Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so my boyfriend got a ball python about 3 months ago, and everything seemed to be going well. he was a little shy at first but we handled him daily and he soon gained trust in us.

we bought him as a baby from a reptile store, and we where both VERY surprised at how easy it was. we didnt even get a reciete! ive always disliked pet stores, and im not too thrilled with this one seeing as how they dont care where their animals go, not to mention we had no idea what we where doing...

well anyway, i did a little research but my boyfriend was deturmined to buy the snake ASAP, so we did.

i noticed after a few weeks that the mulch stuff seemed kind of dry, and i knew they where supposed to be kept in a humid environment but i didnt know what else to do besides keeping a bowl of water in the tank.

well now the snake is dead =[ and after doing a lot of research i think its because he was dehydrated, he was going through his first shed cycle and it came off only half way and in little peices.

my boyfriend is deturmened to try agian, but this time im taking matters into my own hands and making sure we know exactly what to do first!

do you think the snake died of dehydration? if so, what can we do to help prevent this from happening again?

also, we just started feeding him adult mice. i had a video of the snake on youtube when someone left a comment saying the snake was very thin, so we decided to swich him from baby mice to full grown.

thanks for any tips and advice!

If you are expecting a shed, you can raise the humidity a bit by putting in a bigger water bowl, doing daily water mists, or switching the substrate (A better humidity holder such as cypress mulch). I don't think that the snake died from lack of humidity, although from the condition of the shed you did not have enough. Normally, they only need around 40%, and it would be a really good idea to go to a department store and buy one of those humidity readers, only about $5. During the shed cycle, it will help to attempt to bring the humidity up to about 60-70%.

Before you get your next snake I would recommend NOT getting one from a pet store unless you know for fact that it came from a breeder, as most pet stores get their ball pythons from imports and captive borns, not breeders. These snakes are a lot more prone to illness and parasites, and often have mites which make the snake's life not very happy