HELP!!! Ball Python's skin cracked, folded, looks shredded?!

[Zincubus]

I would stop calling petsmart for advice... do research online on snake communities like this forum. The reason he had stopped eating before has a few possible reasons common with new owners, but "snake flu" isn't one of them lol.

It's good you're on this forum now! You can read through the stickied threads in the Husbandry section, and also the care sheet.

He's also quite skinny, tiny, and dehydrated looking, on top of his stuck shed, for being over a year old. The size indicates he's being underfed.

I'm sure there are some improvements to be made to his enclosure and bunping humidity to 60%~70% to prevent this from happening again.

get a digital hygrometer like an Acurite to monitor humidity. The round analog ones from persmart don't work.

I can't see the photos on my mobile but going off your observations I'd say the soak is a must - it will certainly help instantly with the dehydration and if they let the snake wriggle continuously through a wet , rough textured bath towel , applying very gentle pressure - the skin or most of it will come off easily

[Sauzo]

I will do this tomorrow afternoon! thank you so much!!! I was afraid somebody would break it to me that my baby was slowly dying or something ;;;

Nah, it's nothing as bad as that. Snakes have bad sheds, it happens. Not the end of the world. Just get the old shed off and get his humidity in the cage squared away and you will be fine.

[cchardwick]

What kind of substrate to you have? And what is your humidity? I like coconut husk substrate because it holds a lot of water and doesn't mold. I'm guessing the stuck shed is from the heating lamp, that will dry things out in a hurry. Personally I'd bump up your room temp to 80F and switch to an under tank heater thermostat controlled set to 88F and ditch the lamp.

My SD retic was like that when I got him, he was on aspen with a heat bulb. Takes awhile to get rid of a stuck shed like that, you'll probably have to soak multiple times, I'd probably feed, wait a couple days, then soak at least once a week. I have another ball python that suddenly had a stuck shed and it took a long time to unstick that one LOL. Not sure what caused that one, he was on damp coconut husk substrate the whole time. If your snake has the wobbles, usually from genetics (certain morphs) you'll have to make sure to watch or assist during soaking so they don't drown.

[Zincubus]

I swear by orchid bark / reptibark as a substrate . Looks fabulous and natural , makes your snakes look great by enhancing their colours and I can hold as much or as little humidity as is needed .

[pythondad]

I'm sure there are some improvements to be made to his enclosure and bunping humidity to 60%~70% to prevent this from happening again.

get a digital hygrometer like an Acurite to monitor humidity. The round analog ones from persmart don't work.

makes sense, the only things i've ever had are from petsmart.

how do I even control humidity? they never said anything about that when I bought him. ;;

[redshepherd]

makes sense, the only things i've ever had are from petsmart.

how do I even control humidity? they never said anything about that when I bought him. ;;

Here's the care sheet, btw: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ius)-Caresheet

I'd give it a serious read through and honestly alter your enclosure based on the requirements in the caresheet.

Here's a step by step tub setup, which will make maintaining humidity and heat A LOT easier, and you don't have to use the heat bulb: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...e-Basics-*DUW*

Once you get your Acurite hygrometer, you'll find what the humidity of your house is... And depending on that, you might need to go with a different enclosure (a tub or pvc setup), if the humidity is just super low.

For your glass/screen top setup for now, you can soak a big towel, fold it a few times and lay it over 90% of your screen top. And then use foil as a cover and wrap it down. That will help increase humidity.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Can you possibly tell me what I can do to help him gain weight? feed him two mice at once? feed him twice a week? bigger mice? I want my little guy to be in tip-top shape asap!

For him to gain weight you need to feed him approprietly see here https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines , if you do that and it is still not getting weight, make an appointment with a vet for a fecal.

You also need to make sure that you provide proper husbandry, obviously there are issue based on the pictures of your BP, husbandry issues will lead to various problem from bad shed to fast to more serious health issues, time to refresh your knowledge and go over the caresheet available on this forum and also go over how to properly setup a BP based.

[Trisnake]

You said he's looked like this for 5 months? May be multiple full body stuck sheds. TBH that's one of the worst stuck sheds I've ever seen and he does look a bit skinny and dehydrated, but he should be fine with a good ole dose of TLC :)

Just make sure you make the necessary changes to his enclosure and this shouldn't happen again.

EDIT: my smileys won't work :(

[pythondad]

You said he's looked like this for 5 months? May be multiple full body stuck sheds. TBH that's one of the worst stuck sheds I've ever seen and he does look a bit skinny and dehydrated, but he should be fine with a good ole dose of TLC

Just make sure you make the necessary changes to his enclosure and this shouldn't happen again.

EDIT: my smileys won't work

yeah, all because petsmart told me he was alright, I didn't know any better (as this is my first bp and my only other snake was a cornsnake)

i was also afraid to bring this up on some forums the past two months because i was worried people would say i was abusing him / not taking care of him when in reality i'm really trying, i just never got the proper information from the pet store (which i can see why now, a lot of you say they're completely bogus)

thank you for the help!!

[pythondad]

Here's the care sheet, btw: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ius)-Caresheet

I'd give it a serious read through and honestly alter your enclosure based on the requirements in the caresheet.

Here's a step by step tub setup, which will make maintaining humidity and heat A LOT easier, and you don't have to use the heat bulb: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...e-Basics-*DUW*

Once you get your Acurite hygrometer, you'll find what the humidity of your house is... And depending on that, you might need to go with a different enclosure (a tub or pvc setup), if the humidity is just super low.

For your glass/screen top setup for now, you can soak a big towel, fold it a few times and lay it over 90% of your screen top. And then use foil as a cover and wrap it down. That will help increase humidity.

thanks so much!! you guys are so kind here, I was worried someone would have accused me of abusing my little guy. with all this information, he should get better in no time—I gave him a soak today as you all reccomended and a lot of the skin came off! now just a few more soaks, some tank and feeding adjustments, and i'll be posting pictures of my big ol' boy in no time!