del

[CoolioTiffany]

Have you tried assist shedding?

Normally, when one of my snakes does not shed, I soak them for maybe 5 minutes or so, then I try to start near the head/neck area and start to stroke a little bit of the area with my finger until the molting skin pops off the scales. Eventually, the molting skin breaks, and I start to help the snake pull off the shed.

With the last assist shed I did (maybe back in the Summer) I started right from the nose, got the molting skin to break, and started to peel off the skin from the head all the way down to the tip of the tail. It worked out pretty well actually, and I had no problems. But, if you feel you may rip off some scales or injure the snake, don't try this. It's best to listen to the other answers and take a vet visit, your snake seems to be very ill, and I know for a fact an albino Ball python's belly does not turn black whether it's in shed or not.

[2kdime]

Good points Derek.

[Hypnotic Exotic]

Get him to a vet ASAP. I'm with the others, regurgitation, especially after 4 days, is a sign of trouble.