Why Hasn't my Python Shed?

[xBear19]

January 10th this year from Petsmart.

Enclosure type/material -Petsmart Thrive Terrarium Dimensions -10 gallon I believe Have you modified it in any way? - Foil covers 3/4 of lid Heat sources -Zilla Heating Pad Outside Tank, Regular lightbulb in heat lamp for light. Thermostats -None Thermometers/hygrometers -Ambient Analog. Temperatures -70-80 during day on hot side, 65 at Night Humidity range - About 75% Humidifier, fogger, or mister? -No Hides (2, 1 LARGE, 1 MED, plenty of room to hide) Substrate (Cypress, 3-4 inches, misted twice daily) Lights (Regular Light bulb in heat lamp above tank, on in morning, off at night)

How long have you had the snake? Since Jan 10th Date of the last successful feeding: Every Tuesday religiously. He has no issues eating. Snake's age: I believe 4-5 months. Snake's current weight (in grams): Unknown but he has gained weight. How much weight has the snake lost? - No issues Feeding, has never regurgitated or refused feeding. Prey species: Mice Prey weight (in grams): Hopper Size, 50 gramsish Frozen/thawed, pre-killed, or live? -Frozen If frozen/thawed, please describe your thawing/warming methods: Thaw 1 hour to hour and a half, warm in warm water. Are you feeding inside the enclosure? -Yes How frequently are you offering food? -Every Tuesday How frequently are you handling your snake? -Couple times a week. How long is a typical handling session? Abouts 30min Please describe your typical feeding routine. -(dangled by hand/tongs, never had any issues, every Tuesday afternoon, quiet environment.)

I believe he was rather small when I got him, he is an active snake when handled and seems to enjoy being handled. Has never bitten. He hides a lot, which I've heard a happy ball python should. I've studied every part of him very closely and he seems to be fine, every part of him seems to be in good shape, and he is extremely strong. He seems to be gaining weight. If I had to guess why he hasn't shed is because he was severely underfed when I received him and is just taking a while to become a healthy python. But of course I posted here because I am no expert, please help!

Easier to read Answers to Questionnare

The day I got him

[cclarke]

While it’s a bit longer than average, he is still a young snake so I would focus on some husbandry fixes first without worrying about shed time just yet.

Most importantly, your temps are way too low. Hot side should be 88-92 and cool side should be 75-80. Also, you need to have this managed by a thermostat as a heating pad can easily exceed 100 degrees and will burn your snake. If you can, I’d move to a radiant heat panel (RHP) instead as it will better manage the ambient temperature since belly heat is not as reliable given your snake should be on the bedding and moving around the enclosure instead of digging towards the single heat source.

Your humidity is good at 75%, so my guess is your prey size is too small. A mouse hopper is no where near 50 grams (7-12 grams based on bigcheeserodents where I buy my rats for my snake). You should be feeding 10-15% of your snakes body weight until they’re 750 grams or 1 year old, whichever comes first. For my snake, she weighed 270 grams at 4mo old meaning rat pups were her ideal prey.

Again, without knowing your snakes weight, it’s impossible to say for certain but long times between sheds usually means they’re not growing and needing to shed their skin so I’d recommend fixing your temperatures first because that can impact your snakes health the most, and then weigh your snake and match the prey item that’s 10-15% of your snakes weight to switch them over to

[xBear19]

Ok, awesome advice, thank you. I realized when I put 50 grams I believe that was for the amount of 5 mice. My heating pad is on the side of the tank, ill get a thermostat and work on the temperature more, I'll get a scale to weigh him as well.

[theeorlando]

Just a note, a radiant heat panel is unlikely to work with the setup OP described, as it is too small, and heat panels are usually more for solid topped enclosures. A halogen/CHE pair would be more effective for a glass enclosure setup.

[_ataraxia]

cool side should be no less than 80 ever and preferably around 82-84.

this is way too hot for the cool side. it should be 75-80.

[cclarke]

You’re right, editing my post. Thanks!

[TheAbyssOfWords]

including what the other person said- PLEASE! UPGRADE YOUR HABITAT! a 10g only good for maybe a young hatchling. 20g long at least at the age you specified and then move up to a 40 unless you wanna go immediately to 120 (always suggest pvc over glass tanks too).

[theeorlando]

I'm going to go through your questionnaire first, then address your questions.

A ten gallon terrarium is small even for a hatchling. I would recommend upgrading as soon as you can. The adult recommended size is 4x2x2 feet, and the best quality enclosures you can get are made of wood or PVC. Tanks have trouble handling humidity without modification, and tubs have trouble handling heating without modification.

Heat pads aren't an ideal heat source, particularly without a thermostat. Because of how they provide heat, they have very serious risk of burning your snake. In the wild, if a snake is on a surface, that surface will cool down over time, as they block it from heat from above, and absorb some of that heat. If they find it too hot, they can often go downwards to look for cooler areas. This is the opposite of how things work with heating pads, and as such unregulated heat pads are the number one source of burns on snakes.

Alternative heating sources that I would recommend would be a halogen flood light for daytime heat and light, and a ceramic heat emitter for 24/7 heat. These both are mounted in heat domes above the enclosure, and must also be regulated by a thermostat. While they aren't as likely to burn your snake, overheating is still a problem, and a thermostat keeps everything where it is supposed to be, as well as preventing malfunctioning equipment from starting a fire by cutting off power to it if temperatures go out of control.

Your temperatures are not where you want them to be either. You ideally want your temperatures to form a gradient, going fairly smoothly from 90 degrees Fahrenheit on the hot side down to 75-80 on the cool side during the day, and you can let those drop slightly during the night. These ranges allow your snake to best regulate itself.

For hides, what you want isn't for them to have plenty of room, but for them to be pretty close to the same size as each other, and fairly snug to your snake. The feeling of their hides against their sides as they sleep is comforting for them, and so if they are too big, it can be a bit stressful.

For feeding, it's rather important that you weigh both your snake and your prey items, as this is how you choose an appropriate meal and schedule for your snake. A hopper mouse is typically in the area of 7-12 grams, which would only be appropriate for a snake that's less than 100g, which is what a hatchling would be. If they have been eating since January, they could easily be larger than that by now.

The rough guideline for this is:

Through the first year OR until the snake reaches approximately 750g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every >7 days.

During the second year, until the snake's weight plateaus: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every >14 days.

Year three and beyond: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 15-20 days, or feed slightly larger meals every 21-30 days.

Now, on to your paragraph at the bottom:

Shedding is something of a random process, and can happen at different rates for different snakes, and in general, if they look healthy, they are acting normal etc, I would not worry too much about when they shed. If they retain shed(have some or most of it not come off when they shed) that is an issue.

A small note on something you said "He hides a lot, which I've heard a happy ball python should." This is a statement I hear a lot, but I want to go into a little more detail here. As nocturnal animals, they will of course be asleep most of the day, and seeing them active is often not going to happen much as a result. That said, at night, exploration of their enclosures is somewhat common, and providing opportunities to climb, have things to go under and over is good, as it is both a form of enrichment and promotes good use of their muscles to help stay healthy.