Another worried moment

[Marrissa]

So Allure has himself "standing" up with his upper body and head pressed against the front of the glass and is just "standing" there. I noticed today that I believe his belly has a faint pink tinge so I think he might go into shed soon. I read babies do this every 3/4 weeks or so. I don't know why he's doing that with his body though. He's not phased all by me being right there and staring at him while he does it.

His humidity has been hovering around 50%. I have a vaporizer in my room running almost all the time, eco earth with some moss scattered around, and the screen covered except for the heat lamp so it's the best I can do.

Has anyone had their BP do this though?

[The Serpent Merchant]

What are your cage temperatures?

What do you heat your cage with?

What do you use to measure/regulate your temperatures?

[Marrissa]

90/91 hot spot. 78/80 cold side. I have a heat lamp somewhat in the middle towards the hot side. I have two UTH heaters both controlled by thermostats. I put a second one in the cold side more towards the middle because the cold side was about 73/74 before. Ambient I around 76 right now. He has a hot and a cold side hide.

He's not doing it anymore but he held it for a good minute or two. He will occasionally slither along the glass and reach up and flick his tongue at the screen.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Sounds pretty normal, I just wanted to rule out any chance of a burn, and that he was trying to get way from an unregulated heat source.

[Marrissa]

So you wouldn't be concerned if your snakes was doing this? I'm so paranoid because I've never owned a snake or any reptile before so I'm constantly looking for signs of trouble. Because I'm inexperienced I don't know what a distressed snake looks like. I've had him for about a week and half now and I'm constantly worried when something strange (at least to me it's strange) happens. I wonder if this is what new parents feel like lol.

I did a bunch of reading up before getting him, but not everything I experience is in there. And him going into shed has me nervous even though I've read up on the process and keep refreshing myself on it. I hope it goes well. I look forward to a year or two from now when I feel confident about what I'm doing, have a feel for what's going on, and can stop stressing.

And thank you for the replies BTW! I appreciate them very much.

[BHReptiles]

It's completely normal! I have a corn snake who does this in her tank (she's my only reptile in a tank) and sometimes I'll see my ball pythons doing this in their tubs. They can be funny at times.

But I agree that your snake is probably going into shed. Here are a few tips for you so you don't have to worry about what's about to happen! I just had my 2000g normal female shed for me tonight. She looks spectacular.

• Limit handling during this time. Some snakes gets pretty nippy because they can't see well
• Try to keep your humidity 60%-70% - cover 3/4 of the screen lid with a damp towel and mist a couple of times a day. That will help to keep your humidity up which will allow them to shed in one piece without any of it sticking to their back, neck, or heads (the most common areas for a stuck shed)
• You're snakes eyes will go blue - it's nothing alarming!
• anywhere from 2-7 days after your snakes eyes go from blue back to normal, you should find a shed skin in the tank! - an amazing thing to see even know when I've got 10 snakes.
• Pull the shed out and examine it to see if it's in one piece with no broken places. Be warned: some ball pythons will poop when they shed so the shed could be a little dirty.
• It's up to you if you want to feed during this time. So don't like to eat, some will. Several of mine will eat in shed if I let them. There is a little bit of a risk to feeding while in shed. Their skin gets stretched after a meal and if the skin is loose because it's about to be shed, it can dry and constrict the snake which could kill it. Now, this is a minimal risk. I've fed all my snakes in shed with no issues (for those that eat in shed) - this risk was pointed out by another member on here. It's up to you to decide what works for you and your snake.
• Because we all like pictures, show us some pictures of your baby after he sheds!

[The Serpent Merchant]

So you wouldn't be concerned if your snakes was doing this? I'm so paranoid because I've never owned a snake or any reptile before so I'm constantly looking for signs of trouble. Because I'm inexperienced I don't know what a distressed snake looks like. I've had him for about a week and half now and I'm constantly worried when something strange (at least to me it's strange) happens. I wonder if this is what new parents feel like lol.

I did a bunch of reading up before getting him, but not everything I experience is in there. And him going into shed has me nervous even though I've read up on the process and keep refreshing myself on it. I hope it goes well. I look forward to a year or two from now when I feel confident about what I'm doing, have a feel for what's going on, and can stop stressing.

And thank you for the replies BTW! I appreciate them very much.

Not at all, in fact I have a male BP that does something very similar on a regular basis. I only wanted to check on the heat source because you mentioned that your snakes belly was pink. But since you have your heat pads on thermostats that pretty much rules out a burn and makes going into shed the most likely cause of the pink belly.

[Marrissa]

Not at all, in fact I have a male BP that does something very similar on a regular basis. I only wanted to check on the heat source because you mentioned that your snakes belly was pink. But since you have your heat pads on thermostats that pretty much rules out a burn and makes going into shed the most likely cause of the pink belly.

Gotcha! Thanks for looking out for me and my little Allure.

And thank you for the info BH. I'm trying but I'm not sure if I can get up to 60 or 70 due to the heat lamp. I just took the lamp off and replaced it with a damp towel. I keep my room warm and as humid as I can for him so I'll watch his ambient temps for a drop but I may be able to get away with out it and hopefully bump my humidity up.

[Badgemash]

If you move the water bowl closer to the uth, it can help bump up the humidity. He didn't have his mouth open while "standing" or make any sounds did he (whistling or wheezing)?

[Marrissa]

Nope no RI. I've got his bowl pretty close to the warm side one. His hide sits over the warm side UTH.