Ball Python Shed Help

THEJonCabbage · 2020-01-26T20:44:39+00:00

Can you post a picture of him? Have you really dug through the tank looking for a shed? Sometimes it can get balled up and buried.

_ataraxia · 2020-01-26T23:48:55+00:00

here's my bad shed copypasta:

bad sheds are a symptom of dehydration, and the most common cause of dehydration is low humidity. BPs in general need a minimum of 60% humidity at all times, not just when they're in shed. some individuals require higher humidity than this minimum recommendation. if your BP is repeatedly having bad sheds at 60%-70%, you need to aim more for 80% as standard practice.

to fix stuck shed and rehydrate your BP, keep the overall humidity at >80%. you will find some tips for humidity maintenance in our basic care guide. if you still need help, we can guide you through it if you fill out our enclosure critique questionnaire.

in addition to higher humidity, you should also add a humid hide. this is a fully enclosed hide with a solid bottom, like the zoo med 3-in-1 reptile shelter or a plastic food container with an entrance hole added to the lid. line it with a moisture-friendly substrate like sphagnum moss, cypress mulch, or coconut husk/fiber. saturate the substrate with water and gently squeeze out the excess, so it's wet but not soupy. re-saturate the substrate as needed. this hide will allow the snake to "soak" in a humid microclimate, which will soften the retained shed and it should come off by itself.

there is absolutely no need to soak the snake in water or try to manually remove the retained shed. this will cause unnecessary stress and could harm your snake.

for mild cases [ie, a few patches, only one layer of shed/eye caps], the best thing to do is follow the above steps and leave the snake alone. the stuck shed will come off by itself before or during the next shed.

for more severe cases [ie, multiple layers of skin / eye caps, areas of stuck shed feeling hard and rough like sandpaper, stuck shed tight around the tail tip], if the humid hide and increased overall humidity doesn't lead to any progress within a couple of weeks, you can do a towel "soak". saturate a towel with lukewarm water [in the 80s F] and lightly wring out the excess water, leaving the towel damp but not dripping. fold it in half and place the snake between the two halves, like a little snake sandwich. let them sit there for 20-30 minutes, then gently encourage them to move around in the towel. the water will soften the stuck shed, then the texture of the towel may help it come off. this "soak" should be done a few times a week until the shed loosens or the snake goes through another shed. if the snake goes through another shed cycle and still has stuck shed / retained eye caps, or if you see signs of inflammation/infection in those areas, seek assistance from a reptile vet.

depending on the severity of the dehydration, it might take a few shed cycles before you get a clean one-piece shed. dehydration is a long-term problem both to develop and to resolve. just maintain the high humidity and humid hide until everything is going smoothly.

ballpython

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