First Shed Under My Care

Lancer09 · 10-26-12, 10:26 AM

Hi!
This is my first thread on this site, I respect all of your input and advice. I have a 3.5 month of Female BP named Kahlua, I am not sure how to post pictures to this site yet but I will post some as soon as I learn how. She is beautiful and everything I could ask for as a first time owner. Prior to buying her I did a lot of research for months and finally felt I was ready to get one. I have owned her for 4 weeks now. I have a few questions that I need some input on.
1) About one week ago I noticed her belly was looking pink, so I knew she was going to shed soon. She started hiding in her hide all day (which I know is normal, but usually she comes out a few times when I am up) and 2 days ago I went to feed her and noticed her eyes were blue( I know this is because of the shed and a fluid is between her eyes to protect them from the skin cap) I usually feed her in another container but since shedding is a stressful time I put the rat pup in her normal tank. She ate no problem and after she was finished I let her be. It has been 2 days since I saw the blue eyes, what should I do to ensure she is shedding okay? She is in her hide and I dont want to take her out and stress her. Is it better to possibly risk stressing her a bit to make sure her shed is coming along fine or should I let her be until I see her being more active?
2) I have been feeding her every 5 days, the breeder was feeding her hoppers when I first got her then I switched her over to medium mice for 2 feeds and 2 days ago I switched her over to rat pups, she seems to be a healthy weight but has only defecated once since in my care and has not peed yet. Is this normal?
Thanks any tips would be greatly appreciated!
-Sean

Lankyrob · 10-26-12, 10:44 AM

1) The shed process can take a couple of weeks, after the eyes "clear" the shed should happen within a week - best thing if you ar confident of yur temps and humidity is to leave her be - nature knows what it is doing

2) How big are the rat pups compared her girth? I usually go for 1.5 to 2 times the girth of the snake when feeding my royal. Snakes dont poo every feed, mine probably goes once a month or so whilst feeding this larger prey item every 14 days - with small/hairless prey pretty much everythig is digested so there is little or no waste to pass. In terms of peeing she should be peeing fairly regularly, it will look like white "lumps" (not a great description, sorry) rather than puddles

Lancer09 · 10-26-12, 10:56 AM

Thanks for the reply Rob!
I will let her do her thing then! I read in a post that you do continue to feed yours during the shedding cycle so I decided I would do the same. I figured if she didn't want to eat (which is never thankfully) she wouldn't take it. Next feeding day I will get her a larger one 1.5 her girth and see how that goes. Is it better to feed larger meals less often now? I have been feeding her every 5 days. When I step it up to 1.5-2x her girth should it be 7 days or keep it at 5 if shes still eating them? Yeah I know her pee will be like a calcium deposit looking thing lol Have yet to see any tho, she always has fresh water in her large bowl. I would like to post a pic of her and the tank, how do I do that?
Thanks again Rob! Much appreciated
Also I want to switch to F/T, should I wait until after shed to try to convert?

Lankyrob · 10-26-12, 11:01 AM

Personally i would try to convert now, sooner the better imo as the snake is less likely to be imprinted on its current meal type. I fed my royal every 7 days for the first year and now i feed it every 14 then 21 days on a rolling schedule.

In terms of posting pics i have found the easiest way is to have a (free) photobucket account, upload all your pics there and then all you need to do is copy the IMG code from photobucket and paste it into your post on here

Lancer09 · 10-26-12, 11:33 AM

There I hope they work

Lankyrob · 10-26-12, 11:39 AM

They did! and its a lovely looking snake and enclosure ou have.

What is the top of the enclosure made from? Is it a screen top?

mykee · 10-26-12, 11:45 AM

The shedding process for a ball python is 8-12 days, NOT weeks. Once the eyes go back to normal, 1-2 later; shed.
Rob; don't become one of "those guys", you're better than that.

Lancer09 · 10-26-12, 11:54 AM

Its a screen top, also there is screen doors on the sides on the tank. They obviously make it very hard to control the humidity, I have a damp towel over top of the lid that I change daily and also I have a lot of books on top to weigh it down. I spray down the tank every morning and before I go to bed and have a good sized water dish. Its going to have to do for now but I want to change to a UTH and get a solid lid for it.

Lancer09 · 10-26-12, 11:56 AM

Originally I buried the water dish and had it between the warm and cold hide, but changing the water all the time was very messy so I just buried the cold hid and put the water dish on top of it. She never uses her cold hide tho. She loves the warm hide/tree

Lankyrob · 10-26-12, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

1) The shed process can take a couple of weeks, after the eyes "clear" the shed should happen within a week - best thing if you ar confident of yur temps and humidity is to leave her be - nature knows what it is doing

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykee

The shedding process for a ball python is 8-12 days, NOT weeks. Once the eyes go back to normal, 1-2 later; shed.
Rob; don't become one of "those guys", you're better than that.

Isnt this basically the same thing? i didnt want to put an exact number of days as A) i have never counted and B) it is the first shed for this person and if you get given a specific amount of time and your snake falls outside it you could then start to worry

Lankyrob · 10-26-12, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lancer09

Its a screen top, also there is screen doors on the sides on the tank. They obviously make it very hard to control the humidity, I have a damp towel over top of the lid that I change daily and also I have a lot of books on top to weigh it down. I spray down the tank every morning and before I go to bed and have a good sized water dish. Its going to have to do for now but I want to change to a UTH and get a solid lid for it.

What humidity are you managing to keep?

Lancer09 · 10-26-12, 12:11 PM

I get it up to 60+ in the morning and then by night it usually gets down to 50. I use coco sub. I know it should be higher during shed, but with the light and screen the humidity is tough to control. If this shed isn't complete I will make sure I fix all of that right away.

Lancer09 · 10-26-12, 12:13 PM

I also don't use a digital hydro/thermostat. I will be switching to and indoor/outdoor digital ones this weekend.

MoreliAddict · 10-26-12, 12:21 PM

Interrupt her as little as possible.

Continue to offer food on your normal schedule, she may or may not eat.

*Keep the humidity up.

Everything sounds routine from what you describe...

Lankyrob · 10-26-12, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lancer09

I get it up to 60+ in the morning and then by night it usually gets down to 50. I use coco sub. I know it should be higher during shed, but with the light and screen the humidity is tough to control. If this shed isn't complete I will make sure I fix all of that right away.

65+ with a minimum of 55 would be better if you could manage it, hope this shed works out ok but slowing down the airflow will certainly help