Skin question

[Ninefinger]

Reba, my 3 new BP is on our 3rd feeding section and I have a question on her skin. It appears she is going to start her first shed since I have had her and her skin now appears to be a little bit baggy now. I do not know if this is normal or maybe she needs to be fed more. I feed her once a week with a small mouse. It is not alarming baggy but just started to notice it. I have weighed her to monitor weight and will start to check it more often. Any words of wisdon or just stop worrying.

[Shelby]

Hmm.. hard to say with no pics. Perhaps she is dehydrated? Has she gone blue (ready to shed)? If not.. how do you know she's shedding? Either way, you may want to soak her in luke warm water for an hour or so.

If you can, feed your snake rats instead of mice. Much healthier. And make sure the food item is as big around as your snake's widest body width.

[SatanicIntention]

Shelby, rats aren't healthier, they are more fatty and bulk the snake up more than a mouse would.

[Ninefinger]

Her eyes are blue and cloudy and the skin has turned dull. I keep the humidty around 55 low and 80 high and a large water bowl on the cool end. I will soak her and try a rat next feeding. How often do you recommend feeding a new young snake?
Also, because it is hard to keep the humidy up, should I replace the bark with artificial turf?

[Shelby]

Shelby, rats aren't healthier, they are more fatty and bulk the snake up more than a mouse would.

Ah.. I read that they have more meat on them, and mice are more bones or something.

You should feed your snake every 7-10 days.

Artificial turf.. you mean like astroturf, the green carpet stuff? Seems to me that'd make your problem worse. You may try coconut fiber bedding. It holds moisture pretty well, but you don't want it too high since ball pythons prefer lower humidity in general. Maybe try a hide with moist sphagnum moss in it for humidity.

[kontron]

you are in a shed my friend. soak in luke warm water, then put her back in the cage. i like to keep my humidity around 70-80% in sheds. just check on her and soon she will have a nice new skin.

[Ninefinger]

Thanks for the help and easing my mind.
two more basic questions:
1. How often should I clean her tank
2. How often should I soak her now that she is in shed?
Getting excited now !!

[Shelby]

Clean it when she leaves a present for you. I recommend using virusan/nolvasan as a disinfectant since it's infinitely safer than a bleach solution.

You probably will only need to soak her once, but if she has trouble with her shed, soak her again.

[Ninefinger]

Great.
Since she ate tonight, I will soak her tomorrow.
Hopefully in the next week she will then shed.
Thanks all for the help.

[Shelby]

Careful.. you shouldn't handle a snake that's just eaten for 48 hours after they've eaten, since they may regurgitate.

When you see a snake about to go in shed, don't even offer food, most of the time they won't eat it.