Baby BCI Shedding

BoaBoi · 01-13-04, 12:38 PM

I purchased a BCI Dec. 31st that is now aprox. 2 1/2 feet, I noticed the other day that his belly scales were gripping my hand losely. I got him out today and he is really pale but his eyes aren't milky as my BP's always were b4 shedding. My question is do BCI's eyes clear up faster than BP's? If not why did my lil guy go through it so fast that I didn't even notice him from day to day?

James~

Linds · 01-13-04, 12:55 PM

He may be just approaching the opaque phase. They do not clear up quicker than BP do, nor is their shed cycle any shorter. I'm not sure if I understand what you mean by "his belly scales were gripping my hand losely". Do you mean he himself was loosely holding on or his scales were kind of loose on him? If his scales look "ruffled", then he is approacing a shed, and his skin may look a lil loose on him as well. If he is weak in his hold, then he may be ill.

BoaBoi · 01-13-04, 01:04 PM

Nah, he is very healthy...Grips my hand firmly and is always flicking his toung out. His scales feel like they are lose, and his coloration is very light and parts of him look like it is dead skin that will be shed. But he is moving around like he wants to remove the skin so I'm guessing that he has already gone through the "milky phase" somehow without me noticing.

James~

BoaBoi · 01-14-04, 02:57 PM

I feel like such a moron, his eyes just went opaque(sp?) I was thinking that his skin went light when his eyes do, my bad. Been a while since I watch a snake close enough to follow things like this, just a lil concerned about my new baby thats all :P.

James~

BoaBoi · 01-15-04, 08:03 PM

Little problem I think, I put a 2lb rock in the cage for him to shed on. Well lets just say he prefers to use the towel, which needles to say isnt starting the shed off his nose at all. Is a rock ok for shedding, if not what should I use? He's rubbing the **** outta his nose on the towel but not getting ANY results, then again he doesn't strike me as the smartest snake from the litter.

James~

JonD · 01-15-04, 10:44 PM

It'll be awhile till it sheds, it's eyes clear up, and it can be up to 5 days that i've seen, till it sheds. Generally i find it takes a couple days once the eyes clear up...

Oh an they will make use out of whatever is in the enclosure to shed...A rock is fine....

BoaBoi · 01-19-04, 08:45 AM

Is it normal for young boas to shed twice at the same time? I have read nothing on the subject in care sheets and such but... My baby boa just shed, and well aft er the first half of the first layer I noticed he was still messing with the skin on his head. Sure enough he peeled another layer off. I helped him with the rest of the first layer of skin and it went off easy. I left him alone in the water dish in his cage and figured he would get the other shed off himself. It just seems a little strange that he shed twice, expecially since I'm only feeding him one adult mouse every week. My first throught was humidity, but that just CAN'T be the cause seeing as how the humidity on the hotside(where he spends most the time) is very high... He has a gradient of 90 degrees 80% humidy hot side and 83 degrees 65%humidity cool side. Any ideas anyone?

James~

Derrick · 01-19-04, 10:01 AM

I'm by no means an expert but isnt 50-60% the recommended humidity for a BCI. You may want to add a bit more ventalation to the hot side.

BoaBoi · 01-19-04, 03:37 PM

Should have made it more clear, I raise his temps when he goes into shed by misting hot water in a spray bottle. Anyway, thanks for the input but not exactly what I was looking for.

James~