Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, my ball pythons skin has been discoloring over the last few weeks and the eyes milking over. It looks as though the snake should have shed already but the snake just doesn't seem to want to do it, it just moves around the tank casually.

I don't think it will harm the snake for the moment but I'm getting worried that it still hasn't shed its skin.

Is there anything I can do to encourage the snake to shed its skin or any way to help it start?

Thanks for the help

Mark

What is the humidity in the cage? Try soaking the snake in luke warm water, for about 1/2 hr at a time, for the next couple of days.

i dont know how much experience you have with snakes...so ill assume this is your first. when they shed, their colors get really dull and their bellies get a light pink. then their eyes start to get cloudy or "blue". after a few days of being in blue, the eyes clear up. a day or two after they clear they shed their skin. once their eyes clear up i usually give them a warm bath every night and raise the humidity in the cage to 70%-80%.
If you already knew all this and your snake is really having trouble shedding, raise the humidity and give it a warm bath. when it does shed, look at the shed skin and make sure the eye caps have shed off.
Hope this helps. -Mike

n/p
-----
-Iman

1.1 Balls
0.1 Boa (BCI)
0.0 Experience
100.0 LOVE

Helping to Love
Loving to Learn
Learning to Help

Thanks for the suggestions, what's the best way to increase the humidity in the tank? Misting, bigger water bowl maybe?

Thanks again

I use small freedom breeders, for my juvy's. After the eyes clear, i soak paper towels, and lay them in the back of the cage(over the heat) to raise humidity. In a couple of days the shed without any problems. If the shed is not complete, i will soak them in warm water for about 1/2 hr. and the rest will come off.

A rather odd shedding question for you. I just adopted a large adult male bp from a herp rescue. He was shipped air freight and was in transit for about 6 hours. His fosterer told me he had just gone blue 2 days before shipping. The snake's carrier was obviously opened for some type of inspection during his trip and the heat pack did not finish the trip with the snake. He arrived cold, but is now acting normally (I sent a nastygram to the airline too). My question. If a snake in shed is chilled or stressed will that delay the onset of the actual shed? Can the shed simply stop progressing? His eyes have cleared as of today. He's warm, no signs of URI (though it is early for it to show I think) humidity should be fine. Not really worried, just curious.