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hope someone can help

T

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I hope I am doing this right, it is the first time I have ever been on a forum.
A month ago I got my son a ball python having thought I had studied enough to know what I was doing (yea right). This the coolest snake ever I never thought a snake could want to be out with people but he does. When we got him he was very skinny and had shed everywhere but his head eventually his shed came off his eyes. First mistake we made was we fed him three times a week (I hope this has not caused a problem) kinda worried because he has not had a BM for a couple of week.
Sorry I get long winded, I will get to the point. We thought everything would be fine with the next shed but this one is coming off in pieces everywhere. He looks dehydrated especially around his neck and the top of his head where he has not shed. Is this normal, he still seems to feel good, we tried a couple of days ago to feed him but he did not want to eat, we were not sure if it is because he is shedding. We have been giving him a bath for a couple of minutes everyday when we realized his shed was a mess.
Can someone tell me if they look dehydrated to the unfamiliar person when they are shedding.
 
Where to start. What is the cage set-up? IE, how large, do you have a humid hide, a warm hide, under tank heat (uth) heat lamp on top. What are you feeding him? Live, PK, Stuned, F/T, mice, rats? You say you fed him three times a week, did he eat? one time out of three, two times, or all three? Have you contacted the person that you got him from to inquire about what this animal was housed/eating before?

The people here will be more than willing to help you figure out what may be the issue with your son's snake. Please try to give us as much information as you can about the currant and previous situation. Most of the members are understanding about new people who may not have all the I's dotted and the T's crossed. Give us as much info as you can and we will try to help you work through this.

If he was slim and you have gotten him to eat, he very well may not have a BM for a couple weeks. In your post I didn't see anything that made me think that that animal needs to go to a vet RIGHT NOW. However, there are a lot ov blanks that if filled in may give the members here a better idea as to what may need to be done.

Let us know, honestly, what the situation is and I'm sure the members here will help.
 
Thanks so much for replying. We got him from a Petsmart (he is about 20 inches long) follow-up has not gone over very well. We have him in 10 gal tank with a heat-pad under 1/3 of the tank with a inferred light blub in a metal heat reflector on the side with the heat pad. We have him on aspen bedding with smooth rocks that warm up from the light but he can get out of the heat on the non-light side.
The temp has ranged between 80-90 degrees (on the warm side of the tank). I have had a problem keeping the humidity at 50 percent, sometimes it gets as low as 30 percent, is that ok? The first two weeks we fed him frozen fuzzes three times a week then we found out he should only eat once a week so a week later we fed him 2 fuzzies he ate no problem. I tried to feed one week later (that was about three days ago) but he would not eat (maybe because of the shedding).
Do you think it is ok that his skin is so loose where he hasn't shed yet (dehydration?) or is that normal. Do I need to worry about his bad shed? Is it ok to pull the pieces of skin off? Is it ok he hasn't eaten for 10 days? Could that be because he hasn't shed? I am sorry for all the question and am excited to see what anyone thinks. We just love him so much (never thought I would say that about a snake) we dont want to do anything wrong.
 
I'm curious....how are you measuring the temps in the enclosure? You don't mention any kind of thermostat, the under-tank heaters (UTH) can reach temps in excess if 110 if not regulated....and couple that with a heat bulb, you could very well have very high temps. The best thing to use to measure your temps are a thermometer with probe such as the Accurite thermometers you can buy at Walmart...those stick-on types they sell at Petco and such are notoriously inaccurate.

Unless you are keeping him in a cool room, the UTH may be enough heat alone in a 10 gallon tank...using overhead lighting does really dry out the enclosure. Get some accurate thermometers, make sure your warm and cool side temps are correct, that's the first and most important step. He also should have 2 secure hides, one on the warm side and one on the cool side, Balls tend to not want to eat if they don't feel secure (or are not at a good temp!).

As far as the humidity - you can try misting the aspen a couple of times a day, and covering part of the screen top with a piece of plexiglass, or even foil will work, to keep moisture in. Balance the number of mistings per day to try to keep the humidity where you want it. I know I even am having some humidity issues in my racks at this point, but am in arctic Iowa, and my furnace is running non-stop, even us humans are having issues with the dry air. ;)

To help with the already stuck-on shed, try giving him a soak in a tub of barely luke-warm water for about 20 minutes (make sure he can keep his head out, not too full), and then let him run through a terry towel on your hands - the rough texture of the towel helps to slough off the old shed. You can repeat this daily until he is free of the old shed, but it usually doesn't take more than a couple soaks to get rid of it.

From there - once you know you have him set up with proper temps, and the shed cleaned up, try not to handle him much until he's back to eating well. The stress of everything can throw him off feed for awhile, so giving him time to de-stress undisturbed seems to really make a big difference. Just do what you need to do on a daily basis, spot-clean, fill water, etc. Once he's eating well for you again, you can gradually go back to handling him regularly.
 
Thanks for all the advice. Good day today, he ate two frozen fuzzies and he had a BM. I did not soak him today even though his shed looks awful (he looks really good where his shed has come off). I was afraid I would stress him out and keep him from eating if I soaked him first and after he ate I was afraid it might make him regurgitate. Does that sound right?

I am going to go tomorrow and get a new thermometer, the one I am using now is just the one that sticks on the inside of the tank. I also want to look into getting a T-stat to control the under tank heater. We are also looking into a 30 gal tank, that will alow for more room for stuff. Currently we have an old gourd, a fake plant and a rock he can get under.

If anyone has any more advice of any kind that would be great, thanks so much.
 
