bad shed - head, neck and eyecaps remain

[ChanHY]

New on here and a new BP owner. I've had my BP for about a month now. I noticed about a week and a half ago his skin started to turn dull so guessed he was about to start the process of shedding. However I didn't really noticed his eyes turning blue/cloudy over the few days after that. Last weekend I took him out for a bit and noticed the skin at his tail was "crusty" and looked ready to come off, not wanted to disturb him if he was about to shed I put him back and started misting the tank to keep the humidity up. Over the next few days after that his whole body looked "crusty" and wrinkly and the skin on his head and around his lips had started to peel. I kept a close eye on him for the next 24 hours but he didn't seem very active in terms of trying to get rid of the skin on his head, So i decided to give him a helping hand - Took him out and give him a soak in warm water for 30 minutes and put him back. This seemed to of helped as I can see he was clearly rubbing his head against the log when I put him back so i left him to it. The next morning I saw a few pieces of shed around his tank but not much of it had come off, I had a quick look at him and in fact hardly any of it had come off apart from the tail and some pieces from his belly and sides. So yesterday I decided to give him some more assistance by using the pillow case technique but he literally just sat in the pillow case for 30 minutes as if he discovered a new hide. Clearly he wasn't interested in removing the old skin. As he was still moist from being in the pillow case I decided to hold him and let him run through my hand while I try to help remove some of the skin for him. It peeled off fairly easily and I managed to remove most of it apart from his head, eye caps and along his neck. He's really sensitive around his head and flinches all the time if you go near his head. So this brings us to today and I'm not sure exactly what to do, should I just leave him to it or should I assist him. Clearly it's been a bad shed, which is my fault for not keep the humidity up. I've been misting it more now and keeping tin foil sheets on top of the lid to keep humidity up. But is there anything else I should try/do to assist him.

[Freakie_frog]

Warm water and some q-tip and cotton balls will get those eye caps off.. Just be gentle when rubbing the eyes and holding the snakes head. Make sure the animals body is supported so you don't injure its spine.

[NoStepOnSnek]

There's a product I've used for my guy when shedding was stressing him out. He would always sit in his water dish looking blue, so I tried "Shed-Ease" by Zilla. It's a reptile bath that comes in an 8oz bottle with a measuring cup. You add a little bit to a warm (sink in my case) container of water and gently soak your snake in it for a few minutes. It worked for us, his skin came off in one piece.

[LittleTreeGuy]

I would just increase the tank humidity to 70% (a tad higher would be okay) and leave it there until his next shed. You can also place some wet papertowels or moss in his hides and that will keep the humidity up in there and give him something to rub on if needed.

I'm a new BP owner, but I personally really don't like the approaches of doing what is unnatural for the snake (soaking them, using the q-tips, etc...). Can it be done? Of course it can. A lot of people prefer to do it that way. If the snake isn't hurt by anything, I think the more natural approach is best, but again, this is just MY opinion.

[NoStepOnSnek]

I suggested a bath only because mine loves to camp out in his dish during shed, he also likes when I use the mist bottle so a warm bath seemed like an ok thing to do. Maybe the OP's pet would also enjoy that. Every snake is different of course but mine enjoyed his time in the sink even though it isn't something that would be done to him in the wild. I've never had retained eye cap problem so idk if I'd take a q tip to it but who knows. If they're bothering the little guy, I'd do it. A partially blind snake is never a happy snake.

[ChanHY]

Thanks for the replies guys. I ended up giving him a soak yesterday. I also put a sponge and rock in there. It seemed to have worked wonders! he started to proper dig his head against the rock and his skin started to loosen up. After the soak i tried to help him a bit more but he was very agitated and didnt seem to enjoy me helping him so i put him back. Saw him this morning and and his eyecaps are clear and most of it has come off his head. There just a tiny bit left on his neck but I'm so relieved that its pretty much all come off

[NoStepOnSnek]

Sweet! Glad it seems to have worked for you