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StaticKaos · #1 (**permalink**) 06-28-2002, 03:37 AM

Alright, I've got a ball python.. 10 gallon tank, yadda yadda yadda.. He started sheddin a few days ago, but all he has shed is like half the skin off his head an thats it.. Its not because of a lack of stuff to rub against, cause hes even got a tiny piece of brick i chipped off an cleaned.. Really want to help him out, I think its because of a lack of humidity or something. Im going to go get a humidity guage 2morrow, but what can i do to add/take away from humidity??
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BWSmith · #2 (**permalink**) 06-28-2002, 03:58 AM

Personally, as soon as a snake come out of the blue, I soak it every night for 20 minutes until it sheds. Seems to work great. i am sure that there are about 20 different methods (and you will probably get them all)
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Extreme · #3 (**permalink**) 06-28-2002, 03:59 AM

Try giving your python a water bowl big enough for it to soak in. Also, take a regular spray bottle and mist the entire cage and snake with water. That should do the trick.
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phaedrus · #4 (**permalink**) 06-28-2002, 04:22 AM

Mist the hide as well. In the future, provide a second large bowl of water and if you have a screen top, cover half of it. That'll help keep humidity levels up. I've got 29L tank (30x12x12) with a large waterbowl on the warm side as well as the cool side. I've got a black heating lamp on one side with the UTH and hides at both ends. Half of the screen top is covered with plastic. With the heating lamp on during the day, I get high temps of 90-92, cool temps of 80 and humidity at 60%. During shed, I cover 3/4 of the cage and get humidity levels at about 70-75%...sometimes 80 on hot, humid days. I don't know the specs for pythons, mines a boa, but by doing it this way, I can get consistent temps and humidity levels. Oh, I've got the heating lamp slightly over the second bowl of water.
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phaedrus · #5 (**permalink**) 06-28-2002, 04:26 AM

Forgot to mention, my first two sheds were horrendous. All in pieces and probably wasn't a lot of fun for Ted. Once I got everything stable, his last shed (third since I've had him) came off in one piece! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

On another note, there's also something they sell at stores call "Shed ease" or something like that. I've heard other people here talk about it and use it. But that's usually for extreme cases.
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Bry · #6 (**permalink**) 06-28-2002, 05:11 AM

I've never had problems w/ snakes having bad sheds in melamine or Vision cages. The reason for this is because these cages hold in humidity. The important thing is to make sure the bowl has water and is large enough to soak in, and the water will help with the ambient humidity. But I've had to deal w/ a few bad sheds in tanks with screen tops because the humidity escapes easily. I've remedied this by covering half of the lid with a towel, and misting the enclosure and the snake once or twice daily, the snakes that have problem sheds get misted 2-3 times daily and it works for me. Two of my snakes which are prone to problem sheds have shed perfectly twice since I started using this method.

But, now that your snake has already shed, take it in the bathroom, run warm (not hot) water in your bathtub, and wet your hand and rub it all over the snake and get them good and wet, you'll have to wet your hand several times. Then, starting at the head, rub the skin gently towards the tail repeatedly until the skin comes loose and continue this process until you get all of the skin off, you'll have to wet your hands repeatedly during this process as well. Don't ever pull off the skin, just "help" it off. Then thoroughly check the body and make sure you got all the skin off. Don't be too surprised if the skin comes off in pieces, just be sure to get all of the skin off. Also, if the eye caps are retained, wet a Q-tip and rub it over the eye in circles until it comes off.

Bry
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StaticKaos · #7 (**permalink**) 06-28-2002, 05:42 AM

well thats definetly helpful.. thanks, ima get a humidity gauge 2morrow, as well as a spray bottle for tha cage.. Mine isn't advanced as most of ya'lls yet, im waitin until i need to get a bigger tank to fit his size before i start spendin a lot of money on him.. thanks though.. peace
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Ed_r · #8 (**permalink**) 06-28-2002, 05:47 AM

I'm assuming this is a baby BP so i won't tear into anyone about it being in a 10gal tank. But what i do is take a towel and run warm tap water over it get it real damp and put put it over the lid of the tank. Then take a spray bottle and mist the tank til you get a nice fog in the tank(mist with warm water)Not Hot water. do this from the time its eyes go blue til shed usually a week. In your case with retained shed try misting and covering the tank for a day or 2 and see if it completes the shed. if not give the snake a bath in a tub of luke warm water(if it feels warm to you its too warm) then softly rub the skin after soaking for a bit. the skin will loosen and start to fall off. NEVER pull skin off the snake. When you rub the skin the shed will start to fall off.
ALSO Welcome to RTB!!!!

_________________
Reptiles are like Pokemon... Gotta catch em all!!!

Dr.Oviparous · #9 (**permalink**) 06-28-2002, 07:59 AM

to make sure the water is not too hot or cool I use a fish tank thermometer. 80 degrees is perfect. substrate can also play a big role in humidity. what kind of substrate do you use? -Juggalo

Welcome to RTB.NET!!
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StaticKaos · #10 (**permalink**) 06-28-2002, 08:05 AM

I have some really fine, soft gravel... The cage isn't really what i wanted it to be at tha moment.. But im 15 years old, had to buy everything myself, an have huge probation fine 2 pay off,lol, so money is tight at tha moment.. im guessin by tha time he reaches 2 feet, itll be christmas an i can get his tank hooked up an a bigger 1 too.. thanks for tha ideas, ima do tha hott towel trick 2morrow too..
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Dr.Oviparous · #11 (**permalink**) 06-28-2002, 08:17 AM

Honestly, I would ditch the gravel. Cypress Mulch is GREAT for humidity, but make sure to soak it in bleach water (5% bleach) rince VERY good, and bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 1 hour. don't go overboard on the baking, and make sure your checking on it constantly. this substrate is waaaay better. -Juggalo
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Drax · #12 (**permalink**) 07-11-2002, 05:12 AM

Hey welcome to RTB.net!

yea i would follow Jugg's advice. get him off the gravel. aspen or newspaper would be lots cheeper than the cypress and it will hold moisture but you need to heavily mist the terrarium. if you get aspen good and wet it will keep the moisture but you need to make sure its not too wet. the aspen will give him something to crawl around and hide in.

another idea to help get the old shed off is to wet a towel, put the ball in the towel, and then place the towel in a pillow case. let him crawl around for a while and the skin should work itself off.

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Ed_r · #13 (**permalink**) 07-11-2002, 05:37 AM

Definately lose the gravel. can get loged in him when eating.
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Dr.Oviparous · #14 (**permalink**) 07-11-2002, 08:22 AM

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE> can get loged in him when eating. </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
but only if your feeding in the cage, which is not to be done on cypress mulch, or aspen either. feeding inside any enclosure with loose substrate is a major no no. -Juggalo
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