Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my ball python since December and this is his 2nd shed. I had to soak him in the tub to help him shed on his body which was fine but for some reason his neck and head haven't shed yet. I have soaked him 2 days in a row and he still hasn't finished. I'm concerned because the eye caps haven't fallen off yet. Also, he keeps bending his neck backwards and it looks like it is uncomfortable. Is this normal because he cant see and wants to protect his head? He reacts to my touch when I pick him up otherwise he lays in strange positions with his head bent backwards and sometimes to the side. Please Help!

Something you can try. Put both him and a warm, damp towel in a linen bag (pillow case or similar) for a few hours. Some people do it over-night. Just make certain that he doesn't get cold. You can put the bag into the cage to keep it warm. The problem with soaking, is that they tend to keep their heads out of the water. What's the humidity in his cage? It should be up to 80% for shedding.

I did not have a tempurature gauge and humidity gauge in the tank but I went today on my lunch and bought a heating pad, both gauges and red light and some spray that is supposed to help with the shedding. I was only using a heat rock and a cermic light. I'm new at this so I wasn't sure as to how warm it was in the tank but now I know the temperatures so I will make sure it is at proper levels. Also, what do you think about him curling his head back? what do you thing that's about?

First, be prepared to take a little heat on your lack of research before buying your snake.

Second, try to learn from what people say here and your snake will be a lot happier.

The first thing you need to do is get rid of the heatrock as it will fry your snake. In otherwords it will burn him very, very badly and if you think you're having problems with shedding it's nothing compared to dealing with a badly burned snake.

You also need to start reading up on how to care for a ball python. You need to go to each of the sites listed at the top of this forum and find their care pages. They will tell you how to properly care for your snake. Right now you are not caring properly for your snake. If you bought your snake at a pet shop ignore every word the employee told you on how to care for it until you read the caresheets I mentioned. You will probably find the pet shop dude/chic told you the wrong things to do.

Here's a couple of links to get you started.

Care Sheet 1

Care Sheet 2

Please make sure you read these things and make the necessary changes so your snake remains alive and healthy.

Good luck!! Keep asking questions if you have them!!
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Rob Talkington

I agree with everything mentioned above. Please follow those instructions well, as they are all necessary for you right now. The advice about putting your snake in a damp pillow case with towels is very good. I would do that right now and put it in the cage where it can stay warm. Just leave it there for 24 hours. Your snake will probably enjoy being in the dark, and it should really help him out with the shed.

I might add that getting a thermometer and hygrometer was good, however I'm afraid that you might have gotten the kind that just stick to the glass of your tank. You really need to be taking the temperature of the surface that your snake is laying on, so a better option would be one of those indoor/outdoor digital thermometers. They're really cheap and really easy to find. I got mine at Walmart for $12.

Another pointer that may or may not be in the care sheets. The undertank heater that you bought should really be put on a dimmer switch to keep it from getting too hot. Otherwise, they can burn your snake too. One thing that may help though is to take 4 or 5 sheets of newspaper and fold them up, put them inside the tank directly over the UTH, and tape them down. That will make it impossible for your snake to touch the hot glass, and it still heats up your substrate real nice.

If you can, try to give us an exact description of your set up and we'll try to give you the best advice we can! We need to know:

How big is your snake
What size is the enclosure
What kind of thermometer do you use
Where are you measuring the temperature
What wattage is you heat lamp
What are you using for substrate
Does the enclosure have a screen top
When was the last time it ate
What have you been feeding
How many hides are in the enclosure
How often to you hold your snake

Don't be afraid to ask questions...
Jeremy

I appreciate all of your help. The snake is only a baby he's not very big. He eats about every 4 or 5 days and he likes to eat live mice. I also feed him in another container not in his cage. He does very well this way. He never has a problem eating. He last ate about 5 days ago. Right before his eyes went cloudy. I am using a 60 watt red bulb and the heating pad on the same side of a glass 20 gallon tank with a mesh top. I have his water dish on the cool side and I have a 1/2 log hiding places on both sides of the tank and then I have a vine in the middle for him to wrap onto. This is new. I will take your advice and get the digital thermometer. Where do you place it in the tank?

Also, I have been using astro turf for about 1 1/2 months and he seems to do very well with that. I think that there is a thick enough piece of astro turf between the heating pad and the snake so that it won't burn him. Also I purchased today a spray that is supposed to help with the shedding. I sprayed that on him this afternoon. How much do you spray on the snake? Also, it states on the bottle to spray inside the tank and this will help with the humidity is this true? I will put him in the towel and pillowcase tonight and place him in the cage. Hopefully, this will help him to remove the caps.

With a screen top you are going to have a hard time maintaining an adequate humidity level. If I was to guess I would say you are probably about 35% right now and you should be at around 65% normally and bump it up to 70-80% during his sheds. The easiest way to do this is to cover about 3/4 of the screen top with newspaper, saran wrap, tape(sticky side up). Basically anything that will cover the screen to prevent all your humidity from escaping. Todd

Okay, good. I'm glad to hear your baby is eating. Also thanks for not taking offence to anybody's suggestions and doing what it takes to get things right.

When you get the indoor/outdoor digital thermometer, you will find that it takes the temperature on the unit itself (the indoor part) and it also has a 6' wire with another sensor on it that also take the temperature (the outdoor part). I put the indoor part on the cool side in a spot that I can read the numbers, and put the other probe on the substrate inside his warm hide. You can take the extra wire and just burry it in the substrate.

When you get the digital thermometer, you will likely find that the temp on your warm end is in the 100s....if you're not using a dimmer with the UTH. If it doesn't get warmer than 92 then its fine, don't worry about it. But if you're finding it to be too warm, then the newspaper idea is still good. Also if you don't have the lizard liner fastened down so it's impossible for your snake to get under it, then it's still good to just tape some newspaper down to be safe. Eventually your snake will figure out how to "hide" under the carpet. Once he does, he will absolutely love it because it is nice and dark and snug, and he feels safe and secure because he feels he really is hiding....

.....which is the problem with using those half log hides. I know you haven't encountered any stress problems, like not eating, yet....but you will. One way to really prevent that is to offer hiding spots that are completely closed off (except for the entrance), dark, just big enough for your snake to squeeze into, making the snake feel safe and secure. Just you're doing now, you need to offer a hide on each end of the tank. A lot of new owners get those logs, because that is what they see in the pet store. It offers the snake a little bit of cover, but it still remains visible to any customers walking by. That completely goes against the purpose! Give your snake real hides. And don't expect to see him most of the day.

About the spray. I have seen it before, but never used it. I have heard one or two people say that they liked it. Most people seem to recommend not using anything on your snakes skin and that any problem can be fixed by correcting the living environment. So, I wouldn't recommend it, but I haven't really heard a good reason not too. So if you do, then just keep an eye on your snakes behavior and make sure it's not irrating it. I would give the pillowcase idea a try for a couple days though. That really is the best advice I've heard on the subject.

In order to fix your humidity problems in the future, I would suggest covering the entire screen top with duct tape, except for a hole for the light to go. Also, when you see your snake is starting its shed cycle next time, try to make a humidity hide. You can do that by just putting a damp towel under the hides...as long as you're using the right hides.

Good luck with him. And Keep reading all of the caresheets on the breeder's site.

Jeremy

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