Hey this is my babies first shed the humidity had been up and down i try to keep it around 60-70% but at times is drops to 50. I spray her enclosure daily and also has a humid hide in there in case she needed it. Two days ago i fed her because she eats on Tuesdays shes never had problems with eating and so she ate it immediately. However i didnt know she was actively shedding because she was in her hide and i try to not stress her before feeding so i only saw her head once she stuck and started eating the mouse. At that point i realized she was actively shedding and had the shed on her head off kinda like a hoodie. After she ate she went into her humid hide but i noticed she was shedding in parts not a whole nice shed. Ive just let her be though since she just ate i dont want to mess with her but today is the 48 hour mark so i was wondering if anyone has any tips on what I should do? This is my first ball python so im kinda lost here. Should i give her a warm soak and try to help her with the stuck shed or should i just give her a soak and let her be? I’ve raised the humidity since Tuesday to about 75% any tips are greatly appreciated!! Thank you!!
When my bp was just a little guy and he had some stuck shed I would give him a warm bath and then take a cloth and get it wet in the warm water and use it to gently peel off the stuck shed. Otherwise if you do not feel comfortable helping her shed you can just give her the soak and see if that works. Best of luck!
Okay thank you! I just wanted to make sure it was ok before i did ive heard alot of people say never help them.
Some people act like it’s abuse to peel off a little bit of loose shed lol. As long as she’s ready to shed, there’s no harm in helping her. Of course if there’s a lot of resistance then stop, but as long as you let her soak it should come off easily.
You can also try putting your snake into a hide/container with something like moist sphagnum moss or shredded paper towels. Odds are, after a few hours, once she’s had time to hydrate the stuck bits somewhat, she’ll take care of most or all of them. You can then get a damp washcloth or dish towel and let her crawl through your hands while you gently rub any remaining bits.
Since she ate 48 hours ago, it would be best to put the most hide on the warm side of her enclosure. Hope all goes smoothly for both of you.
If you soak her in warm water for about 20 minutes and then do the above afterwards her shed should come off easily. If not then repeat the same process the next day……
You should never just peel off the shed without loosening it first. (soaking and warm slightly wet washcloth). It is much better to gently help the snake with the shed if necessary than to let it remain stuck. Stuck shed could lead to damaged scales……
I soaked her and removed it with soft wet cloth it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was shes all good now!! She still seems to be rubbing her face against things tho like shes trying to get it off but i saw her face shed and its intact eye caps and everything. Any ideas why shes doing that?
Snakes rubbing their faces can mean multiple things, it can be because of mites, and respiratory infections. I believe there are other reasons that are just not coming to mind right now, but for now I would check the snake itself for any stuck shed on the face because sometimes we don’t notice a small strip missing from the shed skin.
Yay for getting rid of the shed! I don’t know what to think about the face rubbing thing though.
Does it look like she’s trying to get out of the enclosure? If so then most likely the humidity increase has upset her, otherwise I’m not sure
Not sure why she was doing that it happened right when i put her back in so maybe she was trying to come back out. But shes fine now she not doing it anymore and shes been happy and climbing all over her enclosure 
!
Ah yes, the classic trying to push the door open with the nose 
Beans does that too if he see’s me walking around and wants to have some exploring time!
I would keep an eye on it still though because if it becomes excessive then there could be something in the enclosure that is bothering her and that is why she would be trying to get out if that was the case. If she calmed down afterwards I’m sure it was just her wanting out for a bit. Your bp is such a cutie!
The shed coming off in pieces is normal if they eat while shedding. I would not worry about it in the future. As their skin stretches while swallowing, it brakes the shed up. The only problem is getting the rest off afterwards. But a good soak and a rub usually does the trick. Skipping a meal around shed time will not hurt. And it allows them to shed properly.
Rubbing it’s head against things, especially when you just out it back in from a soak, I wouldn’t worry about it. If it just started doing it under normal conditions, then it could be a number of things, but what you see would be nothing to worry about (in my opinion).
As for humidity, 50-60% is the sweet spot with 70% during shedding worked in most setups. Having it higher could also be the reason for it rubbing. My guess is your setup probably holds humidity well at around 50% without misting daily. If this is the case, I would let it stay that way and only mist when shedding. There are tricks you can do if you can’t keep it at least at 50%.
Usually i can keep it above 50% but the past three days its been dropping to around 45% at times and i have to mist again what can i do aside from misting? I have a big water bowl in there near the warm side but doesn’t seem to be much help
Move the water bowl to the warm side completely on the warm side for a temporary boost. But you will have to fill it more frequently because it will evaporate making the humidity.
Glad your lovely snake has its fresh new skin without any remaining shed. Good job helping her out with that. I’m in the “likely nothing to worry about” camp about her face-rubbing right after you put her back.
Decibel
Definitely the water bowl all the way to the warm side. There’s nothing wrong with misting regularly. You can also keep a moist hide in her enclosure all the time, not just when she’s noticeably in shed. She’ll likely use it when she feels like she needs some moisturizing. She’s the expert.
As @caron & @caryl said. And yes, misting daily will not hurt anything, just takes time and remaining and being able to do it daily.
Or add another water on the hot side and you can fill it with something that can absorb the water to help keep it longer.
When I had glass tanks I filled a second water bowl with coco husk then water. It helped keep the humidity up and it lasted longer then just water itself. It would not get knocked over as easily and would not be soaking in or drank from.
If you have any type of of lights that give off heat, removing them will also help, as they can tend to dry it out faster.