my ball shedings are coming off in flakes, some said that i need more humidity but i dont know how to do that.[/b]
There are several ways to increase humidity. One, you can try spraying down the cage several times a day. Two, you can use an ultrasonic humidifier. Three, you can make a humid hide. And the list goes on...but it's best if we know a little more about your set up. What type of cage (size, substrate, decorations, etc)? How old is your ball? Size? Has he always had this problem? It's not hard to up the humidity so don't worry about that. We'll figure out the best way for you to keep the levels up. One thing though, you should really get a digital thermometer/hygrometer for the cage so you know exactly what the humidity and temp are all the time. They're really inexpensive and you can get them from WalMart,Kmart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.
well i got him a couple of weeks ago, he is about 2 years old and he is very big, i got him in a 20 gallon right now but i am changing to a 55 gallon in the tank i have now there is a hiding place i have paper towel on the bottom and a meium sized water dish
I started using a humid hide a couple of years ago and it has solved all of my shedding problems. I just use an appropriately sized tupperware container with an access hole in the lid. That way the snake can decide when it needs the higher levels of humidity. As far as helping your snake now, try soaking her for an hour in some luke warm water. If it feels hot at all to you, it is too hot. Again, an appropriately sized tupperware container with a few small holes in the lid work fine for soaking. I also used to put a disposable camera sized rock in the container as well. After an hour most of the shed should either be off or easily taken off by working on the snake with a damp wash cloth. Use a Q-tip on and around the head area if necessary.
Oh I forgot to mention, you can use sphagnum moss in the humid hide and get it moist to create humidity. You can also use paper towels, you just have to get them damp much more frequently, everyother day usually unless your snake room is really dry then you may have to get them damp daily. The moss can usually go a week or more without having to add more water.
definately would help to know how the seup is. type of top is usually very important(ie: screen). Also if you're using majority heat lamps instead of UTH, you may be drying the air out. I would recommend first grabbing a thermometer/hygrometer to get an accurate idea. And we can take it from there.
Besides humidity some snakes just have trouble shedding. I sure you already do but make sure there are spots in his enclosure that he can rub on to get the shed going. Also I have volunteered at the local zoo here and they gave me a trick for shedding. The dog supplement Linatone is a trick they use to help all of their snakes shed. Just put some drops on the mouse/rat and that will probably help too. I do it for all my snakes and my monitor.
WELL I HAVE A METAL SCREEN TOP HE IS IN A KINDA SMALL TANK FOR HIS SIZE, HE IS ABOUT 3-4 FEET BUT HE IS VERY THICK RIGHT NOW I HAVE A 50 WATT EXO-TERRA BULB ON THE ONE SIDE AND A SMALL HEATING PAD ON THE OTHER SIDE
id spray the cage down once or twice a day or get a tupperware container that will fit in theere and fil with some spaghum(sp?) moss. by the way deeman wut part of philly u from, im from the suburbz of philly, ridley park
dont think it was mentioned, but a damp towel over the top will help out a lot. Did you get a humidity reading?
i found that if i took a tupperware container and put a few moist paper towels in it and cut a hole on the side my Ball Gambit would go inside and shed perfectly... it is sometiimes difficult to get the humidity just right with spraying
ok i got the hygrometer so what should the hum. be on, i think i was on 50 when i first put him in to the new tank
forgot to mention that it is like a 50 gallon breeder it gots built in air vents and a built in hygrometer
