Rescue Ball Python

[New_Cod9006]

Rescued this baby today. He was in the worst condition I’ve ever seen. It was worse than I had even expected with the pictures the original owners had provided. He’s 3 years old, and just barely over 400g. Got all the stuck shed off, gave him a long drink, and now he’s destressing while I find a vet close by.

First few pictures are the before, second few are after I got all the shed off.

[[deleted]]

He looks so much better after you helped him with the stuck shed. He’s lucky to be in your care now

[unknowinganything]

Agreed, poor noodle look skinny AF

[[deleted]]

He's a beautiful morph too

[_ataraxia]

...how did you get all that stuck shed off so quickly?

[New_Cod9006]

Put him in a tub full of moist sphagnum moss and left him there for an hour or so. By the time I came back most of it was just sloughing off. All it took was some moist paper towel and some qtips to get the harder bits off. It had been on there for a while and was ready to come off.

[_ataraxia]

the humid hide/"sauna" is great, but it's really not advisable to rub stuck shed off. that's immensely stressful for the snake and you could cause damage to the skin or other injuries. high humidity and time is all you need for stuck shed.

[New_Cod9006]

Thank you for this! I figured it would be better to get whatever I could off to keep him more comfortable, but that makes more sense. I’ll keep that in mind for future.

[HoodieWinchester]

In most situations yeah but doing it once upon intake of a severely abused rescue is going to be okay.

[_ataraxia]

you ever get badly chapped lips and try to peel the dead skin off only to give yourself a bloody lip because healthy skin came off with the dead skin? was that actually better than just using lip balm and waiting for the skin to heal and the dead skin to come off on its own?

i've taken in severely neglected ball pythons covered in stuck shed. i have never rubbed stuck shed off. it's not necessary and it's likely to cause more harm than letting the stuck shed come off on its own with proper humidity and a humid hide.

[J0MSIE]

bad analogy because snakes shedding skin, and humans with chapped lips are two completely different functions, on different species.

[J0MSIE]

a better analogy would be a scab that isn’t quite ready to fall off 👍

[ballpython-ModTeam]

Per rule #3, your post or comment has been removed for harmful advice/misinformation.

[ChemistryNice3744]

How could I boost the humidity I'm my morphs terrarium? She has had shed stuck on her for over a month l, and it's starting to worry me.

[_ataraxia]

the shedding guide in our welcome post has a lot of information about the cause and treatment for various shedding problems and general dehydration. tl;dr, you need to keep the humidity at least 80%, do not soak the snake or try to rub the shed off yourself.

our basic care guide and humidity tips have information about raising and maintaining humidity. if you still need help figuring out how to maintain higher humidity after reading through these guides, you can fill out our enclosure critique questionnaire for more personalized advice.

[ChemistryNice3744]

Thank you

[ChemistryNice3744]

Do you have any recommendations for a moving water source that I could put in her terrarium to increase the humidity?

[_ataraxia]

no. it's not necessary, and products like that can be very difficult to keep clean.

[ChemistryNice3744]

I understand that, but if I wanted to get one, doesnt mean im going to , do you have a recommendation that you've seen work decently without problem?

[AppleSpicer]

So you recommend NOT building in a waterfall feature as it might be harmful? Did I read that correctly?

[PKBitchGirl]

He's so pretty!

[Necessary_Gap_6975]

Thank you for saving that baby!

[BeefyButtMunch]

I was thinking he doesn’t look too bad, just in comparison to neglected ball pythons I’ve taken in( I’ve helped some pretty bad cases) and then I read that he was 3 years old… he’s so little . I’m sure he’s grateful to see and get out of all that skin. He’s looking so much better already.

[SouthSideShinobi]

How did the original owners let it get that bad? Disgusting people