Shedding problemos

Discussion in 'Other Pythons' started by punkrck1013, Sep 13, 2007.

  1. punkrck1013

    punkrck1013 Member

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    I have had my JCP for about 4 months now and she is an early '07, so still pretty young. She seems healthy, is more active at night, usually hanging from a branch or bird swing I have hanging from the top of the cage, and during the day, she is hiding underneath leaves.

    She is in a 10g for now, she is still tiny, so she has plenty of room. Anyhow, she has not shed once since I have had her, and I don't know if she shed for the breeder, I didn't ask because I was more curious about her eating. So she is looking a little dull, but not really, so I don't think she is blue, so I am getting kind of worried.

    Her temperatures are usually low 80's during the day, and mid-70's at night. I feed her pretty regularly once a week, a F/T pinkie, and have been upping it to 2 the last few weeks. Her humidity never goes below 60% but is usually around 65%. I read that a higher humidity is better for shedding, so I am going to up that to about 75-80%. Is there anything else I could do? And how worried should I be?
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. Clementine_3

    Clementine_3 ReptileBoards Addict

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    Low 80's on the warm side? How are you measuring them, what type of thermometer? Carpets should have a warm side of 88-92, cool/ambient 76-80. There really is no need for a night drop at all, unless you are cooling them for breeding.
    60-65% humidity should be more than adequate, 75-80 is too high...even during a shed.
    You may be able to bump her feeders up too, I have '07 baby IJ that is eating fuzzies with no problem at all.
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. punkrck1013

    punkrck1013 Member

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    She is tiny, I am hesitant to up her feeders because of how small she is, I can try though, I mean she readily eats pretty much instantly when I put the mouse in front of her and usually doesn't even come down from her branch and eats it while she is hanging. I have a digital thermometer with a probe which measures humidity too, I don't know how accurate it is though. But it stays in the low 60's constantly, and I do mist her tank every other day or so, just to up it a bit higher. And when I have the light on her, which is pretty much daily, her temps do go up to about 90, but the ambient temperature on the cool side with the light on, and without the light on pretty much all over is low 80's.

    I had read on a few care sheets that the humidity should be between 60-70% so I figured that upping it up may help with shedding. But she has a large water bowl, that she can fit in comfortably if she wanted to soak, so I think the humidity is ok. I don't know what the problem could be. She kinda just perches on a branch hanging down in an 'S' shape every night, then coiling up under a leaf during the day, is that normal? She is very alert though if anything happens around her tank.

    Sorry I kinda of jumped around, I just wanted to get all the information in.
     
  6. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  7. Clementine_3

    Clementine_3 ReptileBoards Addict

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    They like to eat from perches, that is perfectly normal, as is the S shape in the branches, she is hunting and watching. They are semi-arboreal, especially as babies/juvies, so spending a lot of time in the branches is expected.
    Are you heating with a UTH or just the light? If you are using just the light then maybe pick up a smaller wattage red bulb (or even a CHE) that you can leave on all the time to maintain the temps. You could always hook up a rheostat (dimmer) or thermostat, it's a good idea to have something controlling your heating devices, but a thermostat is going to turn the light on and off all the time.
    There is a lot of good information here.
     
  8. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  9. mkbailey755

    mkbailey755 New Member

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    just another piece of advice, you can order a tempgun from tempgun.com I can't stress the importance of this. most thermometers are +-10 degrees off so please SPEND THE 25$ it will be worth it when your snakes 15-20 yrs old ;)
     

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