Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i hatched out a nicce little pewter girl on august 10. she pipped herself on day 52 and came out 3 days later. i in no way helped or messed with the egg. when she came out there was no remaining yolk. now here is where the puzzle begins. all my other babies usually shed within 10 daysa and eat a few days later. this girl has yet to shed and still has her baby shiny skin.she also shows no sign of being hungry. i am concerned that she might be getting a little skinny. i offered a mouse fuzzy and nothing. what is the longest they go before shedding the first time. any advice would be appreciated.

I can't help you much in this area so I will be listening to see what the answer is. I have a little male Pastel in the same boat as your little Pewter. I asked a buddy about him and he said sometimes they will go a month or so without shedding. This is the first time I have had it happen though. I am guessing that you have plenty of humidity and a water bowl available to her don't you? Wish I could be of more help to you but I will also be listening for any helpful advise on the matter. Jay
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JEM from sunny AZ.

2.25 Normals
5.12 Pastels
3.7 Normal Spiders
1.1 Spiders 100% het Ghost(thanks Mark Petros)
0.2 Spiders 66% het Ghost
1.3 Orange/Butterscotch Ghosts(BallPython777 Mark Petros)
0.6 100% het Orange Ghosts
0.3 66% het Orange Ghosts
0.1 Pastel Ghost
1.0 Citrus Ghost
0.1 Super Pastel 100% het Ghost
2.0 Albinos
1.0 Caramel Albino
0.1 100% het Caramel Albino
0.4 100% het for Albino
0.3 66% het for Albino
0.1 50% het for Albino
0.2 Yellow Bellies
1.0 Pastel Yellow Belly
1.2 100% het for Clowns
1.2 Cinnamons
1.2 100% het for Pied
0.3 66% het for Pied
1.3 Mojaves
1.1 Beautiful Black Pastels(thanks Gulf Coast Reptiles)
1.1 BumbleBees(thanks for the AWESOME Bees Marc Bailey)
0.1 Pewter
0.1 Chocolates(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.1 Lessers
2.1 Fire's(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.2 High White Calico's(Thanks Brent from BRB)
1.1 SpotNoses(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.1 Enchi's
1.0 Pinstripe
0.1 Lemon Blast
1.0 Vanilla Ghost(Thanks again GCR for all the great snakes)
1.1 Stillwater Hypo Bull snakes
0.0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty
17 Tarantulas
Last but most Important 2.2 Children

yes,i have hatched 40 babies and never lost one yet. this is a first for me. all of them till this one have followed the normal timeline from birth. hopefully we will get some answers.

Ive never had a newborn Ball go more than 10 days or so without shedding. I set my babies up on wet unprinted newspaper with a water dish until their first shed. And i keep them very warm. I would just keep the snake warm and moist until it decides to get that skin off. I wouldn`t worry too much about it not feeding, as it probably won`t until it sheds.

In 2007 I had one go 32 days before its first shed. It fed 8 days before it shed, then the day after, then went right into my hatchling feeding schedule. I have no idea why it took so long to shed, but it was fine afterwards.
Paul

Thanks Paul that makes me feel better. I hope it helps spider too. Tom sundin from Pets Inc is the one that told me he had a baby go for a month before it shed so that helps make us feel better. Have a great week. Jay
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JEM from sunny AZ.

2.25 Normals
5.12 Pastels
3.7 Normal Spiders
1.1 Spiders 100% het Ghost(thanks Mark Petros)
0.2 Spiders 66% het Ghost
1.3 Orange/Butterscotch Ghosts(BallPython777 Mark Petros)
0.6 100% het Orange Ghosts
0.3 66% het Orange Ghosts
0.1 Pastel Ghost
1.0 Citrus Ghost
0.1 Super Pastel 100% het Ghost
2.0 Albinos
1.0 Caramel Albino
0.1 100% het Caramel Albino
0.4 100% het for Albino
0.3 66% het for Albino
0.1 50% het for Albino
0.2 Yellow Bellies
1.0 Pastel Yellow Belly
1.2 100% het for Clowns
1.2 Cinnamons
1.2 100% het for Pied
0.3 66% het for Pied
1.3 Mojaves
1.1 Beautiful Black Pastels(thanks Gulf Coast Reptiles)
1.1 BumbleBees(thanks for the AWESOME Bees Marc Bailey)
0.1 Pewter
0.1 Chocolates(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.1 Lessers
2.1 Fire's(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.2 High White Calico's(Thanks Brent from BRB)
1.1 SpotNoses(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.1 Enchi's
1.0 Pinstripe
0.1 Lemon Blast
1.0 Vanilla Ghost(Thanks again GCR for all the great snakes)
1.1 Stillwater Hypo Bull snakes
0.0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty
17 Tarantulas
Last but most Important 2.2 Children

I did some reading on this several weeks ago when an owner was perplexed when his year old BP hadn't shed in a long period of time. Here's what I got from my research.

