Ball python bad shed

[Darwin]

Hi,

My BP had a very bad shed last week. He is 6 years old and always had near perfect sheds his whole life but this one came off in tons of tiny pieces. By the evening, I did end up helping him with it so that bigger pieces would come off bc he was hardly making any progress. That was over a week ago now but there are still small sections (maybe 5 or 6 patches of only about 5-7 scales each) along his back that won't come off. I've given him some soaks and have been rubbing the patches with damp paper towel and sometimes 1 or 2 scales will come loose but that's all. I've bumped up his humidity in hopes that they would come off but I don't really like keeping his humidity up so high for this long (he was in blue for almost a month before his shed even started.) Im sure it best I just leave the patches alone and they will come off with his next shed, right? I guess I'm just looking for some reassurance since I've never had to deal with a bad shed before. I should also mention that he was off feed prior to this for an extremely long time. After a few vet visits and numerous tests all coming back normal, I had to end up going the route of a dreaded assist feed. It's been a rough month for my poor baby!

[Inarikins]

In blue for a month?? Assist feeding after how long? You should never assist feed an adult, only a baby if they're having trouble getting started. Just leave him alone. Fussing with stuck shed and assist feeding him is not helping.

What are your temps and humidity? How are you measuring them? When did he go off feed?

[Darwin]

A "month" was an exaggeration, sorry. It was just a lot long than usual as he normally sheds quickly and with ease. He didn't eat for 10 months and lost significant weight and was appeared mildly dehydrated by the time of his last vet visit. Up until the last month before the feed he behaved as usual. I had tests done...fecal sample, bloodwork, X-rays. All came back normal and he looked in health....but during the 10th month he appeared he had loss of muscle/grip and became worrying lethargic at times. I had bloodwork done....came back normal....at that point, the vet assist fed. He began his shed after that and is seems back to he usual self (aside from looking on the thin side.).

His temps are around basking area 90, I to keep the cool side round 80 but it does fall to the 70s and hot side 87. I'm keeping them a tad low at the moment because I'm waiting for a new thermostat to be delivered this week and I just don't trust a rheostat with UTH when Im away all day. His humidity is pretty constant in the 40-50 range (maybe low?) but I mist to up it in the evening when I get home from work.

[Inarikins]

What are you measuring with? Did you weigh him regularly while he wasn't eating to make sure he wasn't losing too much too fast? 10 months is a long time but it's not unheard of in ball pythons. If nothing is wrong with his body, usually it's something to do with the husbandry. An assist feed for an adult is an absolute last resort, after all other problems - medical and husbandry - are ruled out.

[Darwin]

Yeah, I know but everything with his environment seemed okay to me (would you suggest different temps than I listed above?) and I had all the tests done first to rule out anything medical. The weird lethargic behavior was just to risky (in my opinion and the vets) to let it continue any longer. He has always been a finicky eater going off feed for a few months in the winter sometimes and I've learned not to stress about it too much but nothing has ever gone to this extent. I haven't tried to feed since he was assisted (it was just last week) but hopefully it's smooth sailing from here.

[Darwin]

Oh about the weighing, I wasn't weighing him for the first few months because it wasn't that irregular for him to be off feed. I don't know his initial weight from when he was feeding regularly but when I started noticing a significant weight loss, I weighed him in around 1460 (approx. I don't know the exact number off hand) and at the time they assist fed him he was down to 1370. That last weight loss was in just 3 weeks. I'm definitely going to be keeping better track of his weight from now on. Unfortunately, I really don't know what the total weight loss was.

[Inarikins]

WHAT ARE YOU MEASURING YOUR TEMPS WITH. It is impossible to know if your temps are actually correct or not if you're using inaccurate devices to measure your temps/humidity with. If he was off feed not due to a fast but due to improper husbandry, that would explain the rapid weight loss - he's not off feed because he wants to be but because he feels he cannot eat due to not having the right environment to eat in.

[Darwin]

His temps are measured with a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer with a probe over the UTH. His humidity is measured with a digital reader as well. UTH controlled by a thermostat. I obviously double checked their accuracy during the course of this situation against new gear. I also check them periodically against the temp gun. Im pretty confident they're good. The only thing was the old hygrometer had been off by a couple %, nothing major but it had been replaced. Believe me, I exhausted all avenues with equipment checks, husbandry, and medical before opting to assist feed.

[Inarikins]

Thank you. I don't agree that assist feeding was the right option, but if he starts eating again, then all is well. (I don't mean to come off as harsh, but all too often people come on here with problems then can't or don't answer questions about their husbandry and it makes it super hard to help them.)

[Darwin]

Yeah, I wasn't keen on the assist feeding thing either but his behavior in the last month was alarming and once the vet was on board with it, we agreed it was the best option. Not an easy choice for sure and, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he's back on track. Thanks for responding....and I'll quit fussing about his stubborn shed.