Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, Mike here. My bp has consistently underwent ecdysis every other month during the fourteen months he has been in my care... until now. I recently moved into a new house and the air indoors is extremely dry. Despite attempts to maintain humidity at acceptable levels by manually misting the enclosure, it just has never been enough. It has been twenty-four hours since my bp began to shed and he has only been able to scrape off the old skin from his belly, head, and neck. I took the measure of adding damp spagnum moss to his enclosure and laid a sheet of aluminum foil over half the length of the screen lid (the day and night heat lamps cover the other half). Humidity levels have increased markedly as have temperatures on both sides of the enclosure. However, I have noticed that this bp seems to possess an aversion to spagnum moss. He will not go near it. I have added this spagnum moss on advice of a care sheet suggested on this forum. Does anyone know if ball pythons find spagnum moss disagreeable for some reason? Might it be toxic? My guess is any new sight or scent induces some level of stress. I am considering removing the moss, but still need a way to maintain appropriate humidity levels.
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"...though the boys throw stones at frogs in sport, yet the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest." - Plutarch

Put a damp towel in a pillow case with your snake inside. Put the whole thing back in the enclosure, to keep him warm and prevent escapes. Leave him there for about 12-24 hours.

You should move the snake into a rubbermaid container, even if it's just for the duration of the shed. My house is the dryest house in the world, I think (we have osebleeds constantly) but my snakes stay nice and moist in a rubbermaid when it's time to shed.
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"One man's pet is another man's feeder."