The Shedding Process

Thank you thank you thank you! William Snakespeare's eyes blued up over the weekend and then they cleared up today. Now I know that he is actually getting ready to shed. I thought he was and then I wondered was I right. Your posts are so valuable to a newbie like me.

And he's shedding!! Just like your tutorial showed that he would!! It's amazing how quickly it all came together. I was not sure when his eyes cleared back up. I thought maybe there was something wrong with him. But nope, he's shedding. And now I know all the signs. I guess my only real question is for a snake that only weighs 154 grams, how often will he do this? I just want to say that I am so thankful that I found this site and people who really love their pythons. It's a great educational opportunity for us. Thank you!

Great article. Thank you so much for sharing. I found it very helpful. As a first time snake owner, I definitely felt my BP was acting extremely standoff-ish and shy while opaque.

My snake is about to shed for the second time. I still have the 1st shed skin (intact) from about 2 1/2 months ago, and found it useful as an approximate measuring stick. Hopefully the second shed skin will be intact as well...really curious to see if he's grown longer, and by how many inches.

Great article! I read this before I got my ball python, and it has helped a lot. The visuals are great! Thanks for sharing this ! :snake:

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Originally Posted by Kamerick

Great article! I read this before I got my ball python, and it has helped a lot. The visuals are great! Thanks for sharing this ! :snake:

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Great OP, I wish I'd read it before today!

I've had a BP - my first snake, my first pet - for about 2 weeks and wanted to weigh it for the first time today. Yesterday evening I saw him go for a brief dip in the water bowl then back into hide all night, and all day today. Lifted up the hide and it hardly moved, picked it up and it seemed sleepy and didn't react at all, then I noticed the dull skin and blue eyes! :O I was a bit freaked out so I apologized, put it down immediately and stood watching for about 5 minutes until it slithered back into the hide THEN came online and read the article I should have read before!

I hope I didn't stress it, I only had it in my hand for maybe ten seconds. Going to leave him alone now until he's done shedding.

A question about shedding. Is it possible to have a snake get to a point where it trusts you during it's shed so that it can be handled while the eyecaps are blue? I don't handle Nagini during her sheds, but I know a pet store by my house has a 3 Y/O ball that they handle regularly during shed and she doesn't put up a fuss at all.

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Originally Posted by Sirensong26

A question about shedding. Is it possible to have a snake get to a point where it trusts you during it's shed so that it can be handled while the eyecaps are blue? I don't handle Nagini during her sheds, but I know a pet store by my house has a 3 Y/O ball that they handle regularly during shed and she doesn't put up a fuss at all.

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It's an individual thing. Some will be okay, some won't. My own experience is most will let you handle them, but they would rather be left alone. Of couse, if you try it and you get bit...her answer trumps mine.

Once mine get pink bellies I just leave them alone until their shed is done unless there's a compelling reason to handle them.

This is my go to guide, I'm still an amateur and my new royal BP is going into shed a few days after I got him. He's past the blue and should be ready to actually shed tomorrow. I panicked because I figured I had enough time to get his thermostat and hygrometer. I got them and was pleased to see his humidity was decent, and the temps were perfect. I boosted his humidity by covering his screen with 3 paper towels. It went from 65-70 to a strong 80.

So my son's Normal was in blue on 9/22 and he had a nice pink belly, strange thing is he hasn't shed yet and here it is 8 days later. Has anyone seen it take this long before? According to the thread he should have shed by now. Husbandry is perfect, and humidity is over 65%. I don't get it.