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Ball Python- Shedding Problem

chibitamalove

chibitamalove

New member
My Lily's been starting to shed for a couple days now, and I'm a bit worried. She's frayed the skin on the tip of her nose, but it doesn't seem to go past that. The humidity should be fine and I've been soaking her in water twice a day for the last 2 days. Also, when she curls up, stretches, etc, her skin wrinkles up like she's deydrated, but I know she's been drinking.

Thanks in advance,
Aly
 
Oh yeah, I've also been getting little scales. It's the shedding skin, but it's only individual scales falling off. I know this shouldn't happen...
 
My ball python had trouble with her last shed. I got some wet paper towels and put them in a plastic containers. (the one I feed her in) I put her and a tree branch in there for a couple of hours. She was completely shed when I went to check on her. Hope this helps.
 
When you say the humidity's in the correct range, do you mean high sixties/low seventies? It's recommended to raise the humidity in a ball python's cage when it's in shed. You can also offer a humid hide in there (little container filled with damp, not WET, but like a wrung out wash cloth, sphagnum moss or paper towels) for the duration of the shed instead of keeping the humidity high. You can also try soaking a pillow case with warm water, wringing it out some, sticking him in, and letting him slither around for a couple hours in it.
 
As soon as I see my ball pythons are in blue, I mist the cage daily. I bought a cheap hand sprayer and mist. I use cypress mulch, which holds humidity. They always shed in pieces, unlike the full sheds of my corns, but since I started misting, they always shed completely.

John
 
Stop soaking twice a day. If after the snake has not completed the shed, or still has stuck bits, soak once and let the snake wriggle through a moist towel or moist pillow case. Make sure the soaking water is not too cold nor warm - I try make it 90 F and take the snake out if the water temp drops to 85ish. The moist towel likewise should not be too warm or too cold.

As long as the stuck shed does not completely encircle the snake at any point along the snake's body, you can leave a stuck shed on as it will most likely come off at the next shed.

Making a humid hide as others have describe can help. I've also heard of great success of skipping the soak and just placing the snake in a moist pillow case, tied off and the pillow case back in the enclosure. The snake will crawl around for a while in the pillow case, which should loosen and remove the stuck shed.
 
I got my BP during a bad shed and had to soak him, so I know that wrinkly look your describing. Now I just mist the heck out of his viv, and cover half of the lid with a kitchen towel I also mist. It covers the half the light isn't on, and really raises the humidity. I gave him a rock hide just barely bigger than him, and now he sheds completely inside it, leaving it rolled up in a tiny ball....
 
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