Pink Belly

[phenyx]

I'm a new snake owner. I've had my normal BP since 27 January; she was 21" and 146 grams. I think she (I don't actually know the sex, I'm just guessing here) was about 4 months old when I got her. She's in a 20L, glass enclosure with a blend of Eco Earth (coconut fiber) and cypress mulch as substrate. Heating is a 150w daylight bulb by day and a 100w ceramic heater by night. Her warm spot is 90-95 degrees by day and around 80-85 degrees by night. She has hidey holes at both ends of her enclosure but prefers to burrow into the substrate under her water bowl when she needs to thermoregulate.

As of a few days ago, she's now 22" and 171 grams. Since coming home, she's voraciously taken F/T adult mice on 2 occasions, the second 6 days ago, but refused the F/T rat crawler I offered her last night.

I've suspected for the past several days that she might be going into shed and this morning when I looked at her, I found that her belly is rosy pink. Seeing that, I misted down the substrate and covered 2/3 of the screen top with a damp towel which has increased her humidity to around 80%.

Is there anything else I should do to prepare for the impending shed?

Also, I haven't yet noticed any change to her eyes. While I know that the pink belly most likely indicates she's in shed, I'm unsure of the progression from here. Does the belly go pink before or after the eyes go cloudy/bluish? :confused::confused::confused:

[Dumerils88]

My Dumerils belly always goes pink when I’m shed. Should be just fine!

[craigafrechette]

You'll see pink belly, then a few days later they eyes will be cloudy and "in blue". By this point the snakes colors will be dull as well. After the eyes clear (typically 3-5 days) the skin will look back to normal. Then typical anywhere from 1-5 days later the snake will actually shed. The total amount of time from pink belly to shed varies species to species and even individual by individual. My BP is the fastest of my crew and the entire process typically take his 6-8 days. But he seems quick by BP standards compared to what I've read.

As for your part in the process, you're off to a good start and should be all set. I also throw some damp sphangnum moss in their hides and during the dry winter months I add an additional water bowl.

[phenyx]

And, right on schedule, her eyes are cloudy and bluish today. Any tips on maintaining higher humidity? I'm having trouble with that. I've turned off her daylight bulb and switched her lower wattage ceramic to be always on, added some damp sphagnum to her enclosure, and am maintaining the wet towel covering 2/3 of the screen top. I live in Florida and even with my A/C on the house usually has about 50% ambient humidity.

[IDvsEGO]

And, right on schedule, her eyes are cloudy and bluish today. Any tips on maintaining higher humidity? I'm having trouble with that. I've turned off her daylight bulb and switched her lower wattage ceramic to be always on, added some damp sphagnum to her enclosure, and am maintaining the wet towel covering 2/3 of the screen top. I live in Florida and even with my A/C on the house usually has about 50% ambient humidity.

do you have a hygrometer in the enclosure? What are your levels?

[phenyx]

So this morning I went to mist down Nagini's enclosure and I found a knotted ball of snake skin with a poo inside. I wasn't able to unknot the skin, but I looked at her and the shed appears to have been complete, there's no ragged skin left on her and she's nice and glisteny again, but as this is my first shed, I'm not entirely sure about the eye caps.

How can I ensure that her eye caps have also shed?

And do they always tie their shed skin in knots?