newbie needs shedding advice

trailblazer295 · 12-31-14, 06:49 PM

Hey all

I suspect my BP is ready to shed soon, he fed monday eagerly. I left him alone for the past 2 days to digest so he wouldn't be stressed. I went to pick him up today and noticed his eyes had gone blue. His colour is dimmer than usual. I suspect he is ready to shed soon. His behavior was clearly different he seemed very nervous so I put him back in his cage. The humidity in his cage is 63% right now. Do I leave him alone until I see a snake skin in his cage? Anything else I should be doing?

Cmwells90 · 12-31-14, 07:01 PM

I would give him about a week, you'll see the eyes go back to normal, then about 2-5 days he'll shed. He's more scared because he can't see very well during this time, so I would leave him alone until he's finished.

trailblazer295 · 12-31-14, 07:07 PM

That's what I figured from the researching I've done on snakes before I bought one. I didn't plan to feed or touch him until I see a skin. I've misted the coconut husk substrate to boost the humidity. Just wasn't sure if there is anything else I should be doing. I'm of the mindset do it right or don't do it at all so whatever he needs I'll buy. I'm already pricing a 4x2x1 snake cage for him with pro products heat panel and johnson controls tstat.

wrecker45 · 12-31-14, 08:48 PM

When he comes out of blue put a wet paper towel in his hide. Check out herp houses. Jason makes good quality p. v. c. cages. He is in Oakville.

trailblazer295 · 12-31-14, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrecker45

When he comes out of blue put a wet paper towel in his hide. Check out herp houses. Jason makes good quality p. v. c. cages. He is in Oakville.

Thanks for the recommendation, I live in the GTA so oakville isn't extremely far.

**lady_bug87** · 01-02-15, 09:27 AM

If your enclosure has proper humidity he'll just shed. There's no need for wet paper towels. If anything I dump a little water on the substrate (I use newspaper) and then just roll it up and toss it afterwards.

trailblazer295 · 01-02-15, 02:42 PM

At the moment the humidity is sitting at 63%, I'll keep monitoring it over the next few days to ensure it doesn't drop too low. The lowest I've seen since swapping to coco husk substrate was 53% and that was after over a week of trying to dry it out a bit because the humidity was high.

**lady_bug87** · 01-02-15, 11:08 PM

If the animal is in shed I'd bump the humidity up closer to 80

trailblazer295 · 01-03-15, 09:53 AM

Okay thanks, I have sprayed it yesterday because I noticed it dropped.

trailblazer295 · 01-06-15, 07:32 PM

It's been nearly a week since I saw my snakes eyes go blue, other than daily checking the humidity and a quick scan for snake skin I've left him alone. Today while cleaning up some poop I saw a white thing poking from the substrate. I assumed it was him going to the bathroom but quickly realized it was part of a snake skin. Looking inside his hide revealed has already shed, sneaky bugger did it in his hide. He has been inside most of times I've checked in on him and with his eyesight diminished I didn't want to bother him. So I haven't looked in his hide for a week. He poked his head out at me the other day so I'm not sure when he finished his shed. I picked him up to examine him, I don't see any residual dead skin on his tail (i've seen pics of an inch of old skin left over and the danger it could cause) I made sure to look closely. Also around his face everything seems fine. He has the same coloration throughout his body. But I notice all the black on him as blue iridescence to under the light at the right angle. They are potlights if that makes a difference. I only noticed this one other time on his head but that was close to before his shedding time. Is this normal? Is it possible this is his natural colouration? His skin bunched up in pieces but examining his body it looks like he got everything off when holding him and looking from all angles.

fishingfool · 02-03-15, 08:15 PM

Sounds normal to me my little.guy took a wile for the first shed i had him for he just had his second sounds like he's all done and ready for a meal.i would change the.cage then feed him the next day oor. two or.feed him and let him digest a few days then clean it out btw i love the name