# Excessive shedding?



## hardlucktattoo (Nov 5, 2008)

ok two of my snakes have been shedding quite a bit a 4.5' male bp has shed twice in two months and my female bci just shed 3 weeks ago and is shed mode again i feed the male bp one med to large rat a week and the bci gets one hopper twice a week i dont think its over feedingtemps have been the same and i keep them on a fairly consistant light schedule of 12on and 12off any ideas?


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## GiantVinegaroon (Nov 6, 2008)

The only logical thing I can think of is that your snakes are getting overweight.  Either that or you're just freaking out over nothing.


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## ballpython2 (Nov 6, 2008)

hardlucktattoo said:


> ok two of my snakes have been shedding quite a bit a 4.5' male bp has shed twice in two months and my female bci just shed 3 weeks ago and is shed mode again i feed the male bp one med to large rat a week and the bci gets one hopper twice a week i dont think its over feedingtemps have been the same and i keep them on a fairly consistant light schedule of 12on and 12off any ideas?



Also maybe snakes frequently shed if they have cuts or scars in the healin process do you see any?

do you feed live?


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## UrbanJungles (Nov 6, 2008)

Frequent sheds are also sometimes indicative of an internal infection, even as simple as an upper repiratory infection.  Anything else going on health-wise?


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## hardlucktattoo (Nov 6, 2008)

there are no other issues that i am aware of both snakes were rescues so i dont have the full history on them the BP has a number of misshapen scales indicative of scarring  i do not feed live i am strictly f/t the bci is still fairly small about two feet the bp is underweight if anything and the bci seems to right on target i will post some pics i just have to take them


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## hardlucktattoo (Nov 6, 2008)

ok here are some pics of the bp i went to get the bci and it bit the hell outa me so those will have to wait


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## hardlucktattoo (Nov 6, 2008)




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## ballpython2 (Nov 7, 2008)

Maybe the size of the food is what is causin it to  shed more?....It could be in a growth spurt of some sort... do you have any measurements before the most recent shed and after the the most recent shed? ..maybe its just growing more??


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## arachnocat (Nov 7, 2008)

Sometimes my snakes go through growth spurts. I don't know why. My sand boa shed, ate two fuzzies then wouldn't eat for 6 weeks and shed again. Now she's fine. Not sure if she was sick or what but it was very strange.


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## GiantVinegaroon (Nov 7, 2008)

They look fine to me.  If they aren't showing any signs of health problems and are eating regularly, I wouldn't worry too much about it.  Best thing to do would be keeping track of their weight and behavior(besides shedding records).  If you start noticing big change in one of those two categories, THEN I'd start getting concerned.


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## hardlucktattoo (Nov 8, 2008)

LordLycosa said:


> They look fine to me.  If they aren't showing any signs of health problems and are eating regularly, I wouldn't worry too much about it.  Best thing to do would be keeping track of their weight and behavior(besides shedding records).  If you start noticing big change in one of those two categories, THEN I'd start getting concerned.


I actually have noticed an extreme change in behavior in the bci usually it is ok with being handled and is rather content in its tank but recently it has been striking at a biting me and escaping its tank not sure why. it did refuse food but it is shedding so that is normal


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## ballpython2 (Nov 8, 2008)

That ball pythons isnt by chance pregnant is she?..or is it a guy? or is it just not big enough to be pregnant yet?....

is it wild caught?


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## hardlucktattoo (Nov 8, 2008)

ballpython2 said:


> That ball pythons isnt by chance pregnant is she?..or is it a guy? or is it just not big enough to be pregnant yet?....
> 
> is it wild caught?


its a male my female is actually shedding as well but she is on schedule  as far as w/c or cb i dunno he was a rescue but by the scarring i am assuming w/c or just really really bad previous care


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## hardlucktattoo (Nov 10, 2008)

here are some pics of the bci


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## GiantVinegaroon (Nov 10, 2008)

hardlucktattoo said:


> I actually have noticed an extreme change in behavior in the bci usually it is ok with being handled and is rather content in its tank but recently it has been striking at a biting me and escaping its tank not sure why. it did refuse food but it is shedding so that is normal


snake vision can be obscured during shedding time.  it's kind of like wearing bad glasses for them, so they tend to strike at things that move.  i'd be more concerned if it was getting unusually lethargic or slow


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## Taceas (Nov 11, 2008)

There isn't any evidence of snake mites is there? They can irritate the skin enough that the snake will shed abnormally frequently trying to rid themselves of the parasites. Look for "ground pepper" to walk around the bedding and look around the eye caps and in the cleft under their jaw.

Other than that they both look healthy from the photographs, and if it slows down I wouldn't be too concerned with it so long as they're feeding good and otherwise aren't showing any other symptoms.


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## hardlucktattoo (Nov 11, 2008)

Taceas said:


> There isn't any evidence of snake mites is there? They can irritate the skin enough that the snake will shed abnormally frequently trying to rid themselves of the parasites. Look for "ground pepper" to walk around the bedding and look around the eye caps and in the cleft under their jaw.
> 
> Other than that they both look healthy from the photographs, and if it slows down I wouldn't be too concerned with it so long as they're feeding good and otherwise aren't showing any other symptoms.


I think they are ok I am not really to concerned with it as far as mites go the bci did have them about a month ago when i first got it but i havent sen any since i took care of them


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## Jmugleston (Nov 12, 2008)

If they had mites and you recently took care of it, that is possibly why they are shedding again. The mites would have torn up their skin and they shed frequently while they have mites and will continue to do so until they are completely healed. If the mites are completely gone (more than 16 or so days since you've last seen one). 16 days is about their life cycle so if it has been that long since you've seen one they probably are gone, but the damage to the skin will take a couple sheds or so to heal.


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