Doing something wrong.......

[Lankyrob]

SOmething obviously isnt quite right - any help would be appreciated.

Picked up a very young ball a week back - had fed once according the breeder (i trust him) and due to feed again in two days time.

I have not spotted him going "blue" at all so not sure if he did this before i got him. But today he has done the messiest shed possible - lots of bits and scraggy bits left on him too - i know this means the husbandry side isnt right but not sure what i am doing wrong so here goes.

he is in a faunarium the same length as his body - about 12x6x6inches. The hot end is at 90f cold end is around 75-80f - humidity is between 55-60% depending on how soon after misting i check. I mist 2-3 times per day. There are hot and cold hides - a water bowl that he can fit in easily and a sphagnum moss hide in the cool end.

Because of the bad shed tonight i used a warm damp face flannel in my hand and let him slide through to try to help the skin release - within about ten minutes of going back into the faunarium he had shed approx 85% of the skin in larger pieces than before but still not one piece - he still has some scraggy bits hanging of him.

Is there anyhting i should change in the husbandry side? If he is still scraggy tomorrow should i repeat the warm damp flannel?

Thanks for any help!!

[Royal Exotics]

I think this would be a good read for you and get the remaining shed off.

Bad shed? No problem. - Ball-Pythons.net Forums

[Lankyrob]

Thank you so much - seems my only issue could be needing to up the humidity to 70% during the shed period.

Thank you from Monty too as hopefully all future sheds will be more successful!!

[Will0W783]

Ball pythons are notoriously touchy when it comes to temps and humidity, part of the reason why I don't really consider them a good "beginner" snake and try to steer kids and first-timers away from them. My first snake was a BP who I still have and it took me close to 6 months to get him to shed properly. Your ambient humidity is good for when the ball is not in shed, but when they are in shed you can raise it up to 80-90% via misting or humidifier or extra water bowls. I would also raise the daytime temps of your cool end up a little bit- don't let it get below 80 F. My ball cages go between 85-90 during the day and 78-80 at night. I've found that a cool end of 75-80 tends to lead to respiratory infections developing.

[Feebo]

Are you misting three times a day as a matter of course? That`s not needed unless they`re in shed, even then, a properly maintained moss hide is enough to keep them shedding well. As I mentioned when you first got him, Royals are twitchy little buggers, they`ll go off thier food for next to no reason and they`ll do terrible sheds at the drop of a hat. Lovely snakes as they are, they can be a handful for the newer keeper. In my experience mate I`d fully expect a new snake, especially such a young one, to do bad sheds for the first two maybe three sheds after you`ve got him. He needs to seetle into his enclosure for quite a while with no handling. You say it`s a "Faunarium", you haven`t got him in a glass tank have you? You really need wood or plastic for these guys, anything else just won`t do. I won`t use glass tanks for any snake. He`ll want a slightly larger tank very soon too even though Royals need to be kept in slightly smaller enclosures that other snakes as they spend a lot of time in other creature`s burrows in the wild, hence the humidity requirements, that one will need replacing quite soon. All these things can add up to an unhappy snake and bad sheds or refusal of food. Different species have different care requirements, sometimes vastly different requirements, Blood pythons for exampla can make a fussy Royal python look like fun and games! As I say, expect more bad sheds before this gets better, it`s not ALL husbandry, that snake has been through a lot recently and if it`s only eaten ONCE and then been sold, it`s been sold FAR too early.....

[Lankyrob]

It is a platic faunarium - think its exo terra but have thrown the box it came in so cant remember.

Have upped the temps a little to - will check over the next couple of days what the cool end temps settle too.

The moss hide - so far - i havent seen it use at all but it may be while we aren't around. After a second bath tonight the shed is 99% complete - there is a small section on the underside of its neck and the tip of the tail still attached tho looking looser that yesterday - i havent attempted to pull the shed off as i think this is a bad idea???

We knew the snake was early to be sold - we had a long discussion regarding this with the reptile shop and the agreement is that if it is not feeding after a couple of weeks the shop will take it back until it is feeding properly - we have a good relationship with the shop staff/manager and dont see this as an issue.

In terms of a bigger home should we have a stage between the faunarium and a 3ft viv? If so i will get something in between.

In terms of the other info - thank you and all noted!!

[Will0W783]

A plastic faunarium? How large is this thing? The only plastic ones I can think of are only like 2 feet long by 10" wide..and are not really good for snakes because the basking temps melt them.

[Feebo]

Yeah that doesn`t sound good at all Rob, straight to a three foot wooden VIVARIUM with him! Lots of hides and a moss box, as you point out, just because you don`t see something, really doesn`t mean it`s not happening, they are nocturnal after all. You reeeeally don`t want to start a Royal off in the wrong tank that won`t support what the snake needs mate, you`ll have all sorts of problems.....

[Lankyrob]

Exo terra large size faunarium - much larger than what its siblings are being kept in at the shop.

[citysnakes]

theres too much ventilation using those things out of the box.

ball pythons will shed perfectly fine with relative humidity levels of 55-60% but raising these levels during a shed will ensure proper sheds. its just like to be safe... as was said, proper shedding is not solely based on environmental humidity and is also affected by proper temperatures and how well the animal is hydrated. that being said you definitely can get this guy shedding perfectly for you by his next shed and every other one after that.

if youre misiting 2-3 times a day then youre enclosure is not humid. you may get readings of 55-60 but for how long does your hygrometer read this and where is hygrometer located. relative humidity will vary at different locations and temperatures within the enclosure, this is why humid hides work because the air in the enclosure may be bone dry but the relative humidity within the humid hide is high. the snake spends most of its time in the humid hide and will remain hydrated enough to shed.

i would suggest raising the relative humidity of the entire enclosure by reducing the amount of the ventilation of the lid. you'll need to experiment a bit because too much of a reduction will cause mold growth and not enough of a reduction, well youre experiencing it now. trap more moisture in the air, mist less, and raise your cool end by a few degrees and see what happens.

[citysnakes]

oh and if your ball is a little guy, keep him in that small faunarium for now or better yet a small, slightly modified, rubbermaid. not only will it be easier for you to control the temperatures and humidity inside a smaller enclosure but the baby ball python will feel more secure. for these reasons he'll do better and feed better and you'll have an all round better experience.

[Nafun]

What my vet recommended was to take a small rubbermaid or tupperware container. cut two holes in it opposite each other. Put wet paper towels or wet spaghnum moss inside. Replace the towels/moss if they get soiled. Keep the towels/moss moist.

This will give the snake a high humidity hide so it won't have to choose between feeling safe, and facilitating its shed.

[Lankyrob]

I should have said that i cover the faunarium with a towel to regulate the humidity - the spaghnum moss is in a solid hide so i would imagine the humidity in there is MUCH higher tho the hygrometer sits about central of the tank at floor level.

In terms of size, Julian, when he goes for his exercise runs around the faunarium he can just about touch both ends when stretched out. There are enough hiding areas in there that he could not come out into the open whilst going from the hot to the cold end and back again but he seems to be out in the open most of the time that i am around to see him.

[Lankyrob]

Just another passing thought - is it best to mist heavily once or twice a day or mist lightly three or four times a day?

A heavy mist takes it up to 70% and falls to about 55% over four or five hours. Light mist takes it to 60% and falls to 55% over two or three hours.