Acting "odd" during shed?

[El_Dorado]

I recently bought a new BP and I was told that she should be ready to shed soon. I haven't fed her yet, it has only been about a week and a half, but when I stroke her (so she knows I'm there before I put my hand in to change her water - made that mistake once! Ouch!), she feels very dry. Usually she hides in her cage and comes out a bit at night, but I am usually asleep soon after she comes out, so I'm not sure how long she is out and about for. She managed to get out of her tank the other day and since then I have found she is out of hiding earlier and is a bit more active - always poking her nose at the lid, so I'm sure she is just looking another way out.

Last night we came home at around 10 to find her laying across her cage, with the upper half of her body resting on the water bowl, but not in the water. She felt very dry last night, but her temperatures were good. Will a snake act odd before a shed? I haven't seen her just lay around somewhere except this past night. I am new to snakes, so everything seems to raise a red flag with me!

She has two identical hides, warm spot is in the high eighties, cool spot at 80. Aspen shavings about 3 inches deep and fresh water in a tupperware bowl.

Thanks for any help!

[stratus_020202]

What is her humidity? Temps look good, but she needs 50% humidity at all times, and you can bump it up to 60-70% to get her a good shed.

[El_Dorado]

Her humidity is a bit below 50% now. Do you have any tips on raising it?

[stratus_020202]

Yeah, a spray bottle works great. I mist mine when they are in shed every morning and night. You can also go to the store and get a tupperware bowl, fill it with some moist moss (or a damp sponge), and punch some holes in it. You can also take some moss and spread it around inside her hides to make a humid hide. I've also taken damp wash cloths and laid it over their hide while they were in shed.

Just make sure not to leave anything in there that is too damp for too long. I would only do it during sheds. Too much wetness can give them scale rot. Good luck!

[ryssa]

I put bag ( folded ) over half of his cage and it put his humidity way up and he had a perfect first shed

[Ham]

There should be a hot spot in the tank of 90-93, high 80's is too low, the rest of the tank should be around 82, 50-60% humidity is good, and while they are in shed I will mist the snake directly once every night or so until the shed...

[PolkaDotPenguin]

I would try misting her. That always helps the process