Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,
Just wondering how long it should take for a ball to shed. He's been in the state of shedding for nearly 3 weeks now am i'm gettin' somewhat worried. If that is indeed too long, i'm planning on just cranking up the humidity. Also was told that feeding sometimes loosens it and have done that obviously a couple times as well in the past 3 weeks. Is this common or uncommon? I don't really want to do the "put the snake in a damp bag" dance, so if i can just continue to wait and up the humidity w/o worrying that would be great.

Thanks in advance,
-Eli

Three weeks in shed is not normal. Are you sure? You should bump up the humidity once they're in shed in the first place, not wait til the end to do so. Normally it takes about a week (sometimes a little less and sometimes a little longer) for a snake get into and out of shed. You might have to use a humidity box.

http://www.joecompelreptiles.com/ball_bits/humidity_chamber/index.asp

Good luck!

Eric

I have been using a humidity box every time when my balls and boas are in shed, it works like a charm everytime. Are you sure that the snake did not just shed some off and the rest is stuck? What's the humidity level?

Sorry I have been a horrible slacker and only have a temp gauge nothing to gauge the humidity yet, but now I have no excuse and really need to get one as evidenced by this. It's not very dry in my room at all, i do have a humidifier but maybe it needs to be alot more humid, I'll look at the how to care part of kingsnake and find the right level and check it w/ a gauge this time. My fault.

I never have to do anything special with my kingsnake, just my balls and boas. The kingsnake sheds 100% everytime.
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1.0 Normal Ball Python
0.1 Pied Ball Python
1.0 Pastel Ball Python
1.1 Columbian Red Tails
0.0.1 Cal Kingsnake
1.1 Normal Leopard Geckos
1.1 Albino Leopard Geckos
0.1 Tarantula from Grandmas house YEARS ago
1.0 Crazy owner

If it's skin is crinkled from not sheding, time to put it in a small wet cloth bag in a warm place and let the skin soften. My basement is dryer than usual this year, and I had to do it with my young balls, bloods, and baby rainbow boas. Everything else is ok.
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1.1 Blackheaded pythons
1.1 Woma (Juvie female)
2.1 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
1.0 Angolan Juvie
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1.1 Juvie Bloods
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1.0 Jungle Carpet
2.2 Scrubs (on breeding loan)
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0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

i recently had a problem with my 2 youngest bps as a result of treating from mites...
i couldnt mist their cage, and they were crinkly, so i got a towel out, got it wet to the touch with warm water and soaked both of my little bps in it. i did this for about 2 hrs, and put my snakes back. they shed overnight, maybe this will work for you as well. mine just sat int he warm towel, i reheated it twice to maintain hte temp. they seemed to enjoy the heat as well..
if you dont haave time to try this, i also put a hot moist towel over the aquariumleaving just enough space for air circulation, and mist inside the aquarium, it usually helps produce a good full shed within a day or 2 ( of course you have to know when they are ready to shed, look for color changes in the about to shed skin. when you see them go from a visible grayis to a slightly darker tone, give them a sudden boost in humidity. it works for me most of the time.