Partial Shed... due to stress... question

[Kenzie]

Hi all, It's me again. Kenzie, the newbe to Ball Python ownership. My Ball, Linda, recently had a "shed". I did everything that I had read online from you all, uped the humidity to 80% and left her alone for about a week. I notice 3 days ago that there was a piece of shedded skin hanging from her right side right below her head . I was excited and thought this was the beginning of her first shed in my care. Now three days later she is no longer sitting directly under the heat source and is now on the colder side of the cage. So I figured she was done. I took her out and cleaned out her cage. There was hardly any shed in the cage... very bad shed . I offered her food for the first time and she gobbled it up ! It was amazing . But I am rather worried about the state of her skin . That piece is still hanging off and her eyes obviously didn't shed either. I called the captive breader I bought her from and he said that we shouldn't have moved her to my care mid shed and that her next shed should take care of it. Any thoughts from you all? She ate great... I watched from a distance ! So she is alright with her surroundings and comfortable enough to eat. I just want her to be healthy. What about these Snake Skin conditioners you can buy at the pet store? Do they work?

Thank you for your help,
Kenzie (Proud Ball Owner)

[Sponger05]

Try making a humid hide box.... go buy some moss and get a tupperware container... cut an entrance into it (cover the edges with tape so no jagged edges could harm your snake) and put some moss in it spray it down and put it on the warm side of the cage. It helped my snake. My boa had close to the same problem- she shed 1 big piece just forgot her head.... but it came off in the next shed.

[Adrya]

You can keep a hide box with moss in her cage like suggested, but for stuck incomplete sheds, you can soak her for a couple hours or so in tepid water and it should all come right off.

[Kenzie]

Considering I just fed her today at 12:00pm how long should I wait until I "soak" her? Will she stay in the water without trying to get out? Sorry never done any of this before.

[Adrya]

You don't have to soak her immediately, you might wait until tomorrow since she just ate today.

If you have a seperate container or something with a lid, as long as it has air holes, it will keep her from getting out. She may want out at first but she'll settle and just lay there. Just an inch or two of water is all that is needed as long as her belly can still touch the bottom comfortably, not so much water that she has to swim.

[unluckyseventeen]

What did you feed the ball? Was it live or pre-killed?

[Kenzie]

Pre killed/frozen large mouse. I've heard you all say that rats are more nutricious but I don't know what size to feed her I just went with what the breeder gave me. I thawded it in the refridgerator for 2 days... the stomach was nice and squishy then I warmed it up in the baggie in hot water.
I will ask the breeder tomorrow if we can switch over to small rats. That's a good thing right?

[unluckyseventeen]

Good.

A good rule of thumb is to make sure the rat is about as girthy as the fattest part of the snake's body. There's really no set size, just make sure those two match up and you'll be fine.

For a good shedding regimine, I'd make sure your humidity is at about 70% (too much humidity might make the snake sick), and soak the snake the THIRD day after the "blue" eyes go away.

As for now, just wait for a couple days, then soak the snake in about 80 degree water (or lukewarm). You could do it once per day. As for right now I wouldn't worry about any other shedding aids. This should get the job done.