Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My male is in shed right now (huge surprise). Is there anything I can do to help him shed? His eye caps are completely clouded over, so he's got to be somewhat close. Will soaking him help? Thanks in advance!

Melody

Melody, if you can keep the humidity up to 60 or above it should be fine. In lieu of that you might give it a hide box with damp sphagnum moss inside. Good luck.

Quig

How long has he been that way? The eyes usually get cloudy and stay that way for about 5 days to a week. Then they clear back up for a day or two before the actual shed begins. Just make sure you raise the humidity as much as you can in there and ESPECIALLY when you see the eyes clear back up since he'll be very close. Spray water inside the tank often to get the humidity up. if you have a screentop, cover most of it, but not all of it, so the water doesnt evaporate as fast. Humidity is the key to keeping him from shedding pieces and helping him shed the eyecaps. You can also give him a humid hide to go into as well.

Thanks everyone! I will do the hide box thing with the moss, but where can that stuff be purchased? Thanks again!!

Melody

I made a wet hide for my female which she never used, but it was cheap. Depends on how big the ball is- mine was little. You can use a cheap disposable tupperware-type container with a hole cut in the top to allow the snake to enter. Moss can be found at PetCo, or craft stores. Like I said, my BP never used hers, but many snakes do.

Misting the entire cage is faster, and what I like to do. It won't hurt to offer a wet hide, though. Good luck!!

Every other day after I see they're pink-bellied, I give all my snakes' cages a light misting with a spray bottle. I aim for the top of the enclosure as to not scare them as they're already stressed with the shed.

I think it depends on where you are and your normal humidity, too. Being in Minnesota and always dry inside my snake room (either the heat is cooking or the air conditioning is blasting) I supplement their humidity, especially at shed time. Sometimes a big water bowl isn't enough. Humidity is about my biggest struggle. A spray now and then, big water dishes, plastic caging and close monitoring has kept me in nice sheds and good humidity thus far.

If your enclosure has enough humididty then you should be ok. If you find that your snake is not sheding completly, you can get one of those plastic sweater boxes with a top. Fill it about half way with luke warm water and put the snake in with the top on for about 20 minutes. When you dry the snake off some of the skin will come off. If you need to, do it again the next day. Sometimes the caps don't come off on my ball. If that happens then I take a wet wash cloth and genlty rub it over his eyes. This usually does the trick.

A better solution is a damp pillowcase. Dampen the pillowcase, drop the snake in, tie it up and stick it in the enclosure for a couple hours. this should dislodge a stuck shed.

Leaving a snake in a closed tupperware with water above the point where it can rest on the bottom is dangerous. A snake can tire and drown if left in water to swim when it does not want to. The soaking method is not bad, just make sure the water is super shallow, half the width of the snake, unless you watch it the entire time.

Anytime I soak my Ball Pythons I use smaller tupperware that is a good size for them and fill it just until it owuld cover their bodies. Then I put them in and they watch TV with me and the wife until they are ready to dry off. I always keep an eye on mine and I'd say it's a good practise to do so.

Circusfan

Tip 1: Mist your BPs enclosure throughly as soon you realize they are in shed. Mist em more than once while in shed, it won't hurt.

Tip 2: 'Spill the water'. Yep, dump some of the water bowl onto the substrate. Dump enough water that would (by estimate) take 2 or 3 days to dry up. Your snake will absorb the extra moisture through direct contact with the substrate, as well as when the water evaporates into the air.

While it's true that keeping a ball python on damp/wet substrate will cause blisters/sores/etc to the belly there is no harm to come from 2 or 3 days exposure to damp substrate.

I use a combo of misting/dumping for my balls, cornsnakes, and Pituophis and can't recall the last time I had a 'bad shed.' Years ago atleast!

Hope this helps.

BB

Thank you so much everyone! I have been misting once each day, I tried to soak him for a couple minutes yesterday, but he looked so uncomfortable, so I will try it again today, see what happens. Also, just for future reference, do ball pythons absorb water like dragons do when you soak them? Like, say, a ball python doesnt drink their water, can you soak them to keep them hydrated? I have beardies too, so thats how they stay hydrated, I am just curious if it works the same way with snakes. Thanks so much again!!!

Melody

I sometimes just dump a bunch of water into their tanks (the substrate ((cypress mulch)) absorbs it and retains it.) I also cover the screen lid with plastic wrap. This I do at the first sign of blue eyes. I never have bad sheds with my snakes.
Of course, your snake must always have clean, fresh water in a big, noticible bowl or tray. This will prevent dehydration that could elad to a bad shed too.
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4.1 Ball pythons
1.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator
0.1 albino Cranwell's horned frog
1.1 breeding Clawed frogs
1.0 black kittycat
3.1 Oscar cichlids
Also have fancy goldfish, african cichlids, and rats. And 1 Paint horse mare

Plastic container, damp paper towels, cover. Wait.