Shedding Question

[elevatethis]

I just noticed yesterday that my bp's eyes have clouded up and his brillian skin colors have faded, appearantly its time for him to shed.

I've been trying to keep this humidity up, but i can't get it to stay above 50% for more than a few hours. So, I've been giving him a snakewarm bath every day.

How long before he will actually shed? 2 days ago its eyes clouded over. He's due to eat on tuesday, so should I hold off until he's done shedding?

[Mike]

you can go ahead and hold off on feeding. he may or may not eat during this time and he can certainly wait so thats the way to go, imo. he'll probably in about a week. what do you usually have your humidity at? you dont need to give him a bath every dya during the entire shed cycle. wait until his eyes clear up. two or three days after this, he will shed. so once his eyes clear up, that would be the best time to bath him.

[elevatethis]

I try to keep it around 50% as best I can, I have 3/4 of the cage lid sealed with glad wrap to keep some moisture in, but if i dont a couple times a day, the humidity drops to 35%. When I mist it goes up to 60% for a couple hours though.

Is is bad to feed them during this cycle? Or if I offer a mouse and it takes it, then he'll be alright?

[BallKingdom]

I feed during shed with no effects. Sometimes they lose interest tho.

[Smulkin]

Yesterday we covered the screen tops with clear con-tac film instead of the moist towel method. Good timing too as a couple of ours are getting ready to shed. Even with a couple of corners trimmed out for ventilation and heat management the moisture retention is outstanding sitting at 60-65% with no misting required other than that supplement needed after the top has been off a while. Only thin g I can say if you are going to do this is MONITOR it closely - you'll likely have to back your lights off a bit (if you use them as heat sources) since heat retention goes right along with moisture retention - don't wanna cook yer buds.

2 of ours are ready to shed having gone notably milky but ate nonetheless.

[Mike]

i have deffinatly noticed a difference when i feed during a shed cycle. either the lump stays there alot longer or the food gets rugurged. this hasnt happened with my ball pythons as far as i know(lumps are less obvious and they havent regurged) but it has with my corn and rainbow boa. you can make a choice whether you want to feed during shed or not. as you can see, people (including myself) have done it without a problem.

[elevatethis]

I've noticed over the last few nights (its eyes clouded friday and were clear this morning) its been moving around its cage a lot, and its done this in the past on the night before or day of when its time to feed. Should I offer it a meal or wait until it sheds? (i've got two dissenting opinions so far)

[wolfman38]

I don't feed during a shed cycle. Because it is mixed bag. You don't know if he will eat it or if he will regurge it or not. So, I opt not to feed during a shed, and I wait a couple of days after the shed then feed him. the reason I wait a few more days after he sheds, is so that I cn inspect his shed and make sure it all has come off. If it was not a complete shed I will assits in the removale of the remaining skin. Then after all the skin is gone, I will then wait a day to allow the snake get into the "swing of things" so to speak, then I feed him his normal sized meal. Hope that this helps.

[Marla]

You're not likely to hurt anything if you try to feed the snake during a shed (unless it regurgitates). It's just that you're more likely to end up with a dead rodent sitting around being stinky.

[elevatethis]

Why might they regurgitate during a shed?

And how long until the snake actually sheds? This is my baby balls first shed since I've had it so I guess i'm being impatient/paranoid.