BEL - tough to tell if he's trying to shed or not

[JayPerfetto]

Hi all - I have an Ivory ball python, he's about 10 months old, male. He hasn't shed in a while (a couple months at least), which seems odd to me. I've had another snake in the past (a corn snake owned for about 6 years), and it shed more regularly than this when it was young. I am in Massachusetts, so I know that we are coming out of winter which could have slowed him down some, but i'm still unsure. Lately he has been rubbing against the sides of his tank and against various things in his habitat as if he is trying to shed, but its been about a week of this and it doesn't look like anything is really happening.

As far as tank setup, he's in a 20g L tank with a combo of reptibark and shredded bark substrate. The right hand lamp is a 150 watt ceramic, the right is a 60 watt red lamp. There is a zoomed heat pad on the back side of the right of the tank. I have an infant cool mist humidifier with variable settings to keep the humidity high for him. Avg tank temp on the right side is about 75, and about 85 on the left.

He's all white which makes it very tough to tell when he's getting dull or entering opaque phase, and for all I can tell he seems happy and healthy. He's very reclusive and enjoys coiling in his hide. He eats a fresh prekilled mouse once every two weeks and defecates equally as often.

He didn't take food tonight though, which further leads me to believe he's trying to shed, as his behavior would suggest, but it still looks like he's having trouble initiating the shed despite high humidity and plenty of things to rub against.

Thoughts?

[rubberduck]

I have a BEL myself and the only thing that gives out an imminent shed is that he completely disappears for some days. I've only seen the opaque eyes once although i check on him every day. A couple of times i had him looking a bit pink (the whole body).

If he eats regularly and growing he will shed even if the husbandry isn't right (which i don't think it's the case here). It's true that they shed more often as juvies but i don't think there's a pattern there. I had snakes in growth spurts that shed every 3 weeks and then waited for 2,5 months before resuming a more regular plan.

I would try and up the temps a few degrees (88-90) although young snakes prefer a bit cooler temps than adults. And i have the feeling the frequency and the size of the prey might be a bit off for a 10 month old bp. Once a week would be better becausehe is still growing.

[Mr. Misha]

I have a high white Pied and I notice that when he'd in shed, his body turns a very light pinkish hue and his belly becomes very pink. It's very subtle change but I'm sure you'll get a handle on it. I also recommend putting damp sphagnum moss in his hide. That should bump up his humidity while he's hiding in there. Also, how are you measuring your temperature? I didn't see any thermometers in your photo.