Rubbing face on tank sides and screen?

[Dante's_Girl]

Hello, I'm new here and new to owning bp's. I just got my first one about a week ago. He's a pastel that I named Dante. Anyway, his eyes have been kinda cloudy, and his skin is a little wrinkled. I bumped up the humidity in the tank between 65 and 70%. Then today I noticed he kept rubbing his face and head against the sides of the tank and on the screen lid. I'm afraid he has mites or something. The lady at the pet store wasn't helpful at all when I asked her about it. She just said that if he died in the first 30 days they would give me a new one. That made me really upset though I don't want new one, I want to help the one I have! Does anyone know what I should do?

[Crazy4Herps]

You have nothing to worry about; your little guy is starting to shed. They rub their heads against objects in their cages in order to tear the skin on their faces so they can begin to slide it off. He may have an easier time shedding if you provide him with some sort of driftwood or rock hides in his cage; it can be pretty hard for them to get a shed started on glass.

[Dante's_Girl]

You have nothing to worry about; your little guy is starting to shed. They rub their heads against objects in their cages in order to tear the skin on their faces so they can begin to slide it off. He may have an easier time shedding if you provide him with some sort of driftwood or rock hides in his cage; it can be pretty hard for them to get a shed started on glass.

Thank you so much! I was really starting to worry and that pet lady didn't help. She made it sound like he was sick and dying. I'll go get a piece of drift wood tomorrow, but thank you so much. I'm also going to look stuff up about shedding. It looks like I have a lot more to learn

[BFS]

Try making a humid hide by adding sphagnum moss to one of the hides. It'll help out with shedding.

[ballpythonluvr]

I have seen my snake rub his face against his enclosure to start the shedding process to remove the old skin. This is normal.

[bwvolo]

yea the rubbing is normal. my rainbow boa was actually just doin that last night. he did have mites so i was really hoping that he was sheding and it was not the mites. when i woke up he had shed. like was said it can be hard for them to break the skin on glass but i have paper towles as subsrate and he had no problem but a rock or drift wood will make it eaiser.

[Crazy4Herps]

Thank you so much! I was really starting to worry and that pet lady didn't help. She made it sound like he was sick and dying. I'll go get a piece of drift wood tomorrow, but thank you so much. I'm also going to look stuff up about shedding. It looks like I have a lot more to learn

If you use driftwood from outside, be sure to either soak it in bleach (then rinse thoroughly and air-dry for at least 24 hours) or bake it at 200* for a few hours to be sure to kill whatever bugs may be in it.

It's definitely a learning process, but don't worry, you'll get the hang of it! If you have any more questions, we're all here to help.

[Dante's_Girl]

Okay so I noticed his belly was a little pink about three days ago, but it went away. Now his eyes are a little cloudy (not blue) and he's a little wrinkly, but he still hasn't shed. I have the humidity sitting between 70 and 80% and the temp about 80 degrees F. He's eating really good for me(just fed him yesterday), and going to the bathroom good so I don't think he's deyhdrated. He's been drinking good too. I gave him a nice luke-warm bath on Thursday as well. Is this normal or should I be thinking about making an appointment for a vet?

[Skittles1101]

He won't shed until his eyes clear up from the cloudy-ness.....it's normal. Read this.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...edding+process

[Crazy4Herps]

Yep, pink belly and cloudy eyes are perfectly normal with a shed.