I've had my Ball Python girl for 9 months now, and until a few months ago, she has had perfect sheds that come off in either one or two pieces. Last shed, it took her a week of daily baths, help from me, and lots of work on her own part to get it all off. At the time, I suspected it was due to the fact that it is very dry here and getting dryer with the heat on and everything. I had her in a 40 gallon glass tank. The humidity was at a constant 50% with daily sprayings. When I sprayed it 3x per day, it'd go up to 80%, then rapidly drop back to 50%. So, this time, when her eyes turned blue, I began frantic research about moving her to a bin. By the time her eyes unclouded and she was ready to shed, I had a 41 quart bin all set up. I moved her the day I got it and the humidity was actually in the 90%s (I made the mistake of spraying it, but I got it down to 70% today after cleaning). I was expecting a great shed. Two nights ago, she got her head piece off, eye caps and all (I found it in her cage and kept it). I thought she was just being lazy and was going to get the rest off last night, but she didn't. Now its all flaky. I bathed her first thing this morning as soon as I noticed she was having trouble. It actually came off pretty easily. So, I'm wondering if there are any other causes for a bad shed besides lack of humidity?
Yes, bad sheds 101 1. most common is humidity. 2. temperature, too cool/ too warm either way make sure your temps are correct. 75-80 cool side 88 ish warm side and a spot just large enough for the snake at 95F 3. mites/parasites, they decrese the helth of the animal and can induse poor shedding, if suspect (greenish color in poop if internal) get to a vet. Mite you can see if you look close, treat imideatly 4. poor substrate. Depending on the substrate, you may have 50% humidity in the air but the substrate that the snake in laying in may be a lot less. orchid bark and aspen are quite bad at holding humidity. cypress works better, careful with cypree it can get the humidity too high for a ball pyhton. 5. food, if you snake has quite eating for several months, or poor nutrition can cause bad sheds. I find that feeding mice vs rats can have an effect of growing balls. With rats the shed are good but with mice thet shed can be patchy. form 10 years of breeding and 19 years of hundsbery, I find this to be a trend if the humidity is so so, the snakes that routinely eat rats tend to have full sheds. 6 but on the other end a fat snake can have bad shed. Plus obiseaty will lead to other health issues. 7. poor water quality, if the water bowl is not kept clean can lead to internal parasites. 8. respiratory infections can lead to bad sheds. But as you can see all of there are factore that you can control. You just have to know the enviroment and keep close records of what is going on. if you do not already have it... http://www.metzcal.com/ this is what I use to track my snakes activity. you can record every feeding, hatching, breeding pair, shedding, vet records, what the food is , what cage/tank each animal is in, temperatures, substrate, bulb type, and other cage accessorys and lots of other stuff.
It's interesting that you found feeding mice vice rats can lead to poor sheds. My female just finished shedding, and my male did 2 weeks ago. Both were ugly sheds. They have always shed just fine, until now. I just assumed it was the humidity now that the heat in the house is running. They have been eating mice, but who knows, since they have always shed well before. Ironically, I just ordered more FT food, and this time I ordered weaned rats. I guess it won't be much of a test though, as it will probably be warmer, with higher humidity in the house the next time they have at it. As a note, interestingly, the hydrometer in their tank reads normal. Based on that, there should have been no issues with the recent sheds. I also keep a humidifier in the room they are in, so the actual humidity in the air is close to normal anyway. Since he eats FT and she won't touch anything but live (although I am hoping the FT rats do it for her), their diets are different. Damn nature. Now if I could only get my son's Rosy Boa to eat. It hasn't eaten since Sept. but has gained 10 g. As if my investments aren't stressful enough. It's like one day I woke up and it was opposite day, forever. Have a Merry Christmas, and a happy, safe New Year. Jeff
Thank you! The temp is fine, she has normal feces (as normal as snake feces can be, anyway), no mites. She does use aspen, but I have used aspen for the past 9 months and this is her 2nd bad shed. Also, she did go on a month-long fast. She had recently eaten for the first time when she went into shed. That's a possibility, I guess. She is not fat, in fact, she's a tad underweight. Her water bowl is clean, and I'm almost positive she doesn't have an RI. It also might be stress. A few days before she began shed, I moved her to a bin. Thanks!