If his shed doesn't come off after a 20 minute soak, try soaking him in warm water for several hours. And if that doesn't work, soak him overnight in shallow warm water, about 1 inch deep. then the shed should be floating in the water in the morning. Just keep him warm around 80 degrees or so while hes soaking.

You can help increase the humidity by giving him a larger water dish to soak in. I wouldn't recommend misting the aspen because it seems to me damp shavings would lead to mold and/or belly blisters from having wet substrate.

You're not going to overfeed him with fuzzy mice, even at 2 or 3 a week which is what I would continue to feed him until you think he can eat hopper mice which should be very soon.

Have you seen any mites on him? Mites will dehydrate a baby fast. Look for little black "dots" either crawling around on his body, around his eyes, in his heat pits or on the bottom of his water dish. they look like black pepper in the dish.
 
1 more thing...I wouldn't put him into a larger tank anytime soon. Baby snakes don't do well in large enclosures besides if you change his surroundings again he may stop eating again.
 
Good catch Mike,

I was just going to post a warning about the larger tank. Balls do well in tight spaces. A 10 gal should be OK for now. Continualy changing his suroundings will tend to stress him out. Now just after saying that I am going to suggest another possible change. If you have room in the tank, with what you have in there, you could consider putting a humid hide in the tank.

Take a container and fill it with a damp substrate (sphagnum moss, paper towel, eco-earth). Wet it to about equal to that of a dish rag that has had the water squeezed out, a small container would work well. They really do like tight spots, and a snake that small will stuff itself into a small space. That will give the snake a spot to go to with high humidity to loosen up the stuck shed. A small amount stuck from one shed to the next should not be a big concern. I have a wet hide in with all of my snakes and have very little trouble with stuck sheds or scale rot due to being on wet substrate all the time. I use aspen bedding and have done the misting thing at times to increase the humidity overall in the cage. Both will work when done right. For me, though, I have found that giving a wet hide has worked well.

Keep us posted, and Please continue to ask if other concerns come up.
 
I would not soak him today if he just ate. Your concern about regurge, IMO, is correct. Let him be, and try something tomorrow or the next day. I think you would be better off to try to get it used to its new home. A little stuck shed is not a serious concern.
 
Yep, you're right, don't soak him right after he eats. I'd give him a good 48 hours to digest before messing with it. And as Jerry said, a bit of stuck shed isn't a huge deal, I wouldn't stress him any more than you have to...leaving the little guy soaking overnight is overkill, IMO. A couple of quick soaks will usually do the trick just fine.

And as for misting the aspen - common sense would tell you that you don't soak it enough to make it soggy, just a light misting once or twice a day does fine. Especially as low as your humidity is, it isn't going to stay "wet"....I have several racks full of snakes that I mist each afternoon during the winter to keep humidity up, and never had any sort of issues. You'd have to keep the substrate soaking wet to create belly rot issues.

As for the thermometer - ideally you will need two, or one with two probes - one placed directly on the "hot spot" area where your snake will be laying, and one on the cool side. The probed thermometers are so much easier to read, and you don't have to disturb the critter to check the temps. Again, they have the Accurite dual-probe thermometers at Walmart, I think they run about 12 bucks.
 
Yup, most has already been said but it sounds like he is eating, thats good. I would give him one appropriately sized mouse or rat each week. The rodent should be about as big around as the fattest part of the snake. To get the stuck shed off, soak in luke warm water for an hour or so. I usually put mine in a tupperware container, with the lid on. Water level about half way up the snakes body or less, so he isnt having to swim. After the soak, I let him run thru my hands using a wet towel to snag the loosened skin and remove it. remove shed skin in the direction of head to tail. once you have this stuck shed off, provide a humidity box (moistened spaghnum moss in a tupperware container), as suggested and/or mist the aspen a couple times a day to help with the next shed.
 
Just wanted to thank everyone for all the advice. Seems like everything is going great, we have his tank all fixed up. We have been soaking him every day, the only shedding he has to do is his eyes and head.
He has graduated from fuzzies to hoppers and he ate two frozen hoppers tonight, so I think we are back on track with the feeding.
hopefully I will not have anymore questions (doubtful), but it is sure nice to know people are willing to help. THANKS!!!
 
Great to hear, Lori! It sounds like you're doing a great job with him. :)

And we're always here to help if you have more questions. It's always nice to see a new herp owner asking questions to make sure they are taking good care of their new addition.
 
Balls do well in tight places, but in a 10 gallon tank, a heat gradient is going to be hard to get right. I would say, hide box, 20 gallon long, and do not cook him.

Dave
 
Very good point, David, you are absolutely correct....I had missed the 10-gallon part.
 
To boost Humidity: try putting a water bowl on the warm side of the tank (on the heat pad or under the light) & cover the screen on that side w/ saran wrap. Keep checking humidity & increasing saran until humidity reaches ideal or you only have 1 inch uncovered left. Gotta breathe.
Lots of warm water baths... moisten skin & help w/ bowel movements.
Shed Aid is a product that you can buy & spray on your boy to help him. It works fairly well on mine.
Finally: if you're feeding F/T try dunking them in hot water to warm them up. If they have a little fur, the hairs will trap the water, thereby hydrating your snake more. The only other option would be to use a syringe(w/o the needle) to rehydrate a F/T meal via its mouth. Kinda creepy though.
everything except the syringe idea have proved effective with my own collection (now 11 balls & 1 boa). Never tried the syringe, but worst thing that could happen there:snake squeeze, water squirt.
 
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