Oh No

Freakonaleash · 06-05-04, 11:46 AM

for the past 4 days , my snake had been very very reclusive. not coming out of his hot side hide box AT ALL, and this is still pre-2 weeks. today is saturday, i will have gotten him two weeks ago tomorrow. but anyways... he started to shed, and it was horrible. small pieces EVERYWHERE, the humidity was at 58 percent when i discovered what was going on. i immediately put the water bowl closer to the UTH and misted the aquarium. the humidity right now is 62 and rising slowly. He has a lot of it still stuck on him, its along the side of his body and a large flake on his head. should i leave him alone? or help get some of this stuff off? thanks for any help

mykee · 06-05-04, 11:54 AM

Let him get off what he can, but don't wait too long. If by tonight he hasn't shed perfectly, wrap him up in a warm, damp towel and give him some time to remove all of his shed. If there is any left over after that, I would mist and gently roll the rest of the skin off of him for him. Next time, pay attention and start misting when he goes blue. Good luck.

sapphire_moon · 06-06-04, 01:49 PM

Also, BALL PYTHONS HIDE ALL THE TIME.

And this is MY OPINION ONLY.

He WILL stay in his hide he WILL be "reclusive". Snake DON'T like company. They DON'T like to be held and cuddled.
Just because the (usually) mandatory 2 wks is about up doesn't mean that he will come out and start enteraining you.

Tanks suck for bp's. Either learn to mist the cage about 3 times daily, build a custom cage, or put him in a rubbermaid.

Otherwise do what mykee said and you should be all set.

Goodluck!

Smulkin · 06-06-04, 06:35 PM

Or throw some clear ConTac paper on the INSIDE of the lid (assuming its screen) to both hold humidity and prevent nose-rub. Tanks are a little more work, and unquestionably heavier - I have no doubt we'd see the end of their use if they were perfectly transparent like glass and not just as transluscent as they seem to be able to make them (apparently it comes down to brittleness of the plastic when jack up the transluscence). We have a wide variety of enclosure types from glass to tupperware and any variety of substrate you can think of - the real sacrifice with glass is lateral ventilation (good luck making holes lol) once you have the humidity angle licked . . . hehe I think i like that phrase.

sapphire_moon · 06-06-04, 08:05 PM

Don't put anything sticky on the inside of the cage! Thats asking for trouble. The snake could always find a way to get it pulled off a little and get stuck to it. Not a good thing.
Especially if your a begginer.

snakehunter · 06-06-04, 08:13 PM

Tin foil is what i used, until i realised the perks of rubbermaids

Linds · 06-07-04, 02:21 PM

Hmmm... I would also check your snake for mites as well. 58% humidity should be fine for shedding properly.

Artemis · 06-08-04, 01:26 PM

This goes back to humidity, which I still havent "licked" either. I use a 10g tank for my hatchling, and I have a large piece of glass I put over it. It keeps humidity on the hot side over 50, and about 65 on the cool side. Ive read never ever to let it get over 75. Should I be trying to make it higher also? My BP is about to shed and I have been misting. I let him soak a little while too, after I nixed him, and put a little oil on him. Beyond that, he hasnt started shedding, but cant stress make them have a bad shed even if their husbandry is good?

Since mine is so new and between the pet store, and the nix last week here, I fear he will have a bad shed just from all the stress.

Artemis