Young Ball Python hasn't shed in 8 weeks

Pythons Ball Pythons
1

Hey everybody!
Question in title, I’ve got info below so folks can tell where she’s at.

First time reptile owner. I got V in November at a reputable breeder, and since then she hasn’t missed a single meal (other than one where she was in shed when I didn’t offer).

She has been on f/t fuzzies, and has regular urate movements along with a couple significant bm’s. I’ve gotten a couple rats one size up to test if she’s not getting enough, as last time I looked, the fuzzies might be noticeably smaller than her thickest spot.

After my first post, I’ve done some work on the enclosure to help with humidity and temperatures.

So far, here’s what the enclosure looks like:

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(Obviously this is not a forever enclosure, she was getting a little long for her plastic bin I got her in so this is the in-between until I pick up a PVC 4x2x2 for her in a couple months. Also the numbers on the monitor in the photo are not indicative of regular conditions, since I just popped open the top to clean water bowls and hides).

Substrate is about 3.5" of reptisoil + forest floor, 30/70 respectively. UVB is on 12 hours a day, measured for zone 2. Heat comes from a 100w DHP (thermostat probe visible in top right).

Cold Side:

  • Ambient never below 75 degrees F
  • Humidity never below 60%
  • Hide: ~75-77 degrees, humidity never below 80%

Hot Side:

  • Ambient hovers around 85-86 degrees F
  • Humidity hovers around 50%
  • Inside Hide: ~86-87 degrees
  • Basking spot on top of hide: ~88-91 degrees

Her behavior hasn’t changed (still a fan of hanging outside the enclosure every few days, seems like she is thermoregulating just fine), she has had no issues eating, but hasn’t pooped in a hot minute so I’m assuming almost all of the rats are going to digestion, which made me double-check how much I was feeding her.

Things I’m already adding:

  • I ordered some sphagnum moss to help since I was anticipating a shed soon, so I hope that will help bring up the ambient humidity a bit for her as well.
  • Also ordered some additional clutter, including some suction cup faux plants for the walls.

I’m just trying to do the best for her, and I’ve spent so much time on here as well as our local exotic shops asking questions, so I’d like to think she’s well-taken care of, but the long time between sheds as a young’n concerned me enough to post this.

If there’s something I should check, I’d love to know, or reassurance that this might be normal in winter, etc.

Oh right, the tax.

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Behold, the child.

Thank you all!

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The enclosure parameters are looking really good.

She has the look of a snake going into shed soon to me. The way the scales on the spine and the head have a kinda white looking edge where the light hits is what makes me think she will at least.

If she’s not eating a good sized meal and her growth has slowed she would be closer to that 9-10 week shed cycle and not the 6-7 week of a young one growing like a weed.

A good guideline is to feed 10% of their body weight with each meal. Once they slow down on growth if they start looking chunky you can scale it back to a 2 weeks between meals instead of weekly.

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This is incredibly helpful, thank you! She was at 119 grams as of about a week ago, so I should measure the rats I got to see where we’re at. I did take a look today and her belly is beginning to get a little pinker, which is what happened last time right before she went into shed, so you might be right!

I didn’t realize that there was a 9-10 week shed cycle, all anyone had ever mentioned was a 4-6 cycle so I was gettin a little concerned since she’s still young.

Thank you so much for the info!! I’ll measure the new rats to get a weight, since they look like a good size.

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Yeah they usually start slowing down as they get closer to full size and once they sort of ‘maxxed out’ (technically they never stop growing, it just gets super slow) some will only shed 3x a year. My largest male is like that.

The young ones definitely shed more often as they grow so the first two years especially it’s pretty often.

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Ahh this is so helpful. She’s also hiding MUCH more than she usually does this time of the week, so I’m assuming she just is having a slower shed because she could have been eating a bit more. I’ll give it a day or so and if she’s not exploring on her usual feed day I’ll take a look if she’s in blue and just plan on feeding her more when she’s ready.

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