Won a ball python in a raffle. Whoops.

I entered a raffle at my go-to LPS last week, hoping to win a gift card or a new cage. Instead, I won a female mojave ball python (which wasn't one of the prizes when I entered--they just added more prizes later to get more people to buy tickets).

So I set up a viv and decided to give her a week of acclimation time, as I'd do with a new corn. About 4-5 days into that week, I noticed bits of shed, so I looked in her hide (which she'd been in for the whole time--ah, ball pythons!), and noticed she'd shed from her head and about 1/4 of her body. The rest hadn't come off (eyecaps are off, though, so thank gawd for that). Since then, I've been misting the tank every morning and evening, swapped out her regular warm hide for one of those more enclosed repti-shelters filled with moist sphagnum moss (which smells! I had no idea!), added a branch with more rough edges to snag the skin, and gave her a bigger water dish that she can completely curl up in.

It's been 3 days, and so far there's been no real progress. A few small pieces of shed have flaked off, but 3/4 of her body is still basically wearing old skin. I haven't seen her go in the water dish, and I she won't go back into the moist hide (maybe the smell bothers her, too?).

When should I get worried? Should I soak her in warm water? For how long/how deep/how warm?

Neither of my cornsnakes has ever had a bad shed, so I'm not really familiar with the troubleshooting here.

I knew I should've just turned down the prize. But from what I've seen, female mojaves can go for $200+, so I didn't want to pass this up.

the towel trick works on them as well... She will be uncomfortable with the shed on, they are normally hardy animals very much like corns... So I think she would be happier with a towel treatment, or you can do what I do with gardening gloves the rougher kind and just let her slitter around your hands as well.. You have already tried the normal stuff, help her now and afterwards with a legit set up chances are next shed will go better..

Oh And Congratulations to your price!! lol (im slow at times)

I have a ball python trouble shooting guide down in my personal forum on this site, as a sticky.

Soak her like you would a corn and have her slider through a pillow case or towel.

I love my ball Python and find he's lower maintenance than my corn but is pretty inactive the majority of the time.

Originally Posted by Nanci

I have a ball python trouble shooting guide down in my personal forum on this site, as a sticky.

How do I find your personal forum? I'm using Tapatalk, so navigation is a little weird. Still getting used to it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I don't use Tapatalk, so can't help you there but the thread is located here.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=128897

Originally Posted by Tavia

I don't use Tapatalk, so can't help you there but the thread is located here.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=128897

Thanks, Tavia! Tapatalk is proving to be a pain, but it does make it a little easier to read this forum on mobile. :/

Nanci, that primer was awesome. I would've done more research about BPs before if I had known I was gonna win one. Like I said, the raffle was originally just for gift cards, cages, and feeders.

Thanks to everyone else who replied, too.

I've bought some cheap shop towels and some rough latex work gloves. I'll give her another night to try to get the shed off on her own. If she hasn't shed by tomorrow morning, I'll give her a soak in lukewarm water for an hour, then let her slither around in my hands while I wear the gloves. I hope she lets me. Since I only just got her, I haven't handled her except for the initial once-over and weighing-in.

To navigate on Tapatalk, first get to the actual forum you want, like Cornsnakes.com. Then touch the three lines in the upper left corner, then Forums, then the section you want- Cornsnake Forums, Classifieds, Member Forums, etc. Then the subsection.

Or, from that first page, you can choose to read unread, messages, etc.

I think you'll like it once you get used to it. So much better than scrolling around, and uploading photos is sooooo easy!

One more question. It's been unusually cold (and wet) here in Los Angeles, and the cages (for the new BP and for my corn) have been in the 50s overnight and mid-60s during the day in my apartment. Their warm sides are fine, but I don't want them to be restricted to their warm hides for possibly weeks, especially the BP since they require warmer temps. I bought a halogen mini dome light and stuck a 50W red light into it (although on first look, it's brighter than I thought--might switch to a ceramic heater or it'll keep me up at night). My UTHs are plugged into thermostats. But I heard that constantly turning lamps on and off (from the thermostat kicking in and out) is really bad for the bulbs. Would it be better to get a separate rheostat for the lamp?