Shedding/Feeding Concerns

[Pandora]

Pandora turned dull just under a week ago, went into blue for 2 days, cleared up for 3-4 days and I tried very patiently to catch her shedding. I kept the humidity way up in the 60-70 range for the entire time and soaked her twice to ensure she'd have a perfect shed. I decided to try feeding her yesterday to stick to her schedule and she ate the thing no problem. I check up on her today, look under her hide and guess what I find? A half shed Pandora...
She hasn't left her warm hide since yesterday and didn't even attempt rubbing up against her log to get the shed off, she just did it in her hide. So she had all this saggy excess skin on her body. It's pretty much completely in one piece and I soaked her for a bit to get the rest off and it's coming off pretty smoothly.
I was hoping to also find a poop in there because she hasn't pooped in about a week and she looks like she's about to pop, but no poop =[


So... here's my feeding problems: I've never seen Pandora drink her water or even soak in it, let alone show any interest in doing so. I decided to start spraying her rat pups with a bit of water before feeding to aid with hydration. The last 3 time I fed her, she constricted, gave up for a bit, and then came back to eat the rat after distinguishing it's head from it's butt. I'm thinking maybe it has something to do with me spraying them, but I can't be sure. Before people start telling me I'm feeding her too small, I'm not. Everything I've been feeding her (with the exception of one time) has been rat pups slightly thicker than the thickest part of her body. I don't have a scale yet so I can't tell you their weight, but I know for a fact these feeders have been perfect size. The reptile store I go to get her food from see her often and give me the perfect size rat each time. I just want to know if there's a reason she's eating like this because she never did it before I started spraying them but if I stop spraying them, she'll get dehydrated because she doesn't eat. Also: I know when they're dehydrated, they get folds in their skin when they bend, but how do you tell the difference between normal folds and dehydrated folds?

[RoyalGuardian]

Ball pythons hate it when their food is wet. So its just spraying them most likely. I think that she is just getting drinks when your not around. Getting a drink is a vunerable situation to them so they do it in secret. Hope this helps!

[whitesnake12]

Well its very rarely you will see a snake drink,they get most of thier hydration from the food itself.I would just lightly mist the cage every now and then if you are worried about it.One of my bp's eats like a pig sticks her nose in the water dish and just backs away.I've never seen this snake drink,and i get perfect sheds 80% of the time.

[Pandora]

Well, I mist the cage to keep the humidity level anyway. I'm not so much worried about her external hydration as I am her internal hydration. I didn't know that BPs don't like their food wet. I actually got the tip off a hydration concern thread off the site where several people mentioned to do that. So, thank you Luna for letting me know that. =]

[RoyalGuardian]

Well, I mist the cage to keep the humidity level anyway. I'm not so much worried about her external hydration as I am her internal hydration. I didn't know that BPs don't like their food wet. I actually got the tip off a hydration concern thread off the site where several people mentioned to do that. So, thank you Luna for letting me know that. =]

Oh well I just remembered a thread that this guy asked why his snake wasn't eating and it turned out he was thawing the mice just in water with no bag, someone told him that most ball pythons refuse wet food so I passed the knowledge down to you ^_^

[Pandora]

I'm actually thinking of switching to F/T. Although I like the fact that she eats live, and want to continue, the last two were really jittery during constriction and moved her all around the feeding tank and clawed at her back a bit. Nothing serious but I just didn't enjoy watching it. Aside from hemostats, what else should I get or know about F/T?? How long do I have to thaw and how should I do it? Can I just put it in a container and let it sit?

[JayBP]

I'm actually thinking of switching to F/T. Although I like the fact that she eats live, and want to continue, the last two were really jittery during constriction and moved her all around the feeding tank and clawed at her back a bit. Nothing serious but I just didn't enjoy watching it. Aside from hemostats, what else should I get or know about F/T?? How long do I have to thaw and how should I do it? Can I just put it in a container and let it sit?

I usually put the mouse in a container with hot water and just let it thaw for about 10 minutes, then I come back and change out the water for more hot water, and leave it for another 5 mins. Usually by then, the mouse is fully thawed out, and ready to be eaten(by the snake).

[JayBP]

Oh well I just remembered a thread that this guy asked why his snake wasn't eating and it turned out he was thawing the mice just in water with no bag, someone told him that most ball pythons refuse wet food so I passed the knowledge down to you ^_^

That's not necessarily true. I don't put my frozen rats or mice is a bag before thawing them. I dry them a little so they are dripping wet, but they are still "moist" when I offer and I haven't had a problem yet.

Some people say they like to feed their snakes it's prey wet because it eases their mind about the whole hydration thing.

[Pandora]

That's not necessarily true. I don't put my frozen rats or mice is a bag before thawing them. I dry them a little so they are dripping wet, but they are still "moist" when I offer and I haven't had a problem yet.

Some people say they like to feed their snakes it's prey wet because it eases their mind about the whole hydration thing.

But she's not eating properly when it's wet. And Luna mentioned they don't like it wet... so why isn't she eating right?

[Somed00d]

what makes you think the snake is dehydrated? in that picture it looks fine besides its in the middle of a shed. rats have a lot of water in them so there is no real need to add water to the rat.