emmadactryl
Not so new Member
My spotted python is about fifteen months old. I've had her for a little over a year. She's always been an excellent shedder; never had a problem, never even seems like she's about to shed and then I'll find a perfect, complete skin in the tank the next morning. She's been fed quite a few times a day or two before she ends up shedding, purely because she's never refused a feed.
I had a few issues with her earlier this year with a drastic change in temperament that came down to me not feeding her enough, so she got bumped up to fuzzy rats and put on a definite once a week feed. Over the past few months she's been feeding well, temperament is back to normal, and she's put on weight and gotten longer. All good. She went from shedding once every four weeks to every three weeks. Still all normal and good.
Two weeks ago she shed, which caught me off guard because I'd just gotten used to her going three weekly. She was fed the day before and absolutely smashed the rat with her normal enthusiasm. The shed was awful. All in pieces just scattered about the cage. She got most off, but I got her out and sprayed her down and had to kind of massage off one tiny piece that was just still clinging on.
I fed her Sunday. She smashed the rat, then hugged it and sniffed it for a bit, and I had to give the rat a bit of poking and wriggling to get her to eat it. I figured that's her telling me it's too cold for once a week feeds so I was going to hold off and give her at least a fortnight before I try again. I've gotten home this afternoon and found some pieces of skin in her enclosure, and she's in the middle of another shocking shed. Now this is the second time, I'm not putting it down to a once off thing and I want to try and fix whatever the problem is.
This is, again, bang on two weeks, and since she was a bit so-so with her feed on Sunday, I'm planning on giving her three weeks before I next offer a feed, which will hopefully mean- if she goes for another fortnight then sheds- she won't get a meal right before to see if that makes a difference.
Is there anything else it might be for her to all of a sudden go from easy, complete sheds to really crappy ones? Nothing has changed apart from it getting into autumn now. She's in a glass tank with a wood/wire lid. Has a water bowl that she really only pays attention to after she's been fed, when she drinks a crazy amount before going and hiding herself away. She has a heat mat on a thermostat set at 32 degrees celsius. She's got branches with rough bark and a rock as well as her hide in there. She's got recycled newspaper cat litter as substrate. She gets a clean out while she's out being fed, so once a week the substrate gets changed and the tank and everything in it gets F10'ed and wiped out.
Any advice or insight is much appreciated. She's my first snake and the sum total of my experience, and since she's been such an easy shedder so far, this unfortunate new angle has got me confused and wondering what I'm doing wrong.
I had a few issues with her earlier this year with a drastic change in temperament that came down to me not feeding her enough, so she got bumped up to fuzzy rats and put on a definite once a week feed. Over the past few months she's been feeding well, temperament is back to normal, and she's put on weight and gotten longer. All good. She went from shedding once every four weeks to every three weeks. Still all normal and good.
Two weeks ago she shed, which caught me off guard because I'd just gotten used to her going three weekly. She was fed the day before and absolutely smashed the rat with her normal enthusiasm. The shed was awful. All in pieces just scattered about the cage. She got most off, but I got her out and sprayed her down and had to kind of massage off one tiny piece that was just still clinging on.
I fed her Sunday. She smashed the rat, then hugged it and sniffed it for a bit, and I had to give the rat a bit of poking and wriggling to get her to eat it. I figured that's her telling me it's too cold for once a week feeds so I was going to hold off and give her at least a fortnight before I try again. I've gotten home this afternoon and found some pieces of skin in her enclosure, and she's in the middle of another shocking shed. Now this is the second time, I'm not putting it down to a once off thing and I want to try and fix whatever the problem is.
This is, again, bang on two weeks, and since she was a bit so-so with her feed on Sunday, I'm planning on giving her three weeks before I next offer a feed, which will hopefully mean- if she goes for another fortnight then sheds- she won't get a meal right before to see if that makes a difference.
Is there anything else it might be for her to all of a sudden go from easy, complete sheds to really crappy ones? Nothing has changed apart from it getting into autumn now. She's in a glass tank with a wood/wire lid. Has a water bowl that she really only pays attention to after she's been fed, when she drinks a crazy amount before going and hiding herself away. She has a heat mat on a thermostat set at 32 degrees celsius. She's got branches with rough bark and a rock as well as her hide in there. She's got recycled newspaper cat litter as substrate. She gets a clean out while she's out being fed, so once a week the substrate gets changed and the tank and everything in it gets F10'ed and wiped out.
Any advice or insight is much appreciated. She's my first snake and the sum total of my experience, and since she's been such an easy shedder so far, this unfortunate new angle has got me confused and wondering what I'm doing wrong.