Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I purchased a female ball python last year. I introduced a male to her once... she gave me 7 eggs within 2.5 months.

Now, this same female is shedding every 3-4wks. She'll shed and within days she is entering the shed cycle again. (This has been going on since November-three months after she laid her clutch.) She's was hatched in 2002 and has been eating once a week; though, she has a HUGE appetite.

I'm not sure what is going on... hormones? something else? She doesn't seem to be growing as much as she is shedding. Could there be an underlying condition? Or am I just paranoid?

Any help is greatly appreciated!
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Balls
1.4 Pastels
0.2 Cinnamons
1.1 Pewter
1.0 Fire
1.0 Spider
0.1 Bee
1.1 Fireflys
0.1 Yellowbelly
0.5 66% Het Clowns
1.0 100% Het Albino/100% Het Pied
0.3 100% Het Albino/50% Het Pied
0.1 100% Het Pied
0.2 PH Albino
1.4 Normals (1.0 unknown)
Boas
1.0 Salmon
0.1 Pastel Hypo
1.0 Pastel
0.1 Pastel P. Super Hypo Het Anery PH Albino
Corns
1.1 Bloodred Het Ghost
***& lots of babies!***

Give us the run-down of her environment. Substrate, temp and humidity, tub size, water dish size, food supplied, cleaning schedule and cleaning supplies, how often handled, etc. Any combination of these things could be the cause.
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 Whitesided P. catenifer sayi, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

"Give us the run-down of her environment. Substrate, temp and humidity, tub size, water dish size, food supplied, cleaning schedule and cleaning supplies, how often handled, etc. Any combination of these things could be the cause."

~Was - 83* cool and 92* hot
- humidity 60-70%

~Moved to different rack app 2 weeks ago
- 82* cool and 89* hot
- humidity 30-40% (need to kick on the humidifiers)

~Newspaper substrate.
~28qt.
~Water dish 6"diameter 3"height.
~I breed my own rodents; I've been feeding her rats that are a bit smaller or same size as her girth. Once in a blue moon, she'll get something a touch bigger. Live and f/t.
~She gets cleaned when her tub is dirty.
~Normally wiped down with just water. Sometimes cleaned with bleach - washed out thoroughly and dried.
~Handled when cleaning. 1-2 X wk

I have several other snakes in the same environment including females I purchased along with her. None of them have this issue. ???
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Balls
1.4 Pastels
0.2 Cinnamons
1.1 Pewter
1.0 Fire
1.0 Spider
0.1 Bee
1.1 Fireflys
0.1 Yellowbelly
0.5 66% Het Clowns
1.0 100% Het Albino/100% Het Pied
0.3 100% Het Albino/50% Het Pied
0.1 100% Het Pied
0.2 PH Albino
1.4 Normals (1.0 unknown)
Boas
1.0 Salmon
0.1 Pastel Hypo
1.0 Pastel
0.1 Pastel P. Super Hypo Het Anery PH Albino
Corns
1.1 Bloodred Het Ghost
***& lots of babies!***

I heard of someone giving their snakes a 'non-reptile' supplement - something like a weight gain powder I think. At any rate, there was a vitamin in the mix that caused his snakes to shed chronically - every few weeks. They didnt grow, just constantly shed. Once the vitamin was out of the animals system, the shedding stopped. I dont know if there was any long-term damage though..

That crossed my mind when I saw your post - hope it helps some.

byron.d

Wow! That's crazy!

I've never given any of my snakes or rats any sort of supplements.
-----
Balls
1.4 Pastels
0.2 Cinnamons
1.1 Pewter
1.0 Fire
1.0 Spider
0.1 Bee
1.1 Fireflys
0.1 Yellowbelly
0.5 66% Het Clowns
1.0 100% Het Albino/100% Het Pied
0.3 100% Het Albino/50% Het Pied
0.1 100% Het Pied
0.2 PH Albino
1.4 Normals (1.0 unknown)
Boas
1.0 Salmon
0.1 Pastel Hypo
1.0 Pastel
0.1 Pastel P. Super Hypo Het Anery PH Albino
Corns
1.1 Bloodred Het Ghost
***& lots of babies!***

I have experienced the same thing, although not with a Ball python. The first time I saw it was in a wild collected adult male Florida King. It turned out to be the result of a skin infection. In the wild the snake would shed it's skin and continue on it's way leaving the bacteria or whatever caused the problem behind, but in a cage it is confined with the skin and gets reinfected. He looked fine but continually shed until I began transferring him to a new clean cage each time he shed. I would thoroughly clean the snake and the cage and it cleared up.
I don't know your exact situation and it may not be the cause but it's possible that she picked up some sort of skin infection before she was in your care.
Maybe a vet check would help, they might be able to suggest a good sanitizing cleaner for the cage and something to help her with the infection.

John

Huh. That never crossed my mind. I'll have to check into it. Would it not spread to the others? The male I bred her with has been in with another female.

Thanks a bunch!
-----
Balls
1.4 Pastels
0.2 Cinnamons
1.1 Pewter
1.0 Fire
1.0 Spider
0.1 Bee
1.1 Fireflys
0.1 Yellowbelly
0.5 66% Het Clowns
1.0 100% Het Albino/100% Het Pied
0.3 100% Het Albino/50% Het Pied
0.1 100% Het Pied
0.2 PH Albino
1.4 Normals (1.0 unknown)
Boas
1.0 Salmon
0.1 Pastel Hypo
1.0 Pastel
0.1 Pastel P. Super Hypo Het Anery PH Albino
Corns
1.1 Bloodred Het Ghost
***& lots of babies!***

i have seen balls do the rapid shed thing when they wound themselves and are healing or they have parasites like mites or ticks. the idea is to physically remove the pests by shedding and moving on but in a cage they are trapped and get reinfected therefore forcing a rapid shed to aid in bug removal again. i would clean really well and check for mites closely.

That crossed my mind. That is, her hurting herself...somehow.

*knock on wood* Never had mites in our main collection. I'm VERY cautious about things like that. I've only received one snake with mites. He (a boa) was and actually still is quarantined (a year later).
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Balls
1.4 Pastels
0.2 Cinnamons
1.1 Pewter
1.0 Fire
1.0 Spider
0.1 Bee
1.1 Fireflys
0.1 Yellowbelly
0.5 66% Het Clowns
1.0 100% Het Albino/100% Het Pied
0.3 100% Het Albino/50% Het Pied
0.1 100% Het Pied
0.2 PH Albino
1.4 Normals (1.0 unknown)
Boas
1.0 Salmon
0.1 Pastel Hypo
1.0 Pastel
0.1 Pastel P. Super Hypo Het Anery PH Albino
Corns
1.1 Bloodred Het Ghost
***& lots of babies!***

just check real well. mites are a [bleep] to see sometimes.good luck.