WTF happened? Bad Shed...

Yes, they can swim.

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Originally Posted by brettliff

Yeah he never shed in blue. But I had clearly dried his tail out

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Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

Then I would give that tail a heavy misting and see how it goes.

What Pythonminion is saying, correct me if I am misinterpreting you man, is that "blue" is the snake's natural physiology designed to aid the shedding process....do not fix what is not broken...intervention is only needed when you observe retained skin post blue, which is the case here with the tail. It's the reason why many people will let small bits of retained skin stay on until next shed simply because in the end, nature knows best. If it ends up being stubborn, just let it go and focus on your humidity like we discussed earlier

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This is what is referred to as 'going into blue' and is the part of the shed cycle where a milky fluid builds up in between the old layer of skin and the new, developing area. (ᴘɪᴄ ɴᴏᴛ ᴍɪɴᴇ.) Any old skin that is removed during this time will lead to an injury, and some ignorant people who peel it off because they were impatient had ended up essentially skinning their snakes, or so horror stories have been told. I can confirm it though, because my Boots has somehow shed a small piece off and it did bleed before healing up into scale-less skin. I do not recommend tampering with snakes during this time, and I've personally had my best sheds occur when the snake is left alone, the substrate saturated, and the tank/container set up to retain humidity. (Tubs naturally retain moisture but screen lids of vivs should be covered with foil.)
If you want a snake to remove stuck shed, you can do one of two things, or both:
1. Raise the humidity, such as described above.
2. Carefully remove it yourself. (this should be considered an art within itself, as it's a lot of trial and error on your part.)

Edit: This:

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Originally Posted by satomi325

If a snake sheds poorly, that's a sign that the humidity is too low no matter what the hygrometer says.

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Originally Posted by patientz3ro

I've never tested the theory, but ALLEGEDLY they're excellent swimmers. As heavy-bodied as they are, though, I'm not testing that claim. I can't recommend anyone else try it either. Either way, I'm not 100% sure, so maybe omeone else can weigh in?

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Tapatalk

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Dude Steve swims. Really well and seems to love it, despite their weight they are still less dense than water so they can rise to the surface with minimal effort

They can swim!!! Steve is a young Michael Phelps

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Originally Posted by brettliff

Dude Steve swims. Really well and seems to love it, despite their weight they are still less dense than water so they can rise to the surface with minimal effort

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I may be wrong about the density but a glass of water is heavier than a glass of Steve. Lol

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Originally Posted by brettliff

I may be wrong about the density but a glass of water is heavier than a glass of Steve. Lol

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I don't have any glasses of Steve at the moment to verify, but you're spot on about the density. For the most part, anyway. Bone is denser, and most of a glass of Steve actually IS water. When you factor in lung and other organs, it averages out to less density.

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Originally Posted by pythonminion

This is what is referred to as 'going into blue' and is the part of the shed cycle where a milky fluid builds up in between the old layer of skin and the new, developing area. (ᴘɪᴄ ɴᴏᴛ ᴍɪɴᴇ.) Any old skin that is removed during this time will lead to an injury, and some ignorant people who peel it off because they were impatient had ended up essentially skinning their snakes, or so horror stories have been told. I can confirm it though, because my Boots has somehow shed a small piece off and it did bleed before healing up into scale-less skin. I do not recommend tampering with snakes during this time, and I've personally had my best sheds occur when the snake is left alone, the substrate saturated, and the tank/container set up to retain humidity. (Tubs naturally retain moisture but screen lids of vivs should be covered with foil.)
If you want a snake to remove stuck shed, you can do one of two things, or both:
1. Raise the humidity, such as described above.
2. Carefully remove it yourself. (this should be considered an art within itself, as it's a lot of trial and error on your part.)

Edit: This:

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I certainly appreciate the time your taking to respond buy I hope you realize I'm fully aware of what blue Is, ball-python.net's care sheet is the one I use and plus all the separate reading I've done on specific subjects of his care and tReatment.
But I have his water bowl sitting on top of a ten gallon uth. The uth isnot in th cage with him though obviously. Patient zero has sent me a thermostat! Everyone give him some rep for real.

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Originally Posted by patientz3ro

I don't have any glasses of Steve at the moment to verify, but you're spot on about the density. For the most part, anyway. Bone is denser, and most of a glass of Steve actually IS water. When you factor in lung and other organs, it averages out to less density.

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Perfect! But yeah I rarely draw him a bath deeper than him but occasionally I will (with a super sharp eye on him of course) and he will slowly make laps around the tub. But I wouldn't leave him to long because if he doesn realize he can rest on his coil and relax then he might become fatigued and then you know what can happen next

Hfhhhh