Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am caring for two ball pythons over the winter, while their owner is out of the country. They are healthy, well-socialized snakes, and have been a lot of fun for our family. Neither one has been officially sexed.

The smaller one, Lotus, is 8-9 years old, and between 4 1/2 and 5 feet long. She shed on December 10th (roughly 8 weeks ago) and her skin came off in one big piece. They have water in the tank, and I also put a humidifier on low over the tank just to make sure it was humid enough.

Now, just 8 weeks later, her eyes are blue and cloudy and her skin is dull, as if she's going to shed again. However, her is not pink like it was last time. Could she really be shedding again - this soon? Or, could this be a sign of some other problem?

On a related question, after she shed in December she was extremely active, so I assumed she was hungry and tried to feed her according to the owners instructions, but she had no interest in eating in the live rat. She last ate in October. I'm trying not to be concerned about this, but it has been four months. I don't want her to starve on my watch.

Thanks for any advice.

A shed cycle averages about 8 weeks in between sheds. I wouldn't think 8 weeks was unusual, but a more experienced keeper might disagree. My male sheds every 9 weeks almost like clockwork and is completely healthy.

If she is still going through a cooling cycle, meaning you are keeping the cage cooler in the winter months, then she may not eat. If she isn't supposed to be cooling, I'd recommend rechecking the nighttime hot spots. Often they won't eat if it gets too cool at night and they have no source of belly heat because the mouse could putrefy inside their stomach.

As long as she has good condition (she isn't getting skinny or bony) she should be fine going without food for a month or two longer. Another keeper told me they had a female go off feed for seven months with minimal condition loss. Reptiles are amazing like that.

Thanks much for the information - I'm relieved. I had no idea they shed that often.

The tank is a 75 gallon tank with a cool end at 72 degrees and a warm end at 86.

My feeding strategy has been this -
- when they wake up around 10:30pm and show interest in getting out, we take them out of the tank and let them explore around.

- after 15-20 minutes, we'll put one back in the tank with the (medium white and brown) rat.

- we give it about a 10 minute wait and see. Usually the snake and rat come nose to nose a couple of times. It seems like the snake is more startled and scared of the rat than visa-versa. The snake does not appear to "hunt" at all.

- After several minutes, often the rat will bite the snake, and that's when I call it quits and remove the rat.

Can you advise a better strategy?
Thanks again.

It is really common for Balls to refuse food after being handled. I would try eliminating the handling portion. I "wake" my male by tapping on his cover or gently lifting it, so the rat won't catch him by surprise, then put the rat/mouse into the cage. Maybe give that a try.

You temperature ranges are pretty good. Are those constant both day and night?