Shedding problems/ going inverted, Male ball python - need advice!

[Mojo2112]

Hello all

Here it goes, I have a Pastel male ball python who is 460 grams, Hes been in deep shed for about 6-7 days now. Normally (correct me if I'm wrong) when ball pythons go into deep shed their eyes cloud over for a few days then start to clear up. My male has been in deep shed for 6-7 days now and his eyes are still very cloudy and they have been cloudy almost the whole time hes been in shed. Hes on a weekly feeding schedule but I skipped his meal for this week because hes in deep shed. I normally feed every Monday or Tuesdays. His hot spot is at 90 and his cool side is at 77-80 degrees. I've been misting his "house"/Tub every day since hes gone into shed to help him out because hes known to have shedding problems according to his recent owners. I got him about a month ago, this is his first shed for me. Today I misted down his "house"/Tub 3 times to give him alittle more boost. Hes been very active since I got him but now that hes in shed hes slowed down on being active and I noticed him the other night laying somewhat inverted? I've never seen a ball python laying inverted so it kinda of concerns me. I've read females do this during breeding season but hes a male? and hes small. Last time hes had a meal was March 24th, hes very chunky so I wasn't concerned with skipping a meal even though I'm sure he would have taken it, hes never refused a meal for me but I didn't wanna risk him hurting himself by smacking in the side of the tub or anything like that.. He has no mites, hes been perfectly healthy, very active other then him being in shed and not as active now.

Seeing how hes always had a shedding problem, I was told to soak him alittle during sheds. Which I'm not doubting the advice that was given to me by his last owner but I read ball pythons build an oil (correct me if Im wrong) under their skins during shedding to help them shed and read how it wasn't a good idea to soak them because it removes this oil on their skin. Is this true? is there a way to help him shed without soaking him?

Also with him laying somewhat inverted, is this normal? he hasn't had a meal in almost two weeks and I don't have any breeder females so no scent for him to feel love deprived heh... I check on him every night and have never seen him do this until now.
I didn't get a picture of him laying like this, I kinda freaked out heh.. but next time if it happens again I will. I also don't know this site very well so I'm not sure how to post pictures ...


I tried to include as much information about him as possible if I forgot anything just ask

Thanks all!

[Saber402]

You are correct. The soaks probably contributed to his difficulty shedding with the prior owners. Also, every snake is different. I have some that are in blue for several days and then shed, and a couple others that have a very short blue period and then shed in a day or so.

As this is your first shed, as long as you know there is adequate humidity, around 65 - 70% during sheds, he will likely be fine. A few questions - What are you using to measure humidity? What are you using for substrate? and finally what is your setup like?

[Mojo2112]

The only reason why the other owner has done the soaking from what I was told was because he had difficulty shedding with them as well. I forgot to add, I was told he has rather long shed cycles.
This isn't my very first shedding I experienced with ball pythons but it is my first experience with this particular ball python. I have others that are in the same type of tub as he is and they shed in one piece, they're also on the same heat strip. I don't have anything to measure humidity though I should >.< but I kinda go by the foggyness of the tub if I see a little in the corner like the rest of mine I feel I'm doing ok on humidity heh.. The others are doing great they have no problems shedding at all.

I use paper towels as bedding and hoping to move to un-printed news paper soon. I don't want to have the risk of any type of wood chip bedding to be swallowed so I don't use aspen or any type of "wood chip" bedding. I just feel its more cleaner using paper towels or un-printed news paper.

I have him in a rack I made, where I can just slide out his tub take the top off and do what I need to do. He has a bowl of water on the cool side, he likes to go under the paper towels so I just removed his hide shortly after I got him because he seemed like he would rather go under the paper instead of going in his hide

[bcr229]

I've noticed that one of my BP's has tougher than the usual sheds, and his shed skin feels thick and stiff compared to the others, almost like it's 2 layers. I keep his humidity at 60-70% constantly and it does seem to help.

You could try putting a second small, shallow water dish on the warm side to help bump up his humidity. If the tub has a lot of ventilation holes try taping over some of them from the outside so the snake can't get caught up in the tape.

I wouldn't soak him until after he's started to pop the shed, and then only if its coming off in patches.