There are two primary normal environmental factors that control and induce shedding: feeding (growth) and humidity. Of course, there is also stress, but I don't group that under "normal".

Growth will cause skin to be shed in order to allow for primary (length) growth and secondary (girth) growth. If an animal is not growing and their skin is not *exposed to extremes, the brain will not be stimulated to release ecdysone, the "shedding" hormone.

*Having said that, if a snake is not growing, but experiences fluctuations in temperature and humidity, the snake will shed its skin to maintain is moisture permeability. So a snake that is kept at about a constant humidity and temperature is less likely to shed also.

Given that your snake hatched with no additional yolk to absorb, and you are probably keeping it under normal hatchling conditions, constantly warm and moist, it may take longer to shed. You could try offering a wider variety of food items to stimulate feeding. Or, what worked in the case I mentioned above, I recommended they let the snake "dry out" for 12-24 hours under close observation. Sure enough, within a week after this the snake started to cloud up.

Again, this was just informal searching through some peer-reviewed journals and wedsites, but it is some info anyways.
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

Great information, Thanks. I actually offered my little male Pastel that wont shed a rat Pinkie about a week ago not having any idea about what you said you found in your research on the topic. He didnt eat it but I may offer him food again tonight and if it is still uneaten tomorrow I will take him out and put him in the direct Arizona sun for the say in his container. That should dry him out...lol. Ok, I am kidding of course but here is what I have done with all my babies so far, about 50 total. Kept them in the incubator at 89 and 100% humidity until they shed and them seperate them into their own shoe boxes and put them into my snake room wich is kept at 86 degrees and fairly high humidity.If he does not eat by tomorrow I will take him out of the snake room and put some nice dry paper in the tub for him and set him in the living room. Much dryer and about 79 degrees.. Sounds like a good plan doesn't it? Thanks for the help, Jay
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JEM from sunny AZ.

2.25 Normals
5.12 Pastels
3.7 Normal Spiders
1.1 Spiders 100% het Ghost(thanks Mark Petros)
0.2 Spiders 66% het Ghost
1.3 Orange/Butterscotch Ghosts(BallPython777 Mark Petros)
0.6 100% het Orange Ghosts
0.3 66% het Orange Ghosts
0.1 Pastel Ghost
1.0 Citrus Ghost
0.1 Super Pastel 100% het Ghost
2.0 Albinos
1.0 Caramel Albino
0.1 100% het Caramel Albino
0.4 100% het for Albino
0.3 66% het for Albino
0.1 50% het for Albino
0.2 Yellow Bellies
1.0 Pastel Yellow Belly
1.2 100% het for Clowns
1.2 Cinnamons
1.2 100% het for Pied
0.3 66% het for Pied
1.3 Mojaves
1.1 Beautiful Black Pastels(thanks Gulf Coast Reptiles)
1.1 BumbleBees(thanks for the AWESOME Bees Marc Bailey)
0.1 Pewter
0.1 Chocolates(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.1 Lessers
2.1 Fire's(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.2 High White Calico's(Thanks Brent from BRB)
1.1 SpotNoses(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.1 Enchi's
1.0 Pinstripe
0.1 Lemon Blast
1.0 Vanilla Ghost(Thanks again GCR for all the great snakes)
1.1 Stillwater Hypo Bull snakes
0.0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty
17 Tarantulas
Last but most Important 2.2 Children

You should put the hatchling in a lukewarm (use an elbow test...the water should not feel hot or cold, just tepid) soak enclosed in something like a shoe box with a lid, with about an inch and a half of water and leave it in a warm room for several hours. Remember this baby just came out of a total wet enviromnent, and sometimes for whatever reason, the skin dries out and they almost look like tissue paper. I have seen this multiple times and a good soak usually does the trick and the shed happens. Often the skin becomes so dry that it almost constricts the baby, so a soak is really needed.

Good news... she ate her first meal! Still no shed, but with a little persuasion (me putting the pinky's head in her mouth) she choked it right down. About 15 minutes later she ate another pinky all by herself! Must have just needed a little jump start for her feed response.

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Spider